A Study on the View of Humanity in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution: Criticism of Religionization of Artificial Intelligence through the Theology of Youngsan 4차 산업혁명 시대의 인간관에 대한 연구: 인공지능의 종교화에 대한 영산 신학을 통한 비판
A Study on the View of Humanity in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution: Criticism of Religionization of Artificial Intelligence through the Theology of Youngsan 4차 산업혁명 시대의 인간관에 대한 연구: 인공지능의 종교화에 대한 영산 신학을 통한 비판
Due to three major reasons, the connection between Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter referred to as AI) and the church will increase more to a greater extent in the future. First, the impact of AI on society will become enormous. Society and the church are very closely associated. Thus, if society is affected by AI, the church will be affected accordingly. Second, with the advent of AI, new religions (faith or beliefs) such as transhumanism will be rising to the surface. Third, the argument has been incessantly emerging that AI should be provided with a personality as an electronic personality or as a moral agent. These issues cannot but be theological as they surpass philosophy or jurisprudence. Recently, even a religious organization has come into view that serves AI like gods. To commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, a robot pastor appeared and attracted attention in Wittenberg, Germany. The robot pastor named BlessU-2 preaches fluently in five different languages and beams light from its raised hands to deliver blessings to believers.
From the point of view of Youngsan, Homo Deus is inconceivable. In particular, it is unbiblical for an AI robot to preside a worship service, to preach, and even to ascend to the position of God. This is because Youngsan comprehends humans as beings who possess exceptional abilities to communicate with God and to hear his voice. Taking Youngsan’s view into consideration, AI is not a spiritual being; thus, it may be utilized as a tool to assist in worship, but it cannot by itself lead worship, deliver a sermon, and guide a congregation of believers. It means that AI, which is seemingly an extension of human manipulation, should not and cannot be involved in a leading role in pastoral ministry, preaching, or Bible study. In any case, AI must remain an instrument aiding faithful servants.
Two alternatives to the challenge of AI will be presented in this paper. One is the reinforcement of the communityship of church. In the Christian dimension, “community” signifies that those who were called are building up the church, that is, the body of Christ, as members. Such a concept of community originates from the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The ‘Trinity’ implies that the Triune God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have a tendency to be interdependent, acknowledging their reciprocally containing authorities. The other alternative is the reinforcement of church education. The 4th industrial revolution era with the contact-free era is more in need of a community of relational and communal care. Therefore, the church should scrutinize educational methods that solidify the community, pursuing hybrid educations that take both online and offline classes. As humans own idiosyncratic characteristics distinguished from those of machines, particularly, it can be said that they require the understanding of people through human emotions, the communication with and considerate attitudes toward others, and the maintenance of communityship through empathy. The orientation of the future church must face toward the level of spirituality that AI is incapable of replenishing. Therefore, the church must primarily offer humans who use AI a thorough education of the Bible which provides explicit answers concerning the purpose of life, the values to quest for, and the ethics of life. Consequently, this era will necessitates more the 4th dimensional spirituality of Youngsan.
Key Words
4th Industrial Revolution, AI, Homo Deus, Youngsan’s humanity, community, 4차 산업혁명, 인공지능, 호모 데우스, 영산의 인간관, 공동체
A Study on the Relationship between the Overseas Missions of Korean Christianity and the Changes of the Passport Act 한국 기독교 해외 선교와 여권법의 변화와의 관계 연구
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the overseas missions of Korean Christianity and the Korea's globalization policies. The Korean government embodied the globalization policies through the liberalization of overseas travels in 1960 and the enactment of the Passport Act in 1961. This study dealt with the processes of changes of them and the overseas missions of Korean Christianity in relation to them. Korean Christianity, which had partially entered into overseas missions since early 1960s, actively participated overseas missions in 1980 and 1989. Some provided the reasons as follows: church growth, overseas mission movements, and democratization movement. However, this study approached to reveal the fact that the overseas missions of Korean Christianity increased due to Korea's globalization policies. It could be seen that the liberalization of overseas travels continued to expand with the enactment and continuous revisions of the Passport Act. For this study, the changing processes of the Passport Act were divided into five stages and examined in detail. And each step confirmed by statistics that the number of overseas missionaries increased in accordance with the changes of the Passport Act. In summary, it also confirmed the fact that the enactment of mission passports in 1979 and the liberalization of overseas travels in 1989 greatly contributed to the overseas missions of Korean Christianity. Therefore, this thesis is a study to verify that the overseas missions of Korean Christianity were closely related to such the government's globalization policies as the liberalization of overseas travels and the changes of the Passport Act.
