the korean understanding of god - catholic.ac.kr

<4D6963726F736F667420576F7264202D203220BFF8B0ED28BABBB9AE2920C3D6C1BE> Catholic Theology and Thought, Vol. 77, Summer 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.21731/ctat.2016.77.133 ISSN(print) 1225-4924; ISSN(online) 1225-2564
The Korean Understanding of God*
1
Suwon Catholic University, Korea; Director of the Korean Christian Thought Institute
. Opening Remarks . Pre-Modern Korean Concepts of God . Donghak The Korean Understanding of God in Cheondoism . The Theological Significance of the Korean Understanding of God . Concluding Remarks
I. Opening Remarks
I am grateful to the College of Theology, Catholic University of Korea,
and the organisers of this symposium on the Asian Understanding of God
for the invitation to prepare and present this paper. As I begin I wish to
take a brief moment to express some personal observations and the basic
directions of my presentation.
*1This research paper is commissioned, supported, and originally published by the Founda- tion of Theology and Thought, 2016. This paper was translated from the original Korean by Patrick McMullan, SSC.
134 Understanding God in the Asian Context
1. In early 1976, forty years ago, I began my professional career as a
public theologian and professor. In those days, unlike today, there were
few qualified scholars which meant from the beginning of my appoint-
ment I had to lecture in, amongst other theological disciplines, Concep-
tions of God and the Trinity, Soteriology, Mariology and Eschatology.
However, and despite moving in 1990 to the newly established Catholic
University in Suwon, I have consistently taught the Conceptions of God
and the Trinity tract. Moreover, for forty years I have dedicated myself to
teaching believers about the topic of “Who is God?” In both my immedi-
ate and reflected experience I have come to deeply appreciate how “the
more I know about God, the less I really know”.
I had planned, since about the turn of the Millennium, to make up for
this paucity of knowledge by writing a series of books on Dogmatic the-
ology starting with concepts of God and the Trinity. Unfortunately, I am
now nearing the age of eighty and feeling quite dissatisfied academically
because I have yet to fulfil my long cherished plan. It is, therefore, with
mixed feelings that I have accepted this invitation to present my paper on
“The Korean Understanding of God”.
Some of the roots of this presentation include the work of the theolo-
gian, Gotthold Hasenhuettl, whose writings on God and the Trinity I have
translated.1 I also draw on many articles that I have written over the years.
Of particular importance here is my own passionate advocacy for the
examining of the internal state of the Church during its remarkable exter-
nal expansion during the 1970s and 1980s. In this respect, since the 1980s
I have published many articles on the Theology of Inculturation. Further-
more, in 1987, I took responsibility for the Pastoral Research Institute of
Korea. Established under the auspices of the Catholic Bishops Conference
1 Cf. G. Hasenhuettl, Einführung in die Gotteslehre, Darmstadt (1980).
135 Sangtai Shim / The Korean Understanding of God
of Korea (CBCK), our inaugural publication was entitled “Prospects for
Inculturation in the Catholic Church of Korea”. In the summer of that
same year the Institute established an “Inculturation Research Unit”
which, up until October 2002, has published a total of 58 issues of the
Journal, Pastoral. This venture, through the lens of Inculturation, was an
attempt to put a professional and academic focus on a variety of topics:
including liturgy, spirituality, catechesis, mission, concepts of God, the
nature of Christian community, concepts of the human and community. I
have personally authored many of those articles.
Two of my articles, in particular, would seem to be pertinent to the
topic of this present symposium and especially my presentation. The first,
“Prospects and Problems for Inculturating Images of God”, is an article
which was part of a 1997 collection entitled, Inculturating Images of God.
The second, “Korean Concepts of God”, is to be found in an edited
collection entitled “The Meeting of Eastern and Western Thought” which
was published on the occasion of Rev. Dr. Yu Bong-jun’s sixtieth birthday
in 1991.
Of these two papers, the latter remains a very good summary of the
genesis of ideas which continue to endure and find expression amongst
Koreans today. The former paper, on the other hand, is a synthesis of the
salient points made in a series of thirteen papers sponsored by the Sub-
committee for Inculturation and published under the title of “Researching
the Inculturation of Concepts of God” (April 1991 until July 1993). This
body of research was critiqued and reviewed by both theologians and
academics in related disciplines.
In terms of this symposium as a result, and given the rich body of
research I have already proffered, it really has not been possible for me to
produce a new thesis on the Korean understanding of God. Nevertheless,
this presentation is not simply a summation of past research. Rather, I pro-
pose to explicitly re-evaluate our conceptions of God in light of the
exigencies and dynamic changes of both the 21st century and the historical
context of the Asian Churches and the Korean Church in particular
within the Universal Church. Such a task will be, I believe, more satis-
fying.
2. One of my starting points for this present manuscript is the exi-
gencies of contemporary change which are, at the same time, not only a
fundamental concern for theology but also revealing of the edges of the
Korean conception of God: including, in particular, the heavy emphasis on
the fatherly aspect of God to the detriment, if not exclusion, of the mater-
nal dimension. Thus, my first order of business is to indicate briefly some
of the enduring historical and cultural characteristics of the local concept-
tualization of God. Following this review, I turn to an examination of
aspects of the 21st Century conceptions of God in both Asia and Korea. At
the local level, the genesis of these concepts are, I argue, to be found in
the New Religious Movements of the 19th Century and, particularly, in the
influence of the religion of Cheondogyo or Cheondoism (: :
literally, “Religion of the Heavenly Way”).
II. Pre-Modern Korean Concepts of God
It is my contention that the concept of God held by Koreans prior to
the 19th Century embraces, in distinction to the Semitic Religions (Juda-
ism, Christianity, and Islam), not only a transcendent, paternal God but
also a maternal God who was immanent within all things.
