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DIALOGUE
Pentecostalism
Indigenous
Oriental
Allan H. Anderson
115
in East
Asia:
Christianity?
in the
religious
The extent of Pentecostal diversity
Pentecostalism
the Pentecostal and charismatic
forms of
Christianity
of the Orient has seldom been
recognized. Many
forms of
in much of the world are
fundamentally
phenomenon
different from in the western world.
pas- soci-
This was
brought
home
quite forcibly
on a visit to Korea in April-May 1998 at the invitation of a former student and Korean Pentecostal tor.’ A visitor to South Korea soon notices that this is a pluralistic ety
that has
been,
in the words of David
Martin, “exposed
to
religious
and cultural radiation from the USA
Pentecostal)
ular had
During
visits to various church-
Methodist and
evangelicalism
in partic-
es of the main three Protestant
groupings (Presbyterian,
and
many
discussions with Korean
pastors
and theolo- gians,
the influence from North American conservative
was
apparent. Yet, Christianity
in general and Pentecostalism
taken on a distinctive form in Korea that was indeed different from that found in the West. Observers who have tried to emphasize the “North American” nature of Pentecostalism
the “Americanization” of
Christianity
transformation
throughout
the world or in Africa, Korea and elsewhere
and the selective
often miss this
important
fact. Creative’ innovations
of
“foreign” symbols
is constantly
occurring,
and natu- rally,
a synthesizing process takes
place
as new
religious
forms interact with older ones. Because of a personal interest in “non-western” forms of Pentecostalism and
many years
of research
of Korean Pentecostalism
among indigenous
was
certainly research into Chinese
indigenous
African
forms,
this
experience fascinating.
In
addition, preliminary Christianity
had made me wonder whether there were
any parallels
(Oxford, England:
‘ Rev Choi Sung Woon, MA graduate of the University of Birmingham. 2David Martin, Tongues of Fire: The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America
Blackwell, 1990), 135.
1
116
growth
of Pentecostalism in the
remarkable non-western
nary
Korean Pentecostalism in
particular
between the two
very
different contexts of Africa and East Asia that might help explain `the
world. This article
attempts
to formulate a few
prelimi-
and tentative
principles,
and is not intended to be definitive.
is examined after a more
general
Asia where the Pentecostal Philippines
and China.
discussion of Pentecostalism in other countries of East and South East
impact
has been
greatest:
in
Indonesia,
The Growth
of Pentecostalism
Excluding the
predominantly
the
in Asia
East,
it was
estimated
that
the former Soviet Union countries of Central Asia and
Muslim Middle
Christians formed 8% of the total
population
of Asia in
1990,
some 229
million
people.
Of this
number, Pentecostals and charismatic tion. The
greatest
there were at least 50 million
Protestants,
22% of the Christian
popula-
increase in Christian adherence took
place during
the 1980s,
when the number of
evangelicals
ed that there are more
evangelicals
three countries:
among
Pentecostals.3
forms of
Christianity ine some of
trances
as the means
by of Indian
Christianity.
Notably,
the
doubled. It has been estimat- in Asia
today
than in the entire
in Asia was that associ-
western world. However, most of the recent
growth
has taken
place
in
China,
South Korea and
Indonesia,
and that
mainly
Harvey
Cox
speaks
of “the
rapid spread
of the Spirit-oriented
in Asia.”4 This article will exam-
the
possible
reasons for this
development.
One of the earliest Pentecostal movements
ated with the 1905-1907 revival that occurred at a
girls’
home in Pandita Ramabai’s mission in
Mukti,
India. There it was
reported
that girls
were
“baptized by
the
Spirit”
and had seen
visions,
fallen into
and
spoken
in tongues. Ramabai herself understood this revival
which the
Holy Spirit
was
creating
an
indigenous
form
Mukti revival seems to have
pre- ceded and to have been unrelated to the Azusa Street
revival,5
often
as the cradle of Pentecostalism.
seems to have had
significant
increases in India
only recently,
there are now some three million Pentecostals in this
country.
Revival move- ments, particularly
in the north-east states
of Nagaland
in the
1980s,
have made a significance
regarded
Mizoram
4Harvey Cox, Reshaping of Religion
Although
Pentecostalism
in 1976 and difference to
religious
3Patrick Johnstone, Operation World (Carlisle, UK: OM Publishing, 1993), 42-43.
Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal
Spirituality
and the
in the Twenty-first Century (London, England: Cassell, 1996), 214.
5Shamsundar M. Adhav, Pandita Ramabai
(Madras,
India: Christian Literature
Society, 1979), 216.
2
117
affiliation there. There are also
significant
and
growing
Pentecostal movements in the South East Asian countries of
Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Malaysia
and
Singapore.
In this
region,
one
might
also
speak of the “Pentecostalization” of most Protestant forms of
Christianity
as having
taken
place.
There are
possibly
six million Pentecostals in
Indonesia,
3% of the total
population
in a
country
that is 80%
Muslim.6
The “Indonesian Revival,”
which
began
in 1965 after the overthrow of Sukarno’s
gov- ernment,
started in West Timor and
spread
to Java. Over two million Javanese
people
became Christians between 1965 and
1971,
estimated to be the
biggest
ever conversion of Muslims to
Christianity.7
The Pentecostal churches
gained
more members
during
this revival than any
other denominations
did,
one
growing
from
100,000
members in 1963 to
400,000
five
years
later.8
According
to one
source, by
1990 three of the four
largest
Protestant churches in Indonesia were Pentecostal,
the
largest
of
which,
the Pentecostal Church of
Indonesia, had almost
1,3 million members.9
In the
Philippines,
Pentecostals have
grown
to such an extent,
espe- cially
since the
1980s,
that
they
are now
regarded
as a serious
challenge to the Catholic Church. 0 One
study
conducted in the late sixties esti- mated that Pentecostal churches with one third the number of
foreign missionaries were
growing
twelve times as fast as non-Pentecostal church
groups.