Key Words
Korean Christianity, overseas missions, globalization, the liberalization of overseas travels, the Passport Act, 한국 기독교, 해외 선교, 국제화, 해외여행 자유화, 여권법
Transformational Preaching and the Emerging Church in the Post-pandemic 포스트 팬데믹 시대의 변혁적 설교와 이머징 교회
황병준 Byung-june Hwang , 아구스마룰리투아마르팡 Agus Marulitua Marpaung
The COVID-19 pandemic is fundamentally changing the church. Many churches are required to use digital technology to “survive,” and the effects of postmodernism and the Fourth Industrial Revolution are also affecting the environment of the church. The emerging church as a new form of Christianity is also challenging the pulpit of the church. This study seeks to explore transformational sermons of the emerging church movements in the world of endemic COVID-19. First, this study will examine the literature on transformative sermons regarding biblical foundation and its characteristics. Secondly, the writer explains the role of transformational sermons in change and the necessity of the emerging church movement. Finally, this study presents the implications of transformational preaching as a practical approach. The study emphasizes that transformational preaching, which is Christ-centered, biblical, contextual and innovative, should be the frame of preaching in the emerging church. Through the emerging church's approach to understanding, embracing, and adapting change without compromise, the writer suggests a situational strategy to implement transformational sermons, starting with spiritually transformational preachers, balancing biblical and practical sermons, and identifying and applying social needs.
The primary goal of this paper is to investigate the influence of Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ International (CCCI) upon Korean Christianity by utilizing a historical approach. This investigation will undoubtedly raise other questions. How was CCCI introduced into South Korea? How did CCCI contextualized its work and message in S. Korea? What are the marks of continuity and discontinuity between CCCI and Korea Campus Crusade for Christ (KCCC)? To answer these questions, this article consists of five parts. First, the ministry of CCCI will be discussed, and second, the introduction of CCCI into S. Korea will be explained. Thirdly, the ministry of KCCC and its contextualization of CCCI will be explored and then, fourth, the continuity and discontinuity between CCCI and KCCC will be analyzed. Fifth, this paper will reach out to the influence of Bill Bright and CCCI upon the Korean Christianity. Through this investigation upon the influence of Bill Bright and CCCI, finally, it affirms the fact that through the ministry of KCCC, Bill Bright and CCCI brought about the growth of Korean churches and the maturity of Christianity in Korea.
Key Words
Bill Bright, CCC International, JoonGon Kim, KCCC, Korean Christianity, the contextualization of CCCI in Korean Christianity, a historical approach, 빌 브라이트, 국제 CCC, 김준곤, 한국 CCC, 한국 기독교, 국제 CCC의 한국 기독교 내에서의 상황화, 역사적 접근법
A Balanced Interpretive Approach for Assessing the History and Development of the Korean Pentecostal Movement 한국 오순절 운동의 역사와 발전의 평가를 위한 균형적 해석학적 접근
The researches and evaluations of the Korean Pentecostal Movement (KPM) are not new. However, the studies and assessments of the KPM put its weight on the emphasis on the phenomenological aspects. This article deals with inner manifestations which can be explained by the spiritual motives pertaining to the inner purification of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, this article examines a Pentecostal spirituality as a way to provide an appropriate theological reflection to the KPM, and further identify its potential to engage in a balanced view, which includes both the outer spiritual life and inner journey, for exploring the history and development of the KPM.
Key Words
Korean Pentecostal Movement, Pentecostal spirituality, pneumatology, Pentecostal history and theology, inner purification, 한국 오순절 운동, 오순절 영성, 성령론, 오순절 역사와 신학, 내적 정화