1. Ancient Korean Concepts of God
Ancient civilisation on the Korean Peninsula was agricultural and nat-
urally receptive to transcendent reality and cosmological order. Subject to
the struggles of survival and fear of extinction, people were open to the
idea of Haneul [/ (: Cheon): the heavens, sky], a power greater
than their own skill and effort. Haneul, for the ancients, is not simply a
reference to the space known as the sky or heavens but is a designation
connoting awe and reverence, and thus it was called respectfully Haneul-
Nim as a ‘person’. Notably, the “immanent reality” of this land, and its
embrace of Haneul, gives way to a “transcendent immanence”: namely,
this land has not only provided a suitable location for an agricultural
civilization to flourish over the eons but, even more so, this civilization
has been permeated with the presence of the Spirit of the one, transcen-
dent God. There is, because the Spirit infuses the Cosmos, nowhere where
God is not.2
There dwells, I contend, within the archetypal imagery for God em-
braced by ancient Koreans both father and mother imagery. The myth-
ology of Dangun (: ) supports this contention: a view
that is also consistent with a large body of research from academics across
the board. Dangun, along with the Jumong (: ) and Hyeokkose
(: ) legends, are collectively classified as the foundational
myths of the Korean Nation. These ancient archetypal stories are descent-
2 My opinion aligns with Karl Rahner and his theological work on the universality of salvation and the notion of the “Anonymous Christian”. Rahner, who spent much of his life delving into the biblical and theological implications of God’s universal salvation, is one of the most prominent Catholic theologians of the 20th century. His profound insight, which was to become axiomatic for the Church after Vatican II, posited every human being lives in a supernatural-existential reality that is penetrated by the divine salvific will in which God is always giving of Himself. Cf. Shim Sang-Tai, Anonymous Christian: A Critical Study on Rahnerian Theology, Seoul: Pauline Press, 20082, pp. 93-140.
myths associated with the Constellation of Lyre and the appearance of its
brightest star, Vega. Many academics, myself included, agree that these
myths have three substantive characteristics: an epiphany of the heavenly
deity, regeneration and transformation associated with the mother God-
dess, and the union of heaven and earth leading to the foundation of the
nation.
In the first instance, an important observation must be made about the
Dangun myth: namely, the etymology of Hwanin (: ) as found
in the myth, dates back to the roots of the Gojoseon (Ancient Joseon)
Kingdom (2333 BC-108 BC). The Hwanin epithet, which long predates
the entry of Buddhism into Korea (372 AD), was adopted as the name for
akra (: ), or Lord of the Devas, because of the similarity
of sound of the Chinese characters used in the Buddhist Sutras. In
Buddhist cosmology, akra is the one who is Lord over the vicissitudes of
life and death.3 In previous research I have proposed a tripartite character
for understanding the essence of Hwanin: namely, as Father and Lord of
Heaven (: ) who oversees the world and directly en-
countering earthly history through his son, Hwanung (: ). The
nature of ancient agrarian religious sensibilities, and the importance of
farming for survival, is manifest in the myth of the descent to Mt. Taebaek
of Hwanung accompanied by three “heavenly officials”. Theses three
“Officials” are entrusted by the heavenly God to act as incarnate, func-
tional Gods the demiurges of Wind (: ), Rain (: )
and Clouds (: ) who sustain agricultural productivity.4 Hwan-
ung can be seen as a kind of divine prime minster (: ) of
3 Cf. Lee Byeong-Do, Ancient Korean History, Jindan Hakhoe (ed.), Seoul: Eulyoo Publish- ing Co. (1959), p. 74. 4 Cf. Lee Eun-Bong, Ancient Korean History of Religions: The Structure of Heavenly God, Earthly God and Human God, Seoul: Jipmoondang Publishing (1984), pp. 90-98.
fecundity who, along with these three officials and 3000 followers,
establishes 360 “government ministries” which govern the vicissitudes of
life. These Gods, and other divine beings, found within the Dangun Myth
were believed to be manifestations of, what is categorised as, the fertility
Goddess.5 Furthermore, the ancient Korean belief in the sacredness of,
among others, trees and mountains (tree Gods and mountain Gods) were
valued as tutelary deities of agriculture and incarnations of a transcendent
God.
people across the ancient world. Whilst seemingly children’s stories,
myths come from the dawn of history and convey wisdom particular to
the ancients.6 These child-like stories espouse, practically and pictorially,
profound truths concerning the lives and worldview of the ancients. The
significant content of these myths furnishes a narrative of ancient experi-
ence and ultimate truths. Namely, an objective and descriptive narrative
about the dawn of the cosmos and the emergence of human beings.7
Thus, within the mythic horizon can be seen the ancients’ experience
and understanding of the present as well as the transcendent reality of the
Gods which is concretized in human likeness, the so called personification
of the divinity. Human or non-human, the Gods are given human char-
acteristics and personified as father, king, lord, mother and other feminine
5 Cf. Ibid., pp. 90-126. 6 For the concept of mythology, see M. Eliade, Der Mythos der ewigen Wiederkehr, Düssel- dorf: Patmos, 1953; Myth and Reality, New York: Macmillan, 1963; K.W. Bolle, “Myth: An Overview”, in M. Eliade (editor in chief), The Encyclopedia of Religion X, New York: Macmillan, 1987, pp.261-272; F. Stolz, “Mythos/Mythologie”, in König/Waldenfels (Hrsg.), Lexikon der Religionen, Freiburg: Herder, 1987, 441-446; Jeong Jin-Hong, “Structural Analy- sis of Mythology”, in Introduction to Religious Studies, pp. 109-116. 7 Eliade’s opinion, which is commonly accepted by most historians, is that mythology’s most important role is to provide every single human act, including the rituals, with a paradigm of relevance. Cf. M. Eliade, Myth and Reality, p. 8; Jeong Jin-Hong, ibid., p. 112.
entities. In this, the other-worldly, out-of-time, reality of the Gods and the
after-life is manifested in this world. To those living in time and space, the
jump to God, and the transcendent world of God, appears as a distant real-
ity, a special space immanent within the world. In this, ancient Koreans
were no different from other peoples. They too, personified God with
images of men and women. On the one hand, they held a masculine image
of God which emphasised the divine attributes of particularity and severi-
ty, and, on the other hand, a feminine image which expressed universal
love and fecundity. The feminine dimension of God is confirmed in the
mother-like attributes of caring for, and nurturing, humanity. Intimately
and inseparably associated with sacred and special places, belief in female
Gods, including mountain, water, and ‘sea Gods’ (: ), were un-
derstood to govern not only the vicissitudes of life and death but also
ensure the bounty of agricultural production so necessary for survival.8 In
general, the religiosity of the ancient Korean agrarian society is extensive-
ly pictured, and conceived of, in terms of a mother rather than a father
Godhead.