The
largest group
is the Assemblies of
God,
but there are
many
other Pentecostal
–
–
groups mainly
with North American connections
totalling
some 1.8 million affiliates in 1990. In addi- tion,
new
independent
Pentecostal or charismatic churches have
sprung up recently,
as
they
have in
many
other
parts
of the Third World. One of these is the Jesus is Lord
Fellowship,
founded
by
Ed Villaneuva in 1978,
which
grew
to
300,000
members in ten
years.
The Cathedral of Praise in Manila had
14,000
members. The Bread of Life Ministries began
with 27 members in 1983 and had
6,000
members in thirty local churches
by 1990, attributing
its
rapid growth
to the
personal
care of new converts and
neighborhood
`.`cell groups” presided over
by
trained
6Johnstone, Operation World, 293.
7 Avery
T. Willis, Indonesian Revival:
Why Two Million Came to Christ (South Pasadena,
CA: William Carey Library, 1977), Xv.
8 Jim Montgomery, New Testament Fire in the Philippines (Manila, Philippines: C- Grip, 1972),
20.
9Johnstone, Operation World, 292.
lORobert C.
Salazar, ed.,
New Religious Movements in Asia and the
Pacific Islands:
Implications for
Church and
Society (Manila, Philippines:
De La Salle University, 1994),
190.
3
118
leaders. I
I
This has become Pentecostalism.
a
strong
Chinese
Indigenous
the case
government lion. Whatever
taken
place
emphasis
of East Asian
Churches
in China
today, especially
in
house churches. One unofficial
Pentecostal
There were an estimated five million Christians in mainland China at the time of the exodus of western missionaries in 1949. It is extreme- ly
difficult to assess church
membership
of movements
unrecognized
and
unregistered by
the
govern- ment. In
1990,
one estimate
put
the number at around 75
million,
but
figures
are much
lower, admitting
to no more than 20 mil-
the
truth,
there has nevertheless been a remarkable growth
of
Christianity
in China
recently,
most of which has
probably
in
unregistered indigenous
estimate of the number of people in Chinese house churches
put
it at 47 million in
1990,
and
many
of these are
rapidly growing
The differences between these
indigenous
and
indepen- dent churches and forms of Pentecostalism
and
may
be likened to the
phenomena
African forms of
Christianity
sciously rejected
western forms. 12 Chinese churches have
developed
in
type groups.
siderable,
churches,
where
distinctively
isolation from the rest of
Christianity Chinese
independent
1949. China has
experienced
found in the West are con-
of African initiated
have con-
for at least
fifty years.
The first
Church,
was
1930-32. The and
Presbyterians
church,
the China Jesus
Independent
founded in 1906 in Shanghai by Yu Kuochen, with
30,000
members
by
extensive revivals this
century,
in partic- ular the Manchurian revival of 1908 and the
Shandong
of
latter was more
specifically Pentecostal,
when
Baptists
received
“Spirit
Revival
baptism,”
with manifestations of
people being
hurled to the
ground, “holy laughter,” all-night prayer
and
healings.
As
they
were excluded from
Baptist
and
revival
leaders formed a loose
Gifts
Society.13
The
meetings
Presbyterian churches,
Chinese Pentecostal association called Chinese
independent
were faced with severe Movement.”
the
Spiritual
churches
grew rapidly
at a time when churches
opposition
Three of the
largest
of these
churches,
Church,
the Jesus
Family,
and the Little Flock/ Local Church/ Christian
African University
from the “Anti-Christian
the True Jesus
‘ ‘ 1 Salazar, Nerv Religions Movements, 194-199.
l2Allan H. Anderson, Zion and Pentecost: The Spiritualitv and
Experience of
Pentecostal and
Zionist/Apostolic
Churches in South
Africa (Pretoria:
of South Africa Press, 1999).
‘
13Daniel H. Bays, “Christian Revival in China, 1900-1937,” in Modern Christian Revivals, ed. Edith L. Blumhofer and Randall Balmer (Urbana,
IL: University of Illinois Press, 1993), 162, 173-174.
4
119
Assembly churches, may
be considered
Pentecostal,
and are referred to in China as “Old Three- Self’ churches.
They
have been in conflict with the
government-recognized
union of churches called the Three-Self Patriotic Movement
(TSPM)
for half a century. This conflict resulted in their
banning during
the 1950s as promoters of “American
imperialism, feudalism and
capitalism,”
the “unlawful activities” of faith
healing and
exorcism,
and the “immoralities” of
“spiritual
dance.”I4
All church activities in
China, including
those of the
TSPM,
were banned in
1966,
but recommenced at the end of the 1970s after which there
appears
to have been
rapid growth. 15
The Chinese churches that re-emerged,
in the words of Daniel
Bays,
“revealed some
striking
con- tinuities with the earlier
period
of revivalism.”16 The house church movements are
widely diverse,
but are characterized
by being “usually vibrant in faith,
evangelistic
in outreaching, fundamentalist in doctrine, informal in
liturgy, spontaneous
in development, and flexible in struc- ture.”17 Daniel
Bays
asks whether this Chinese
type
of revivalism “is a
handy
and effective means for
indigenous
Christian leaders to break free of domination
by [foreign]
missions.”18 We will
briefly
sketch the background
to the three most
prominent
“Old Three-Self’ churches in what follows.
Paul Wei founded the International
Assembly
of the True Jesus Church
(TJC)
in 1917 in
Beijing
as the “Restored True Jesus Church of All Nations.” After Wei died in
1919, Zhang Lingsheng
succeeded him, from a Pentecostal mission
background.19
The TJC was a
radically anti-foreign independent
church that owed much of its
early growth
to the efforts of three
preachers
led
by
Barnabas
Zhang,
who travelled the length
and breadth of China on
foot, reporting many signs
and mira- cles, establishing
churches and
baptizing
thousands.
By 1929,
the TJC was found
throughout China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia
and
Hong Kong, emphasizing
deliverance from demons and
opium
addiction,
and the
healing
of the sick as its main attractions.20
By
1949 there were over 700 churches with over
100,000
members.21 Government
opposi- tion to the church
increased,
and in 1958 the TJC was
banned,
and it
_
14Bridge: Church Life in China Today 54:7; 62:11,
13. Br-idge, edited by Deng Zhaoming,
is a publication of the Christian Study Centre on Chinese ‘
Religion and Culture in
Hong Kong.
15Salazar,
New Religious Movements, 70.
16Bays,
“Christian Revival,” 174.
‘
I ?Salazar,
New REligious Movements, 50.
? gBays,
“Christian Revival,” 175.
19Bridge 62:5,
63:3.
“Christian REvival,” 170; Bridge 63:5-7.
21 Allen J.
20Bays,
Swanson, Taiwan: Mainline versus Independent Church Growth: A Study
in Contrasts (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1970), 43.
.
5
120
the fastest
growing churches,
mation church
in mainland
almost whole
villages
in China
the – grew rapidly.22
By
over
200,000
in
was
only
able to recommence
openly
in 1980. In Taiwan it was one of
with over
28,000
members
by
1968. The emigration
of Chinese to Europe and North America resulted in the for-
of the TJC in the West.
During
the Cultural
Revolution,
China,
forced
underground,
1993,
an estimated 30% of Protestants
Jiangsu province
alone
–
were members of the
TJC,
and in some areas
were converted in this church. The church has also suffered from
many schisms, including
former leaders who have left and
according
to one
observer,
have become Chinese “Christs.”23 The TJC is probably unlike
any
other Pentecostal church in the world.
be
rigidly exclusivist, considering
itself the
only
“true”
(non-Trinitarian)
It is
reported
to
church,
and is a “Oneness” Members observe the Sabbath
which a sacrament speaking
Spirit.
The international
Pentecostal church. and the Ten
Commandments,
both
in run-
for
salvation,”
after
in the
adults and children are
baptized by
immersion face downward ning
water in the name of Jesus as
“important
of foot
washing
is held.24 This movement
practices
in
tongues, trembling, singing, leaping
and
dancing
leadership
of the church is
presently
adminis- tered from
Taiwan,
but the
political
tension between Taiwan and the mainland means that the mainland church remains isolated. The 1992 church statistics
reported
churches
throughout
Asia and as far afield as West Africa and South America. Outside the TJC
Asia, however,
indigenous
Pentecostal
church, is the Jesus
Family,
founded
by
in
1921,
a communitarian
Members live
simply,
Savings
Society
remains a wholly Chinese church.25
The second
prominent
Chinese although
much smaller
numerically, Jing Dianying
Pentecostal
work hard and contribute to church.
1921,
a co-operative
mid
1920s,
reeling co-operative
and
steadily joined
the
community
natural
families,
and commit
at
Mazhuang, Shandong
group forbidding private ownership.
the
community
after the
pattern
of the
early
Jing
and others established a Christian in
store
attempting
to meet the needs of the
socially marginalized.
After
Jing’s
contact with a Pentecostal
the Jesus
Family
was formed. The
Family
started a silk
community
in the
increased
in numbers. Those who
totally
to the
community.
China and
by
1949
home
had to renounce “the
world,”
their
allegiance
to
themselves
Soon other
Family
homes were set
up throughout
there were 127 communities with over
20,000
members. The
original
in
Mazhuang
was the
largest
with over 500
members,
100
22Bridge 41:8; 62:9-12, 63:9-10. 23Salazar, New Religious Movements, 79. 24Salazar, New Religious Movements, 78.
25Bridge 63:11, 14.
6
121
houses and at least ten
working
units. In
1952,
after
Jing
was arrested on several
charges including imperialism
and
anti-communism,
the Family
was
officially
dissolved and
severely repressed.
In spite of this, the movement continued and in
1977, meetings
resumed in Mazhuang. The old
meeting place
was restored
by
1984 and a
two-story
hostel commenced in 1988.
By 1992,
there were an estimated 23 families con- stituting
100
people
in the
Mazhuang community.
The
largest Family group today
is in
Feng
Jia
Wang She,
where members run what was claimed to be the
only
Christian
hospital
in China. Most Christian groups
in central
Shandong
are of
Family background,
and their influ- ence remains in other
provinces. Apart
from the
strong
sense of com- munity,
other characteristic
Family
beliefs that remain are
early
mom- ing
emotional
prayer meetings
with loud
crying,
simultaneous
prayer and manifestations of the
Spirit
like
speaking
in
tongues, trances,
rev- elations
through dreams,
visions and other
means,
and
sharing
testi- monies.26 These
phenomena
are not
peculiar
to this
movement,
how- ever,
as
they
characterize Pentecostal movements all over the world.
The third “Old Three-Self’ church is known
widely
in China vari- ously
as the Christian
Assembly,
the Local Church and the Little
Flock, possibly
the
largest
and best-known of the Chinese
indigenous
church- es,
and founded
by
Ni
Doushen,
better known in the West as “Watchman Nee”
(1903-1972).
Ni found traditional
Christianity
unsat- isfactory,
denounced denominations and
resigned
his
membership
of the Methodist
Episcopal
Church.27 In 1924 he set
up
a Christian book room in Fuzhou and
began writing
the first of
many
devotional books for which he was to achieve international acclaim.28 In 1928 he moved to
Shanghai,
and
together
with
Wang
Peizhen
(a woman)
and Li Yuanru,
set
up
the first
“Assembly Hall,”
the name
given
to the church’s
meeting place. By
1932 there were over
twenty Assembly Halls,
each one
autonomous,
and a total
of 4,000
followers. In 1935 Ni had an
experience
of
being
filled with the
Spirit,
and a new
emphasis entered his
meetings.