Within the corpus of Dangun mythology, Hwanin, the heavenly God,
was seen as a sublime and distant being which prompted the need for a
utilitarian God who was close to the lives of the people. For example, the
mountain God, who is a manifestation of God’s son on earth, is the utili-
tarian God who controls life and farming. Ancient Koreans, whose faith in
the descent of God’s son to earth in order to care for and bless human
beings, naturally developed particular kinds of harvest thanksgiving rit-
uals. These rituals, which also honoured the ancestors, were regularly
offered to the Heavenly deity and commemorated the son’s descent to
earth by ritual offerings to the mountain and tree Gods.
8 Cf. Lee Eun-Bong, op. cit., pp. 260-265.
2. The Korean Understanding of God From the Three Kingdoms to the Present
During the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE-916 CE) indigenous Ko-
rean worship of the heavenly God significantly transformed itself through
encountering the three major religious traditions of China: Confucianism,
Buddhism, and Daoism.9 Both linguistically and in historical practice a
new complexity began to emerge as the Confucian concept of heaven, the
Buddhist concept of Sakra devnm Indra (: ), and the
Daoist concept of the great Jade Emperor (: ) were
appropriated into the indigenous religious framework. Semantically, God
began to be addressed with the titles drawn from these religious traditions.
Amongst the more important and influential of which are: the Creator [in
Heaven] (: ), Emperor of Heaven (: ) Sangju (:
) and Cheon or Heaven (: ).
Ancient Koreans, naturally reverential to a heavenly deity, had yet to
become aware of the concept of an immanent divinity. However, follow-
ing the Three Kingdoms Era and through the influence of the Chinese
religions, the Divine Will was manifested and a deeper understanding of
God was appropriated by the people. The wisdom of Confucius provides a
good example: “[The Lord of] Heaven places virtue within me (
).”10 The presence of God’s spirit within people awakens the duty of
mutual respect, the service of God, and reveals the normalisation and uni-
9 Cf. Lim Dong-Gwon, “Korean History of Primitive Religions I: History of Polytheism and Shamanism”, in Anthology of Korean Cultural History VI, vol. 5, Seoul: Korea University Research Institute of Korean Studies (1969), pp. 43-64; Kim Gyeong-Tak, “Korean History of Primitive Religions II: Developmental History of the Understanding of God” in Anthology of Korean History of Culture, vol. 6, Seoul: Korea University Research Institute of Korean Studies (1970), pp. 131-135. 10 Confucius, “Shu R” Ch. 22, in Analects & The Doctrine of the Mean, Zhu Xi (ed.), Han Sang-Gap (tr.), Seoul: Samsung Publishing (1976); Ryu Seung-Gook, op. cit., pp. 44f.
versalisation of humanitarianism and a loving relationship with God.
Koreans of the Goryeo Dynasty worshiped a myriad of Gods, include-
ing the God of Heaven (: ) as the supreme God who presides
over the cosmos; as well as Mountain Gods who resided on certain special
mountains, the Sea God who caused the rain to come for the major rivers,
the God who protected the nation (: ), household Gods who
protected the family, and a series of Goddesses. The code of clan relations
(: ), or the national unifying principle, was derived
from the close relationship between ancestor worship and the Lord of
Heaven. It was believed that the national genealogy could be traced back
to the original ancestors who were born of the heavenly deity (:
). Gradually, moreover, Koreans began to solemnize their funda-
mental sense of gratitude to the ancestors and worship of the Gods, in-
cluding the Lord of Heaven, mountains and water, in various seasonal
rites such as rituals for rain and for thanksgiving.
During the Joseon Dynasty, the ancient understanding of God began to
coalesce around Confucianism and its ideas of a Supreme Being shaped
by the concepts of purpose and fate; righteousness (Mencius); Yin, Yang
and the five elements (Dong Zhongshu; : ); and the neo-
Confucianism of the Cheng-Zhu school based on the teachings of Cheng
Yi, Cheng Hao and Zhu Xi.11 Neo-Confucianism became mainstream
with the advent of Joseon. This cosmic philosophy, with its ideas of nat-
ural law (: ) and propriety (: ), was different to the ori-
ginal ethical-sociopolitical teachings proposed by Confucius and Mencius,
and their ideas of a Heavenly Being. For Koreans of this time, living the
Way of Heaven meant living with “Li” (the basic principle or pattern of
the universe, : ) and virtue (: ).
11 Cf. Lim Dong-Gwon, op. cit., pp. 77-107; Kim Gyeong-Tak, ibid., pp. 149-173.
Such a society is naturally governed by the virtues of reverence (: )
and honesty (: ). Respecting heaven through the practice of the
virtues of reverence and honesty not only reveals the nature of moral
virtue but of religion as well. Towards the end of Joseon, this Confucian
view of the Divine, which promoted an already existing sense of the
transcendent in the human heart, became a stepping stone for prominent
scholars to facilitate the introduction of Christianity in Korea from China
and through texts of Western learning translated into Chinese.12
III. Donghak The Korean Understanding of God in Cheondoism
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, Catholicism, and Christian
thinking, began to make inroads into Joseon society. Moreover, by the end
of the nineteenth century, nationalistic religious movements including
Eastern Learning or Donghak (: ) and Jeung San Do (:
) began to emerge.13 Up until modern times, there was little ac-
knowledgement of the ancient understanding of the divinity which tended
to be submerged in folk religion. However, the impact of Western thought
and the ravages of the Japanese imperial conquest created a crisis which
increased the distress of the people already suffering under an inept and
pitiful monarchy along with a corrupt civil service. Suddenly, within a
context of a steadily worsening national crisis, there emerged from a-
12 Cf. Lee Sung-Bae, Confucianism and Christianity, Waegwan: Benedict Press (1979). 13 Park Chang-Gun, “Su-un’s Philosophy and Cheondogyo”, Cheondogyo Central Church (1970); Jeung San Do, “Korean People and Cheonjigongsa (The work of renewing heaven and earth)”, Seoul: Tae-gwang Publishing (1976); Park Jong-Cheon, “Theological Interpret- ation of Coexistence Philosophy in Dangun Mythology II”, pp. 108-124.
mongst the people new religious movements which achieved an incultura-
tion of the diverse Asian religious traditions already present in Korea,
including Shamanism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, as well as
Western Christianity and philosophies. With Donghak to the fore, these
indigenous movements promoted the rejection and expulsion of foreign
powers and religion in order to relieve the sufferings of the people.
1. It has been one of the key contentions of my research that Donghak
creates a convergence of the historical understandings of God with essen-
tial elements of Western Christianity. Within this convergence, which
helped people to deal with past crises, we can also discern important
truths to help us overcome contemporary crises including the ecological
catastrophe we now face.14
Choe Je-u (1824-1864), often called by his pen name, Su-un (water
cloud), founded the Donghak Movement in the late Joseon period. Em-
ploying the seminal phrase, Si Cheonju (: ) which ex-
presses the idea of carrying God in one’s heart, Su-un posited a faith in
which people could have a direct, first-hand experience of God, called
Hanul-Nim (: ), within the people.15 The essential core idea
14 Cf. Lee Jung-Bae, “Comments on the Inculturation of Protestant Theology” (1991), in The Inculturation of the Understanding of God: Research Materials, Seoul: Catholic Conference of Korea (1995), pp. 215-236; Kim Gyeong-Jae, Hermeneutics and Theology of Religions, Seoul: Korean Theological Institute (1994), pp. 172-186; Anonymous God: Criticism on the Monotheism, Seoul: Sam-in Publishing (2002), pp. 210-216; Park Jong-Cheon, “Theological Interpretation of Donghak”, in Christian Thought 427 (July 1994), pp. 160-176; Ibid., 428 (August 1994), pp. 107-123. 15 Cf. Choi Dong-Hee, “History of Donghak and of Cheondogyo in Korea”, in Korea Univ- ersity Institute of National Culture (ed.), Anthology of Korean Cultural History: History of Religions and Philosophies II, Seoul: Korea University Institute of National Culture Press (1982), pp. 705-866; Moon Myung-Sook, “Donghak’s Understanding of Human”, in Incultur- ation of the Understanding of Human, Seoul: Catholic Conference of Korea (1995), pp. 153- 194; Lee Jung-Bae and Yoon Suk-San, “Contracted and General Discussion on Moon Myung- Sook’s Paper”, pp. 194-207; Kim Ji-Ha, Life, Seoul: Sol Publishing (1992), pp. 17-73, 202-
of Donghak, concerning a humanist experience of God, has remained
constant even though followers have developed this religious vision in
many different ways.
In the year 1860 AD, on the fifth day of the fourth month of the lunar
calendar, Choe, after a long period of sustained study and spiritual exer-
cises received, in a vision, the “Do” (: ) from the singular God,
Cheondo or Sangje).16 Su-un asserts the nature of God is humanistic and
intentional, as opposed to the assertions of Chinese philosophy which po-
sits God as the organising principle of heaven and earth. In his writing he
respectfully applied the honorific title of Haneul-Nim () /Haneunim
() as a liberal translation of the Chinese logogram, Cheonju (:
) or Lord of Heaven. His choice of the pure Korean Haneunim (
) was, he believed, an inherent expression of the authentic, indigenous,
and popular religious sentiment.
Su-un, in evoking a direct, interior, experiential God, was redefining
the God-human relationship.17 For him, Si Cheonju means that we carry,
or bear, God. He explained this meaning in the following way: “‘Si’
means having the Divine Spirit within and expressing the vital force of
life when people realise this they will keep it in their hearts without
change ( ).” 18 In
the same passage he does not refer to “Cheon (Heaven)” alone but uses
the phrase “Lord of Heaven” to further explain his choice: “‘Ju’ refers to
respecting, honouring, and serving God like one’s own parents” (
208; For the text and its translation of Compendium of Eastern Scripture (Compendium hereafter) and of Story from Dragon Pond (Story hereafter) by Choe Je-u will be used Choi Dong- Hee (tr. & annot.), “Compendium of Eastern Scripture and others.” in Il-Yeon et al., Folklore and Religious Philosophies of Korea, Seoul: Samsung Publishing (1976). 16 Cf. Choi Dong-Hee, op. cit., pp. 728ff. 17 Moon Myung-Sook, op. cit., p. 67. 18 Compendium “On Learning” X; cf. “Compendium”, pp. 458ff.
).19 Rather than an ontological abstraction of
Heaven, Su-un points to a God-experience which defines the Lord of
Heaven relationally and humanly, i.e. as serving one’s parents. He
believes that this God is the subject of our prayer and is made manifest in
the cultivation of the generosity of heart, respect, and faith. Su-un’s God
is not an absolute ruler but is within our hearts teaching humanity the path
of right behaviour.
The distinguishing characteristic of the Donghak-Cheondogyo vision
of God is found in Choe Je-u’s insistence that God’s being is not separate
from humans. God is, for Su-un, both the Lord of Heaven and Chigi (:
). He explains this latter idea as follows: “The vital force (Chigi) is
like the mysterious Spirit, and it is vast and full in the universe. It touches
and governs all things. It looks like it has form, but it is difficult to
describe. It seems to have sound, yet it is difficult to understand” (,

).20 Su-un posits a God who is the one
Ultimate Energy that unites and harmonises the vast Universe.21
Choi Je-u proffers two characteristics for the universal nature of Chigi
and the Heavenly Lord. His idea of Chigi/Heavenly Lord cannot be
explained exclusively in the traditional Christian idea of a transcendent
essence because Chigi is not simply the source of all energy and the Heav-
enly Lord is not simply a universal essence. Everything in the Universe
and on earth is in harmony with Hanul-Nim () and being trans-
formed by Mu-wi-E-hwa: “acting nature’s non-action” (:
). He understands God’s essence is a harmony of creation and evolution,
19 Ibid. 20 Compendium “On Learning” IX; Kim Gyeong-Jae, op. cit., pp. 181ff. 21 Cf. Lee Don-Hwa, New Philosophical View on Humankind, Cheondogyo Central Church (31982), p. 30.
where both creative action and creative process are the breath of God’s
life. In this way, Choi understands the transformation of all things is, at
one and the same time, both immanent and transcendent. Moreover,
Hanul-Nim () is not solely a being outside of humanity but is, at
one and the same time, the cause which is outside and inside of all.
As a consequence, God, for Choi, cannot be understood as a supernat-
ural being. Thus, within contemporary Cheondogyo, Hanul-Nim ()
cannot be understood as being governed by particular knowledge or
understanding. That is, Hanul-Nim () is not an abstraction that can
be conceptualised but, just as with one’s parents, experienced in the
service of the one, holy “Nim”. The deity is the personalised essences of
all, transcendent but immanent, absolutely infinite yet, at the same time,
the relative genesis of all change.