There is some doubt as to whether Ni
may
be called
Pentecostal,
as he is thought to have
rejected
ecstatic manifesta- tions like
speaking
in
tongues,
faith
healing
and
spiritual
dance. One observer, however, says
that Ni
spoke
in tongues
himself,
and that the movement has
developed
into a Pentecostal movement.29
26Bridge 34:17; 54:8, 11-14. See also Norman H. Cliff, “The Life and Theology of Watchman Nee, Including a Study of the Little Flock Movement which He Founded” (Ann Arbor,
MI: University Microfilms International, 1987).
27 Bridge 56:2, 4.
28The best known of Watchman Nee’s books might be a popular commentary on Romans entitled The Normal Christian
Life (Bombay,
India:
Gospel Literature Service, 1957).
29Bridge
56:8.
7
122
In 1945 Ni invited his friend Li
–
Changshou
–
better known in the West as “Witness Lee” to work with him in
Shanghai. They began teaching
that Christians must “surrender” their
personal possessions
to the
church,
a doctrine for which
they
were later accused of exploitation. A
training program
was initiated and a
strategy
for the
evangelization of China in fourteen to fifteen
years
was launched. This
strategy included
“gospel emigration,”
when believers left the coastal cities for the
unevangelized
interior. In
1949,
in the face of the Communist inva- sion,
Li and
many
other believers fled to Taiwan. Ni found it increas- ingly
difficult to reconcile his business interests with the
anti-capitalist policies
of the new
government. Furthermore, Assembly
Christians were
pacifists
and did not
support
Chinese involvement in the Korean War. Ni was arrested in 1952 as leader of a
“counter-revolutionary clique,”
and was tried in Shanghai in 1956, accused of
stealing
nation- al
medicine,
information and
property.
In
1954, Assembly
leaders
boy- cotted the
launching
of the Three Self Patriotic Movement
(TSPM). Many
other leaders were arrested as counter-revolutionaries in 1955 and 1956.
Apparently
with the
support
of the
TSPM,
Ni and other Assembly
leaders were
publicly
denounced.3° Ni was
imprisoned
for twenty years
in
Shanghai
under conditions of extreme
hardship,
until his release
just
before his death in 1972. He
probably
has had more of an influence on
global
Pentecostalism than
any
other Asian this centu- ry, particularly through
his
popular
devotional books that made him one of the best-known Chinese Christian leaders of all time.31
Meanwhile,
Li
Changshou’s
move to Taiwan resulted in the
rapid growth
of the church there, and Li became head of the
Assembly
move- ment after Ni’s
imprisonment.
In effect,
political
realities meant that Li was isolated from the mainland Assemblies.
By
1955 there an estimat- ed
50,000
followers in
Assembly
Halls in
Taiwan,
the second
largest church
there, mainly consisting
of Mandarin
Chinese,
but the move- ment was soon racked
by
schism.32 Li became
increasingly
authoritar- ian, excommunicating
all who
challenged
his
authority.
He
began
to teach controversial doctrines, so that
by
1984 the
membership
in Taiwan had declined to 10,000.
Among
these
teachings
were a “Oneness” view of the
Trinity,
and the
“mingling
of God with human- ity”
to produce “God-men.” But one of the main characteristics of Li’s movement was his
teaching
of
“calling
on the
Lord,” “yelling”
or “cry- ing,” resulting
in the
group
under Li becoming known as the “Yellers.” Like the True Jesus
Church,
this church
rejected
all other churches. Li moved to Los
Angeles
in
1962,
and
by
1985 there were about
8,000
30Bridge 56:9, 20.
31Cliff, “Watchman Nee,” 58, 298. 32Swanson, Taiwan, 171,
192..
8
123
followers of the Local Church in 95 Assemblies in the
USA,
with about
many
of whom
were not Chinese. over Li’s
authoritarianism,
and he of several leaders. In the USA and
30,000
members
worldwide, Controversy continued, particularly fought
lawsuits and the
resignations Taiwan Li
encouraged
nate his books and
recordings.33
believers to “infiltrate” into China and dissemi-
Li died
recently
amidst
controversy,
and his
remaining
interests in the USA have been taken over
by
a North
American.
their
distinctiveness, third
“illegal”
launched an offensive
against
Taiwan,34
sequently.
The Yellers “Justification nous
groups
like “All-Scope”
whilst
retaining
in 1982. Most Local Church/ are not Yellers. The TSPM
group
In
China,
the Local Church has divided into those that are
integral- ly part
of the
TSPM,
those that
accept
its
leadership
and the
majority
who refuse to join it. Within this
group
are a
minority
of followers of
Li,
the
“Yellers,” who were declared
counter-revolutionary
Little Flock
people
in
China, however,
the Yellers in
1983,
which intensified after an
alleged
leader was arrested and executed in 1984 for
spying
for
and
many
Yeller leaders were arrested and
imprisoned
sub-
in China are also known in some circles as the
by
Faith”
movement,
and
they
and other similar
indige-
the “Rebirth
through Repentance”
movement or the
Church are
spreading rapidly.
One Pentecostal called the
Apostolic
Church was formed in a rural
part
of K Province in 1984 in
opposition
to the
TSPM,
and
by
1991
already
had
3,500
each
growing
at a rate of a hundred new members a year. There
appears
to be a proliferation
a phenomenon
quite
similar to the
spread
of new
Pentecostal churches in Africa.36
members
in five
congregations,
in China at
present,35 independent
Korean Revival Movements ‘
dramatic,
not
only churches
themselves, Protestantism.
of such
groups
empha-
The
growth
of Pentecostalism in
South
Korea has been
singularly
in terms of what
might
be called “Pentecostal”
but also in the “Pentecostalization” of Korean
Many
Protestants are affected
by
a Pentecostal sis that existed in Korea
long
before the
coming
of North American forms of Pentecostalism.37 The
largest
33Bridge 57:3, 6-8.