Furthermore, Su-un draws a distinction of what can be humanly
known and not known. In the Buryeon Giyeon (: :
“Not so, yet so”) the last body of teaching in the Dongkyeong Daejeon
(, the Great Scriptures of Eastern Learning), Su-un ponders the
epistemological and metaphysical significance of the question of origin.
“Did all these events happen because some leaders had knowledge from
the moment of their birth, or because knowledge developed itself? Even if
one says that they have knowledge from the time of birth, at that stage our
minds are still in darkness, and even if one says that all things happen by
themselves, the Truth is far away and hard to reach.”22
Whilst the origins of all matter are difficult to trace, Su-un posits all
reason ultimately leads to a creative demiurge. “Therefore, those things
which are difficult to determine may be called ‘unknowable’ and those
things which are easy to determine may be called ‘self-evident’. If we
22 Compendium “Buryeon Giyeon (Not So, Yet So)” I; “Compendium”, p. 470.
search for the distant source of all things, it appears again and again to be
‘unknowable’. But if we consider the Creator as the sense of all things,
they appear to be very much ‘self-evident’ and their origin becomes ap-
parent.”23 The pre-condition of oneness with a Creator-Lord of Heaven
sustains the unity of humans with the Universe and, consequently, know-
ing the origin of all things is to know the moral path. The answer to the
ultimate question of humanity and all things is not just to be found in a
Creator-God but must also include the awakening of moral duty.
Su-un insists that all people must cultivate a moral life. “What is a
superior person who does not cultivate the moral life, or understand the
validity of ethics, nor abide by the Samgangoryun (the three bonds and
five relationships in Confucianism)?”24 While respecting the traditional
morality of Confucianism, he sought to establish that this morality was
not inherently static. “Humaneness, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom
(: ) are the virtues taught by former sages. Keeping a
good mind and having the right spiritual force are the virtues established
only by me.”25 In teaching personal morality as the “morality of the
Heavenly Lord”, Su-un moves beyond traditional Confucian morality and
advocates that the way to union with God is found in attending to one’s
true heart. This attending to one’s true heart is achieved through the
practice of being mindful of God and avoiding wicked behaviour (
: ).26 Su-un’s understanding of morality must be seen through
the lens of his experience of the deity.
23 Compendium “Buryeon Giyeon (Not So, Yet So)” V; “Compendium”, p. 472. 24 Story “On Paving the Way” v. 2; cf. “Compendium”, p. 513. 25 Compendium “On Developing the Virtues” IX; cf. “Compendium”, p. 467. 26 Compendium “On Learning” VIII reads, “The “Do” that I received naturally influences the world according the divine providence (Mu-wi-E-hwa). Anyone can be naturally influenced by it when one attends to one’s true heart, follows one’s nature by straightening the tempera- ment and receives the divine teachings”, in “Compendium”, p. 457.
From Su-un’s perspective, human instinct naturally adheres to the
fundamentals of the Universe which conforms to the will of heaven.
Moreover, his respect for social norms and traditional morality is not the
same as blind obedience because the humanistic experience of God is an
experience of the fullness of the universe within and, hence, the expec-
tations of the deity are felt to emanate from deep within his own person.
Humans may be forced to break with social convention and even pay the
price of life on account of their oneness with Hanuel-Nim. He spoke of
achieving this high virtue as like something that becomes vapour.27 Chigi
is, at one and the same time, externally an evaporating, vaporising vital
energy, yet also immanent within all humans and things. Chigi is precisely
the insight of respecting the God who is within all humans and things:
humans carry God through Chigi, and we live within God. This paradox-
ical truth lies at the heart of Su-un’s humanism.
This insight forms the basis of Choi’s idea of Si Cheonju, “I serve or
bear the God within me”. While external to humans, God is not an abso-
lute controller but is intimately present and teaching rightly within the
heart of humans. Therefore, humans are capable of reaching the highest
realms, to become superior persons, because they bear Haneul-Nim (
) within and return to Hanul-Nim (). Furthermore, his insistence
that every person bears God and can serve that God, as with a parent, with
utmost devotion can be seen as not just a rebuke of the rigid exclusivism
of Neo-Confucian dominated Joseon society but, more importantly, the
proclamation of a fundamental human equality.
2. Choe Sihyeong, known as Haewol (1829-1898), became the second
leader of the Donghak-Cheondogyo movement. This revered teacher, in
27 Cf. “Compendium”, pp. 473ff.
the 70th year of his life, was arrested in July 1898 and eventually executed.
Until then, Haewol, despite the persecution of the civil authorities, not
only propagated but, in the light of the demands of his society, developed
Su-un’s teaching of Si Cheonju.28 Thus, in his teaching he proclaimed that
not only humans bear God but likewise all creation bears God. That is to
say, by asserting that heaven is in all things then all things are heaven, he
makes the universalism of heaven into a type of pantheism. Professor
Choe Dong-Hee, a specialist in Donghak, interprets Haewol’s preaching
as a kind of deterministic or willful providence. “That is to say, it is a
praise of God’s omnipotent providence for all things, since all things bear
God and therefore must follow God’s providence.”29
Importantly, Haewol developed the idea of reverence. He did not limit
reverence to God alone but, in the Samgyeongseol or Teaching of Three
Reverences (: ), expanded reverence to include reverence
of Heaven (: ), reverence of humans (: ) and reverence
of things (: ). Hence, contained in the Samgyeongseol and its
command to “reverence humans just as one reverences Hanul-Nim (
) (: )” is the establishment of the idea that “the
human is Hanuel-Nim ()”, or Injeukcheon (: ). “The
human is Heaven (Cheon) and Heaven (Cheon) is a human; outside the
human there is nothing and outside of God there is no human.30 This idea
of Injeukcheon naturally reveals the union of God and humans and,
crucially, there is no need for some kind of third-party, supernatural
mediator between God and humanity.