Pentecostal,
Presbyterian,
_
34Bridge 57 :14-15.
35Salazar, New Religious Movements, 79-83.
36Allan H. Anderson, Maya: The Holy Spirit in an African Context (Pretoria, South Africa: University of South Africa Press, 1 99 1 ), 29.
37Lee
Hong Jung, “Mingung
and Pentecostal Movements in
Korea,”
in Pentecostals
after a Century: Global Perspectives on a Movement in Transition, ed.
9
124
Methodist,
here. Pentecostal scholar Protestant
super-churches tinctives.”38 These “distinctives”
visited
Presbyterian Protestantism in Korea “charismatic”
more
typically
“Methodist”
the
sick,
loud
“hallelujah”
to
preaching,
in the world are found
of
churches,
I also
churches would be
of the more conservative phenomena appear. Prayer
for
all
night
responses
of “amen” and
throughout
the
and
prac-
ticed
gregations
Soong
Eui Methodist Church Church
(Holiness)
liferation of
churches, everywhere evident,
space
country.
Protestantism was Presbyterian
Baptist
and Holiness
congregations
Lee Jae Bum considers the
growth
in Korea to be the result of “Pentecostal dis-
are also
uniquely
Korean.
During my visit to Korea, besides
attending overtly
“Pentecostal”
and Methodist
churches
–
the dominant forms of
–
which in the West would be
regarded
as
churches.
Although
most Protestant
or
“Presbyterian”
variety,
in
many
churches “Pentecostal”
and simultaneous
praying
in
early morning. and
sessions, speaking
in tongues, congregational
and
rapid hand-clapping
singing
of
hymns,
were some of the
things
both
encouraged
in
many
different churches. Some of the
largest
Protestant con-
in Korea are known for their Pentecostal
practices,
like the
in Inchon and the Central
Evangelical
in Seoul.39
Throughout
and wherever
you travel,
church
buildings
are
in
many
cases the most
prominent buildings
in smaller towns and
villages.
Red neon crosses
vying
with each other for
in the
night sky
illuminate the
many
churches
throughout
the
South Korea there is a
pro-
by
North American
its
growth
rate has
of the total
population gregations
in 188
taken
place
here,
the
Sung
Rak
Baptist emphases,
introduced to Korea
and Methodist missionaries in
1884,
and
by
1945 it con- stituted 8% of the Korean
population.40 Although
declined somewhat in recent
years, by
1990 Protestants were over 25%
of South
Korea,
with almost
forty
thousand con-
denominationS.41 Much of the recent
growth
has
in Pentecostal churches.42 Two of the churches considered
Church,
was estimated to have
grown
at the
astonishing
a Pentecostal church in its
rate of
Allan H. Anderson and Walter H.
Hollenweger (Sheffield, England:
Sheffield Academic Press, 1999); also Martin, Tongues of Fire, 146.
‘ 38Lee Jae
Bum, “Pentecostal Type Distinctives and Korean Protestant Church Growth” (Ph.D. diss., Fuller Theological Seminary, 1986), 7. For Korean names, I use the Korean method of placing the family name first, followed by the two charac- ter first name, throughout this article.
39Lee, “Pentecostal
40Between 1940 and Type
Distinctives,” 272, 293.
1961, the evangelical Protestant population tripled; it doubled between 1961 and 1971, and it tripled again between 1971 and 1981.
41 Cox, Fire from Heaven, 220; Johnstone, Operation World, 336.
42Pentecostals grew by 742% during the period 1969-1982, far surpassing the next
denominational growth rates: the Presbyterians at 135% and the Methodists at 130%. Lee, “Pentecostal Type Distinctives,” 234.
highest
10
2,615% during
the decade Church at
2,020%.43
1975-1985,
125
and the Yoido Full
Gospel
Korean Protestantism has had a
history
of
revivalism,
notable
being
the “Korean Pentecost” among
Methodist missionaries
the most ignited by
the Wonsan revival
missionaries
at
Pyongyang,
”
“Korean
Pentecost,” Korean Protestantism.
in 1903. This revival was followed
by an expectation of further revivals that culminated in the revival of 1907 at a meeting of Methodist and
Presbyterian
now North Korea. This revival
quickly spread amongst Koreans,
and between 1906 and 1910
80,000 people
became Christians.44
the
early
Korean church leaders were
greatly
and the
emphases
of this revival still characterize
Presbyterian
meetings
characterized
influenced
Many
of by
the
pastor
Gil
(Kil)
Sun Joo
(1869-
1935)
is credited with the commencement of
early morning. prayer
by
loud
praying
in unison, an
activity
that con- tinues to take
place today,
seven
days
a week in thousands of Korean
congregations.
Gil led revival
meetings
all over
Korea, emphasizing
well known for
‘
Bible
study
and the Second
Coming
of Christ. Kim Ik Du
(1884-1950), was another revivalist and
Presbyterian superintendent
his
ministry
of
healing
the sick after
1919,
and is
reported
to have
in revival
meetings throughout
Korea.45 As
healed over
10,000 people Lee Jae Bum
observes,
“Pentecostal
type
manifestations were not
Lee
Yong
Do (1901-1933)
in
1933,
in which
speaking
demons occurred
frequently. through tuberculosis,
he was condemned
unusual” in early Korean
Presbyterianism.46
was a Methodist minister and
mystic,
who
prayed
in a mountain retreat and had a short but sensational
five-year
revival
ministry
until his death
in
tongues, prophecy
and
casting
out
A month before his
premature
and his
teaching a believer.