Haewol extends the concept of Si Cheonju to include the idea of
28 Cf. Choi Dong-Hee, op. cit., pp. 749-759. 29 Choi Dong-Hee, ibid., pp. 754. 30 Cf. Choi Dong-Hee, ibid., p. 757; Lee Don-Hwa, The Founding History of Cheondoism, Seoul: Cheondogyo Central Church (1933), p. 36.
cultivating God, or Yang Cheonju (: ). Since all things, in-
cluding humans, originate from God, then there exists reason within all
things. It is only right, since God’s reason exists within, to reverence all
things. This respect, according to Professor Choe Dong-Hee, which makes
manifest the nature of each and every thing, is not only important but also
different from the form of respecting humans. For example, “Even one
grain of rice must be protected and stored because it nurtures human or
animals”.31 Haewol taught the idea of E-Cheon-Shik-Cheon (:
): that is, “Humans eat rice to grow, God eats God to grow”.
Cultivating moral humanism is achieved through reverencing the reason
within all things: so too, humans bear God within them by cultivating
Hanul-Nim ().
Son Byong-hi (1861-1922) known as Uiam, became the third leader of
the movements. In 1905, he was responsible for changing the name of the
movement from Donghak to Cheondogyo. He developed the movement
into a modern religious system which engages in propagation and socio-
cultural activitism.32 It was, moreover, at this time that the idea “the per-
son is Haneul (Cheon)”, Innaecheon (: ), began to develop.
For Uiam, this designation meant that the idea of bearing Haneul (Cheon)
was, in fact, cultivating one’s heart. Here, the word “heart” carries the
sense of a pure empowerment which “governs” the person (perhaps, it
could be translated as an “affective rationality”). If the heart of all creation
is infused with God, that is Haneul (Cheon), so too, the heart of humans
can be called Haneul (Cheon). Thus, it can be said that the human is God,
or Innaecheon. Indeed, the meaning of Hanuel can be said to be,
Innaecheon, In other words, the logic of Innaecheon is conveyed in the idea
31 Choi Dong-Hee, ibid., p. 758. 32 Cf. Choi Dong-Hee, ibid., pp. 765-780.
that humans are understood as limited heaven, or Sobuncheon (:
), but the essence of human nature is moving towards Heaven,
Cheonji-ri (: ).33 The concept of Innaecheon conveys the
sense that the deity is carried within the individual nature of all people;
and in the discovery of this God is the discovery that the individual’s
subjectivity is God.
Son Byong-hi’s idea of Innaecheon is the codification of Su-un’s Si
Cheonju and Haewol’s Injeukcheon and Yang Cheonju.
IV. The Theological Significance of the Korean Understanding of God
It is my intention in this section to briefly sketch the theological sig-
nificance of the history, from ancient times to the present, of the Korean
understanding of God. I seek to draw on both the archetypal imagery and
the understanding of God present in Donghak-Cheondogyo.
1. The Theological Significance of the Traditional Understanding of God
In previously published research on “the Korean Concept of God” I
proposed that it is possible to discern aspects of the Christian concept of
God in Korean reverence for God since ancient times. It is my published
opinion that the monotheism of Israel and the manifestation of Hwanin in
the Dangun Myth are not that dissimilar. At the time of the conquest of
Canaan by the Chosen People of YHWH, there was a synthesis of the God
33 Cf. Choi Dong-Hee, ibid., pp. 771-773.
of the Chosen people with the “El”, the “Father God” worshipped by the
indigenous population. YHWH became YHWH-El. The God worshipped
by Christians is precisely this YHWH-El. Christians, following Jesus
Christ the Lord who cried out, Abba Father, recognise the God who
speaks and acts as YHWH-El. YHWH-El is one and the same God whom
the Christian Church confesses to be Lord, all powerful and ever living,
infinite and immutable, beyond compare and supreme.34
Hwanin, of the Dangun Myth, can be compared with El of the Hebrew
Scripture. Like El, Hwanin is a Father God who is supreme in heaven and
rules over the whole universe. Hwanin, Lord of all, who maintains the
harmony of the world, displayed his benevolent fatherhood by sending his
son Hwanung along with the three demiurges for the benefit of humanity.
Comparatively, the essence or “godness” of Hwanin and El is expressed
as the will of a father directly binding themselves through their sons,
Hwanung or Baal respectively, with humans and their fortunes. Given the
identification of the father God, El with YHWH, the one and only Al-
mighty God of Israel, and the one whom Christians too confess as Lord,
Creator, and God, it has been my long held opinion that theologically
speaking there is no reason why Hwanin of the Dangun Myth (who sent
his son, Hwanung, to earth along with the three demiurges to spread good
work amongst humans), does not provide sufficient evidence to equate
Hwanin with YHWH -El and the Almighty God of Christian belief.
35 Cf. DH 3001; Gotthold Hasenhuettl, Einführung in die Gotteslehre, Darmstadt (1980), pp.137-142.
2. The Theological Significance of Donghak-Cheondogyo and the Korean Understanding of God
In previous publications I have expounded upon the following aspects
of the Korean concept of God in the light of the Donghak movement and
Cheondoism.
1) There emerged, within the Donghak movement and the Cheondo-
gyo, a syncretic inculturation of the ancient Korean concept of God with
the Asian religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. However, to
my mind, the emergence of this new religious syncretism is no simple
matter but was shaped by the strengths of various religious traditions
interacting with specific historical and material conditions and the new
ideological structures corresponding to the “signs of the times” emerging
within the transitions taking place in Joseon society towards the end of the
nineteenth century.
As we examined above, the God of the Donghak Movement and
Cheondogyo can be understood as the underlying sense of existence: the
transcendent source of all creation who, at the same time, carries the sense
of the inherent uniqueness of being. Separate from the externality of
humans and the world, this God is not the absolute principle subject of
existence but is immanent within humans and the world. The understand-
ing of God emphasised in the Donghak Movement and Cheondogyo
embraces the idea of unity and oneness: particularly, Si Cheonju, Injeuk-
cheon, and Innaecheon.
The emphasis of harmony and fusion within this understanding of God
are formative ideas within the East Asian mind set. This kind of dualistic
thinking is not to be understood as a contradiction of opposites but a
harmony of opposites; thus, for example, reason and the life force (: ;
: ), yin with yang (: ; : ).