Nevertheless,
feature of Korean
Christianity,
by
the
Presbyterian
death Church as
Movement
a
heretic, partly
because of his
alleged support
of a Korean
“Christ,”
that the blood of Christ
mystically
entered the
body
of
he was
regarded
as a widely influential fore- runner of Korean Pentecostalism. The
Prayer Mountain
developed
after liberation from
Japan
in
1945,
and now is a distinctive
with hundreds of
Prayer
Mountains all over the
country, places
set aside for
quiet
meditation and communal
especially Presbyterianism,
racked
by
schism and
rigid denominationalism,
prayer.47
Korean
Protestantism,
particularly
has been since the
44Lee,
45Lee,
Spirit
Temple University, 1996), 46Lee,
47Lee,
43Lee, “Pentecostal Type Distinctives,” 260, 295.
“Pentecostal Type Distinctives,” 169-176.
“Pentecostal Type
Distinctives,” 180-184; Lee Hoon, “The
Movement in Korea: Its Historical and
Young
Doctrinal
Holy
Development” (Ph.D. diss.,
65, 84.
“Pentecostal Type Distinctives,” 200.
“Pentecostal
Type Distinctives,” 184-186, 203-204; Lee, “Holy Spirit Movement,” 98.
(
< 11 126 1950s. These schisms, while they may be deplored, assisted the overall growth of the church.48 The same schismatic dencies are also found in African quences of proliferation and growth. Korean Pentecostalism North American “Classical” 1933, with as the Seobinggo churches, have actually ten- with the same conse- came to Korea in 1928 church in with five hundred members arrived in 1952, became Pentecostalism when Mary Rumsey, a former Methodist from the Azusa Street, Los Angeles revival, arrived and established the first Pentecostal the help of Huh Hong from the Salvation Army, and known Pentecostal Church. Its first pastor was Park Sung San, who had trained in a Bible seminary in Japan. Growth was at first slow and in 1953, eight congregations together formed the Korean Assemblies of God (KAOG). The first mis- sionary from the Assemblies of God in the USA, Arthur Chestnut, who the first superintendent. lished the Full Gospel Bible College in 1953 and had 44 churches by 1955.49 In Korean these churches became known as “Full Gospel” churches. Possibly the who attended law Choi Ja Shil, began members, The KAOG estab- relating to Korean audito- most remarkable event Pentecostalism took place under the ministry of Cho Yong Gi.50 Cho, the Full Gospel Bible College in 1956 and his mother-in- a small tent church in Seoul in 1958 with five which had grown to eight hundred by 1962, and two years later Cho had built a sanctuary to seat two thousand. He bought prop- erty in Yoido, Seoul in 1969, and dedicated a new 10,000-seat rium there in 1973. That year the 10th World Pentecostal Conference and this Full Gospel Central Church, as it was then known, was now receiving international was held in this new auditorium same year the church also established attention. In the a Prayer Mountain near the bor- Tuesday have been a characteristic of der of North Korea. A visit to this place on an unscheduled night in May 1998 found some three thousand people gathered to pray in a large auditorium on the top of a small hill. Mountains and hills as places of spiritual retreat and pilgrimage religions for centuries. Buddhist temples are usual- and most Korean cemeteries are found on hills outside the residential areas. Traditionally, Korean indigenous ly built on mountainsides, 49Lee, the many mountains of 48Martin, Tongues of Fire, 143. “Pentecostal Type Distinctives,” 189-190; Lee, “Holy Spirit Movement,” 130-136. 50He is better known in the West as Paul Yonggi Cho. In 1992 he changed his name to David Yonggi Cho, as the result of a revelation. 12 Mountain movement 127 the Prayer relevant form of Korea were believed to be places where good spirits lived, and both shamans and ordinary pilgrims would receive power from the particu- lar spirit on each mountain. At the risk of oversimplification, may be said to be a culturally Christian practice that reflects the ancient spirituality of Korean people. By 1982, Pentecostals were the third largest Protestant group in Korea with over half a million members, half of which were then in In 1980 the highly organized nation-wide gelistic campaign, “Here’s Life, Korea,” in which almost a million peo- Cho’s congregations ple received training in evangelism, membership. and most were Pentecostal by 1991, the largest Christian evan- further boosted Korean Pentecostal in Seoul doubled in two years, in in the world. in the 1990s, and its numbers Christian congregations in character.52 By 1990, the Assemblies of God churches, with some 1.2 million, had overtaken the Methodists numbers.53 The YFGC had some 700,000 members under 700 pastors congregation anywhere This church has not grown significantly appear to have remained static – but this is also true of most other in Korea.54 During the 1980s the Yoido main sanctuary was enlarged twice to accommodate the ever increasing shippers. To witness 30,000 worshippers churches Sunday service is an unforgettable and it after a disagreement four AOG denominations country. church, numbers of wor- praying simultaneously in a experience. In 1984 the name of for further Cho World Cho’s church was changed to the Yoido Full Gospel Church (YFGC) affiliated with the Assemblies of God in the USA, apparently with the Korean Assemblies of God. Cho then founded his own denomination called Jesus Assemblies of God (JAOG) in 1985, but reunited with the KAOG in 1991. At that time, Cho’s younger brother Cho Yong Mok remained head of JAOG, one of in Korea today. The possibility schism still exists. The YFGC has now planted churches all over the The church is also remarkable in a male-dominated society like Korea in the number of women who have become pastors of the a clear majority, and most of the house group leaders in YFGC are women. However, the executive leadership is firmly in the hands of and senior male elders. Cho Yong Gi was elected chairman of the of God Fellowship, Assemblies of God churches in 1992, and re-elected in 1995. He has an preaching itinerary that takes him to many countries of Assemblies international the world several times a year. . 51 Martin, Tongues of Fire, 146. 52Cox, Fire from Heaven, 232-233. 336. and international union of 53 Jolmstone, Operation World, 54Cox, Fire from Heaven, 221; Lee, “Holy Spirit Movement,” 175. 13 128 Another remarkable, Korea as “heresy.” 