2) For many years, I have been engaged in discerning the undertones
of the Christian theology of Inculturation to be found within the Cheon-
dogyo concept of God. This work, especially during the 1980s in the
research and publishing unit on the theology of Inculturation affiliated to
the Journal, Korean Pastoral, was carried out through engagement with
the views of Korean Protestant theologians and at the particular urging of
the writer and commentator, Professor Lee Jung-Bae of Methodist Semin-
ary. Professor Lee has consistently argued the need to start from an his-
torically sensitive understanding of the impact on civilization from mas-
sive changes in the money system as a means for beginning to understand
the concept of God within the Donghak movement and Cheondogyo.35
Lee points to the patriotism of the Donghak Movement which appear-
ed during the breakdown of the 500-year-old Joseon Dynasty at the end of
the 19th Century. He argues that, in the wake of breakdown of the ruling
ideology of Joseon Society, including its Monism, Neo-Confucianism and
the policy of suppressing Buddhism, there emerged a redefinition of the
human-nature-cosmic relationship; namely, an awakening of an inclusive
cosmic and ecological consciousness. For him, the concept of Chigi pro-
moted by Cheondoism is not a simple adoption of the Chinese concept of
“Gi” (: ) but, absorbed into Si Cheonju, is a form of Korean style
pantheism which both critiques the personal God of Western Christianity
and is a challenge to scientific civilization. Both Chinese Philosophy and
Donghak-Cheondogyo tend to agree in designating “Gi” as the power that
36 Cf. Lee Jung-Bae, “Comments on the Inculturation of Protestant Theology” (1991), in The Inculturation of the Understanding of God: Research Material, pp. 215-236; Koreanized The- ology of Life as Systematic Theology, Seoul: Methodist Theological University Press (1996).
generates heaven and earth and the source of all extant life. However,
Neo-Confucianism and other Chinese philosophies accentuate Gi as an
inevitable attribute of nature. On the other hand, Donghak conceives of
‘Gi’ as developing into a personal God. “Chigi, which permeates humans
and all things and evaporates into external reality, is not only the funda-
mental energy within all things, living and inanimate, but also is the
Almighty, Living God.”36 Realising that all life is one and inter-related,
this theory of Chigi has the objective of overcoming any individualised
concepts with the respectful awareness of Si Cheonju, as the Living God
present within all beings; the energy of the universe is one and the same
energy which is within the individual. That is to say, the idea of Si Cheon-
ju implies the existence of God within the individual and is not only the
prerequisite for personal relationship with God but also inter-human re-
lationships: namely, “the awakening of the universe, the awakening of so-
cial community and the awakening of the ecosphere”. Lee interprets Su-
un’s religious experience of Si Cheonju as a desire for the people to obtain
the highest level of virtue.37
Lee holds that the theory of Chigi, with its personal but not personal
aspect of God, must be interpreted from within the dynamics of discover-
ing God within the Korean historico-cultural reality and not from the
perspective of Western Environmentalism. More fundamentally, we must
pay attention to the fact that this theory must be seen as an expression of
the East Asian idea of the fundamental oneness of all life and is, in fact, a
Korean expression of God saving the world.
The Cheondogyo idea of Si Cheon is, as mentioned earlier, accom-
panied by the idea of Yang Cheon which supports the realization of con-
36 Cf. Lee Jung-Bae, “Comments on the Inculturation of Protestant Theology” (1991), p. 233. 37 Cf. Lee Jung-Bae, “Discussion on Moon Myung-Suk’s The Concept of Human of Dong- hak”, in The Inculturation of the Concept of Human, pp. 194-199.
scious morality as well as the cultivation and growth of the cosmic energy
which is within all things. The nature of cosmic life means, above all else,
that all cosmic beings have their own interiority and purpose to which
humans have an active role and particular responsibility. Professor Lee in
evaluating the appropriateness of the Christian symbolic system observes
that a truly indigenous viewpoint would widen the horizon of Christian
self-understanding. He asserts the God-centred perspective of Christianity
results in a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept of “Si” which
comes about from a false dogma of life that causes a misreading of the
Korean foundations of the concept. A Korean view of God would be not
only simultaneously humanistic yet not humanistic but also promote an
eschatology which places God within the ecosphere.
To sum up, Professor Lee, in his search for an appropriate Christianity
for the Korean context, turns to Donghak-Cheondogyo as his starting
point in discovering principles which are, at the same time, both culturally
specific and globally engaged. For him, Chigi is the Spirit of God which
can be re-mythologized or remodeled as a mother Goddess. This remodel-
ing, he asserts, means re-envisaging God through the metaphor of
“Mother” which, unlike the traditional understanding of a transcendent
being governing the external relationships of the universe, embraces an
organic reality that voluntarily eschews self in order to affirm an essence
of immanent love.
Professor Lee, at this juncture, turns to examine the issue from the per-
spective of a Christian academic. “God, who is like a mother, is organi-
cally related to everything and has an essence of self-giving, and Jesus is
the great life of the world and the essence of joy, thus churches are places
where the spirit of “si” is fostered and realized. Taking this one step
further, Donghak guides the way Christianity is realized. While Christian-
ity tries to extricate itself from the idea of the world of mythology and
god/human feedback relationship, Donghak, which does not sit comfort-
ably with the moribund religions of Asia, presents a God who is Chigi:
namely, the rediscovery of the dynamic of the personal which is not per-
sonal. Therefore, in the 21st Century and this second axial period, an en-
lightened Donghak, having taken on aspects of Confucianism, Buddhism,
Daoism, and Western thought is, in practice, Christianity’s teacher of
grace (faith).”38 Having reflected deeply on Professor Lee’s insights, I
have to say that I agree, for the most part, with his position.
V. Concluding Remarks
My intention in this paper, as I said at the outset, is to outline and
establish, through an historical review, the Korean context for the contem-
porary desired-for-image of God.
From the perspective of Dogmatic Theology, I have personally been
involved in seeking to understand and research the “signs of the times”
which have been presenting themselves in this unique historical moment
of change. Indeed, since the 1970s I have taken seriously the call by the
Federation of Asian Bishops Conference (FABC) for an evangelization
which promotes the message of the Gospel by taking seriously the cultural,
religious, and social realities of Asia. In particular, I draw attention to the
Extraordinary Synod of Asia (1988), prior to the FABC’s Year of Dialogue
in 2000. At this inclusive yet autonomous event, the Bishops expressed a
wish for a creative engagement with the religious spirit of the Continent in
order to develop a theological stance which gives proper expression to the
38 Lee Jung-Bae, ibid., p.185.
face of the Church in Asia. Many of the Bishops remarks are pertinent to
this present Symposium.
The Bishops, at the Extraordinary Synod, expressed the need for a
theological vision of God for the Asian Churches which emphasised “cre-
ative harmony” as opposed to the traditional Western concepts of “distinc-
tion” and “difference”.39 They, and I have long cherished a similar under-
standing, promote the view that the God of Asia embraces a God of Com-
passion for all things. In practice this means the Asia Church, in its teach-
ing and art, tends to place more emphasis on the motherhood of God in
contrast to the Western Church’s perspective of an explicit separation
between God and the Cosmos and an emphasis on the fatherhood of God.
In this 21st Century moment of considerable and profound change, I
believe that, whatever else, the contours of debate and discernment of a
theology about God for the 3rd Millennium must be grounded in the
concrete experience and reality of humanity and, indeed, all creation,
especially the experience of the poor, alienated and oppressed people as
well as the severely desecrated environment. Moreover, it will be
necessary to create a new theological paradigm: a Pneumatology which
respects a multiplicity of charisms and prioritises the integrity of not just
humans but the whole of creation. I pray you can discover these values in
my paper.
Finally, I wish to conclude my humble manuscript with a quotation from
the international theologian, Cardinal Walter Kasper who was a guest
speaker at an International Symposium honouring the Year of Faith hosted
by the Institute of Korean Christian Thought. As part of his contribution
39 The National Catholic Reporter, an American weekly paper, carried the official response of the Japanese Church to the Vatican. I have used the Japanese response as the source of this paper: cf. “Official Response of the Japanese Church to the Lineamenta”, in National Catholic Reporter, March 27, 1998, pp. 10-12.
entitled, “Discerning the shape and direction of faith and culture in the
Korean Church” (October 2012), the Cardinal offered the following re-
flection: “[…] In the first instance, we cannot easily overlook the under-
standing of God in the East and the West and its impact upon formation of
a life of faith. Traditionally, Western Christianity makes an explicit
distinction between the transcendence and immanence of God in relation-
ship to the Cosmic world, emphasising the fatherly dimension of God
expressed as a vertical relationship along with a legalistic approach to the
world and church order. Eastern Asians, however, tend to privilege the
compassion and immanence of God in creation over the transcendent
dimension. That is, the understanding of the truth of the human life world
and, indeed the essence of all created reality is a “transcendent imam-
nence” which, since time immemorial, is a transcendent God who cannot
be separated from the undivided energy that embraces and permeates all
existence. Therefore, it is possible to find within the long history of the
indigenous agricultural society of this place an extensive array of religious
art which portrays images of the mother Goddess as opposed to those of a
transcendent father God. The Church of Christ finds within the landscape
of East Asian Religions a convergence of the unifying and universalising
feminine dimension of God. This dimension, which is more than an
invitation into the presence of a benevolent deity, becomes, for those who
seek the truth of salvation in a context of alienation and insatiable thirst
for redemption in this world, a joyful engagement with the all-encom-
passing fellowship of God.40
40 Cf. “Special Discourse between Cardinal Walter Kasper and Msgr. Shim Sang-Tai”, in Korean Christian Thought 21 (2013), pp. 335ff.
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The National Catholic Reporter, an American weekly paper, carried the official re-
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pp. 10-12. Received: 7 April 2016 Reviewed and Edited: 19 May 2016 Finalized for Publication: 11 June 2016
Abstract

This paper begins with a discussion of the contours of ancient religion
in Korea. The starting point is an analysis of the indigenous mythology of
Dangun and the divine image of Hwanin along with the concept of Haneul.
The focus then turns to the transformation of the concept of God, espe-
cially noting the emergence of the word, Cheon (: ), which came
with the arrival of the Chinese religions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and
Taoism. This overview is given in order to establish an important conten-
tion of this paper that the concept of God held by Koreans prior to the 19th
Century embraces, in distinction to the Semitic Religions (Judaism, Chris-
tianity, and Islam), not only a transcendent, paternal God but also a mater-
nal God who was immanent within all things. Moreover, it is contended,
there is sufficient evidence to equate Hwanin of the Dangun myth with
YHWH-El and the Almighty God of Christian belief.
The central concern of this paper focuses on the understanding of God
which emerges within the new religious movements that appeared towards
the end of the 19th Century. The particular focus is on the Donghak (East-
ern Learning) movement founded by Choe Je-u (Su-un). Su-un, the paper
contends, established a faith based on the concept of a God (Lord of
Heaven) called, Si Cheonju, whom is conceived as a direct experience of
“carrying or bearing God”. God is Chigi, the vital force or energy pervad-
ing the universe, which is both the transcendent and the immanent Lord of
all. God is the paradox within all humans and things. We carry God
through Chigi, which is, at one and the same time, externally an evaporat-
ing, vaporising vital energy, yet also immanent within all humans and
things. Other key concepts of the Donghak divinity which are developed
and analysed are Hanul-Nim (: ), Haneul-Nim (),
Injeukcheon (: ), Yang Cheonju (: ), and In-
naecheon (: ). The inspiration of Donghak leads to a funda-
mental insight the idea of “transcendent immanence”.
Using these fundamental insights, this paper turns to examine the con-
temporary moment and its issues of injustice, poverty, alienation and eco-
logical collapse. A Korean view of God, it is argued, would be not only si-
multaneously humanistic yet not humanistic but also promote an eschat-
ology which places God within the ecosphere. In order to adequately ap-
preciate the opportunity which is provided by an enlightened Donghak,
the reader is challenged to re-envisage God through the metaphor of
“Mother” which, unlike the traditional understanding of a transcendent
being governing the external relationships of the universe, embraces an
organic reality that voluntarily eschews self in order to affirm an essence
of immanent love. The essay concludes with the words of Cardinal Walter
Kasper commenting on the Mother Goddess image which is not just a sat-
isfying image but an invitation to all those who seek the truth of salvation
in a context of alienation and insatiable thirst for redemption in this world,
a joyful engagement with the all-encompassing fellowship of God.
Key Words: Dangun, Hwanin, Haneul, Cheon, Donghak, Eastern Learning, Choe Je-u, Su-un, Si
Cheonju, Chigi, Hanul-Nim, Haneul-Nim, Injeukcheon, Yang Cheonju, Innaecheon,
Transcendent Immanence, Mother Goddess.

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