1980s, but its growth ostracism by characterized ing on after treated to typically . Seoul, led by Kim Ki in in the Spirit” that a brief matic church speaking particular Protestantism. Bible knowledge, human spirits Korean justification. of believed to ing out demons to if even more controversial church in Korea is the Sung Rak Baptist Church in Shinnamdong, Dong. With about 80,000 members, this is the largest Baptist church in the world, but is shunned by other Baptists and most denominations It was the fastest growing church in Korea in the has probably suffered more recently as a result of other Christians. I visited this church and was immediate- ly struck by the enthusiastic prayer and “praying the service. This enthusiasm seemed more intense than that I had seen at the YFGC. Kim Ki Dong gave a practical Bible teach- the Lord’s Day and the communion service, and we were there- Korean warm hospitality, including meeting with Kim. Since its inception in 1969, this has been a charis- with an emphasis on gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially in tongues, healing and exorcism. It is this latter activity in that has brought Kim into conflict with most of Korean Although widely respected for his personal integrity and Kim teaches that demons are actually the unclean of the unregenerate dead, a belief that may possibly echo traditional beliefs, although Kim gives this teaching biblical A widespread traditional belief in Korea is that the spirits the dead possess the living, especially if the dead person was be evil. Some critics have likened Kim’s practices of cast- the Korean shamanistic ritual of kut, a form of ecsta- tic spirit possession.55 Despite his ostracism, Kim has influenced many other large churches in Korea, including founder Chon Yoon Suk attended Kim’s seminary. This church was estimated to have 20,000 members by 1998, just eight years and unlike the Sung Rak Church remains part of the main Baptist denomination. A recent rapidly growing independent been similarly ostracized is the Manmin Joong-Ang (Central) Church, founded by Lee Jae Rock in 1982, and having 58,000 members 1998. This charismatic church was part of the Holiness church, anoth- Church, whose after its founding, er non-Pentecostal fundamentalist origins. because of an overemphasis the Yonsei Central Baptist church in Seoul which has by denomination of North American by the denomination experience, although his in the world. Opinions are Lee Jae Rock was excommunicated on spiritual church is now the largest Holiness church of this church, as some ministers in other support this movement. We were given a gracious wel- staff before and after the service divided over the “orthodoxy” denominations come by the male pastoral we 55Kim Ki Dong, Demonology (Seoul, South Korean: Berea Press, 1997), 209-211; Lee, “Holy Spirit Movement,” 209. 14 attended, women “deaconesses” holds some five thousand, 129 standing behind the guest table in of these messages and Lee holds attendance. The senior pastor receives messages directly from God dur- ing the week, writes them down, and reads them to the congregation each Sunday. Members are given a transcription every week, which they are to take very seriously. The church empha- sizes healing the sick and other spiritual experiences, regular healing crusades all over Korea. The church sanctuary, which is a converted factory. The stage is decorat- ed with a large backdrop depicting the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. We saw some thirty people standing on the steps of the before and after the service, towards the sun. When asked what they were doing, a pastor said that they were either seeing, or hoping to see angels. The importance is another characteristic of ancient Korean religion. church building spiritual experience Oriental Adaptations David Martin compares Pentecostalism Korean Pentecostalism lowing servative biblicism churches. (2) An emphasis morning and all night prayer, revival meetings with exorcisms, looking into the sky of and Transformations of Korean of (1) Preparation evangelicals, fol- mis- “loud – prayer,” early still a domi- (3) An – emphasis on most, if not the rapid development to that in Latin America.56 He links the growth to the following characteristics. through Sunday schools and conservative biblicism – the overwhelm- ing majority of Korean Protestants are conservative in the footsteps of the first Methodist and Presbyterian sionaries and the early revival or “Holy Spirit” movements.57 This con- is also a characteristic of the Chinese indigenous on prayer, including and “prayer mountains” nant characteristic of Korean Pentecostalism. healings and miracles all of the rapidly growing churches are engaged in these activities. (4) The – authority, preaching and administrative abilities of strong leaders in some cases, the respect given for strong leaders borders on adu- lation as much Korean church activity centers on a dominant and senior pastor, tempered by the more recent widespread use of women in ministry, usually under a male senior – pastor. (5) The the Yoido and Sung Rak church- es, for example, have rigorous training programs. I gave a lecture to a thousand seminary students in the Yoido church in two separate mom- ing and evening classes. Significantly, perhaps three quarters of these Home cell groups, the center of church activity and the characteristic authoritarian involvement of trained lay people were women. (6) evangelistic efforts, 56Martin, Tongues of Fire, 147. 57Lee, “Holy Spirit Movement,” 43. for which Yoido is so well 15 130 known, almost exclusively acterizes sending large quantities but one that char- (including led by women. (7) Social services for the poor and marginalized, a more recent development, the large churches. YFGC collects money for charitable caus- es like paying for children’s heart surgery, food distribution . of rice to North Korea for famine relief there), and the care of the elderly, the destitute and the handicapped in institu- tions created for these purposes.58 (8) The establishment strategy for expansion – this goal-setting was a leading factor in Cho own personal strategy, and many Korean pastors follow his Yong Gi’s example.59 Although the remarkable First, of goals as a for these more obvious factors might account partially growth of Pentecostal churches in Korea, Harvey Cox has suggested two vitally important and more underlying factors which must be taken into account when assessing Pentecostalism in East Asia. Cox suggests that “for any religion to grow in today’s world it must possess two capabilities.” “it must be able to include and trans- at least certain elements of preexisting religions which still retain the cultural subconscious.” Secondly, “it must also equip people to live in rapidly changing societies.” He says that these are found in Korean Pentecostalism, and that this is why it succeeds so demonstrably.6° form a strong grip on two “key ingredients” asked in assessing Pentecostalism indigenous Christianity al and religious environment, The inevitable question to be in Korea is to what extent is this an it has combined Christianity Korean that has adapted to and transformed its cultur- or is it a foreign, USA import? I think it is the former. Several western writers have suggested that Korean Pentecostalism has succeeded because with what Harvey Cox calls “huge chunks of indigenous But its success is probably not so much to be attributed to a conscious syncretism than to the influence of the aura of shaman- shamanism.”61 ism and the joint acknowledgement forms of Christianity dominant conservative Protestant of the world of spirits by these the Christianity with its strict moral Confucianism, eties.62 Korean Pentecostal admixture of shamanism Pentecostalism, and older Korean religions alike. Similarly, law finds fertile ground in peoples whose cultures are heavily influenced by as is clearly the case with Korean and Chinese soci- leaders, however, or Confucianism in their and like Pentecostals all over 59Lee, emphatically deny any type of the world, see 58Yoido Full Gospel Church, Yoido Full Gospel Church (Seoul, South Korea: Yoido Full Gospel Church, 1993), 7. “Pentecostal Type Distinctives,” 247-255. 60Cox, Fire from Heaven, 219. 61 Cox, Fire from Heaven, 222. 140-141. _ 62Martin, Tongues of Fire, 16 shamanism as something Pentecostals Korean religious system. 131 as evil.63 But Korean the importance of the ancient to be rejected are beginning to appreciate A senior minister in YFGC, Lee Young Hoon, points out that shamanism influenced to accept the Christian God and the spiritu- “made it easy for Koreans al world.” Shamanism’s blessings” “emphasis Cho “tries not to be syncretized Pentecostalism interacting Furthermore, creative adaptations East Asian Pentecostals past does not help explain Oriental peoples, even though that is a feature of pluralist Korean Christianity in that it on the present and on material for this Later, perhaps with diplo- background,” but that by his “sticking to form of Korean Christianity context. At the same time, for the to Harvey Cox sees the largely made these a major concern of Korean Christianity, was also the emphasis of Korean Buddhism. matic reference to Cho’s ministry, Lee says that “Cho’s Holy Spirit movement has made the most of the shamanistic with shamanism” the principles of the Bible.”64 It may be appropriate to consider Korean as a culturally indigenous with shamanism. Those who censure Pentecostals for their alleged “shamanism” often fail to see that the parallels with indigenous religions in these practices are also continuous with the biblical record. Pentecostals usually define their practices by reference to the Bible rather than to traditional religions. They see their activities as to the local indigenous might need to have a greater appreciation the rich diversity of their cultural and religious past. Demonizing the present attraction of Pentecostalism it might help in the religious competition societies. unconscious interaction of Pentecostalism with indigenous religions as “helping people recover vital elements in their culture that are threat- Lee Jae Bum speaks of the “spiritual pre- of the Korean people due to their animistic as an awareness sins and evil. spirits, and the need for blessings “Pentecostal distinctives” found in many churches in Korea, “met the need of the animistic [sic] people in Korea.”66 In other words, Korean Pentecostals have found in their own context, both culturally and biblically acceptable alternatives to and adaptations tices of their traditional religions and are seeking to provide answers to there. These features are reminiscent of the African Pentecostal churches and of indigenous that Cho Yong Gi is a preacher of a North American ened by modernization.”65 paredness which he identifies particularly the needs inherent Criticisms “prosperity gospel” are based [sic] beliefs,” of supernatural power, and healing. The he says, from the prac- churches throughout the world. on his emphases, which Cho 65Cox, Fire from 66Lee, 63Cox, Fire from Heaven, 224. 64Lee, “Holy Spirit Movement,” 19-20, 25, 205. Heaven, 228. “Pentecostal Type Distinctives,” 298. 17 132 unashamedly proclaims. Spirit, churches, Cho adds “blessings.” following: (1) renewal, Pentecostal Pentecostals Pentecostals and one to be “prosperity in all things” and seen in the Oriental religious probably be unattractive. emphasis more than the traditional Pentecostal movements proclaimed all types of oppression preached the fourfold Healer, Baptizer with the Holy message of the Gospel” includes the expressed in classical of early gospel, which is declared for Christian believer in its Pentecostal did. In Africa, the in thousands of indigenous there because they have from The early Pentecostals “full gospel” of Jesus the Saviour, and the Coming King. To this, and like several other Korean The official brochure of the Yoido Full Gospel67 states that the “five-fold or “salvation,” terms; (2) the fullness of the Spirit, the doctrine for which are well known; (3) healing, another emphasis of the main emphases throughout Cho’s ministry; (4) blessing, Cho’s addition to the “fourfold” “an abundant life of blessing which would be enough to share with others”; and (5) the Second Coming of Christ. Then there are also the “three-fold blessings of salvation” which include “soul prosperity,” “a healthy life.”68 This three-fold empha- sis is clearly a promise of health and prosperity in the present life. The matter has been hotly debated, but needs to be and cultural context. Any religion that does not offer at least the same benefits as the old religion did will Christianity, particularly on the transforming power of the Spirit, purports to offer indigenous religions that are manifested churches have changed the face of Christianity a holistic gospel of salvation that includes deliverance like sickness, sorcery, evil spirits and poverty. This holistic emphasis has met the needs of Africans more fundamen- tally than the sometimes rather spiritualized the legacy of European missionaries.69 and other Pentecostal preachers in this region declare, the needs of believers, including their spiritual sal- vation, physical healing, and other blessings for material needs. East Africa and Latin America, also has the phenomenon of mass and the Pentecostal churches have provided places of communities for people unsettled rapid social change. As the church in East Asia becomes more relevant to its cultural and social context, it becomes more able to serve the that was mostly in East Asia, Cho is that God meets all Asia, like urbanization, spiritual security and personal wider society. Watch this space. and intellectualized gospel The good news by 68″Prosperity together 9 Anderson, Maya, 30. 67 Yoido Full Gospel Church, 1. in all things” is defined as “A blessed life in which all things work for good.” 18
