Christianity in South Korea

In My Humble Opinion
1

I read wiki article on this.

I know there are some dopers in SK .

Will they share their insights into this as to the poularity of christianity ? Also is it really growing in SK ?

2

I don’t know about the statistics, but Seoul is the home of the largest church in the world (not building size, but congregation size). According to the link they have 800,000 people in attendance each week. That’s more than attend all the Episcopal Churches in the Unites States combined.

3

Here’s a better link: Yoido Full Gospel Church

4

I’ve never been within 5,000 miles of South Korea but I have seen statistics showing that percentagewise, Christianity has grown faster there than anywhere else during the past sixty years. The presence of Christianity in Korea was minimal at the end of WWII, but growth took off in the early 60’s as interaction with the United States and other western countries increased. Today there’s talk that South Korea may become a majority Christian nation in a few decades. It’s a success story frequently brought up by Christian missionaries who seek to take the lessons from South Korea and apply them elsewhere.

One factor that contributed to all this is the liberating influence of Christian teaching on Korean culture, particularly for women. A century ago much of Korean culture was extremely backwards in that regard, with women not being allowed to hold jobs or even leave the home very much. Also many clergy were leaders in the civil rights struggles during the reign of Park Chung-Hee. Lastly, churches established schools, clinics, and other charities throughout the country during the 60’s and 70’s which played a significant role in the nation’s economic growth.

5

I’ve never fully grasped why Christianity is so popular in South Korea while in other Asian nations Christianity is an also-ran religion.

6

Hmm, according to Wikipedia, here are the countries with the highest % of Christian population in Asia (or western Oceana). I cut it off at 10%.



Micronesia     100%
East Timor     99%
Philippines    92.4%
South Korea    29.2 - 40%
Kyrgyzstan     25%
Singapore      14.6%
Brunei         11%
Hong Kong      10%
Tajikistan     10%
7

I spent a little over 3 years in SK and found a pretty even mix of Buddists and Christians. I never asked why any of them believed any particular thing but suspect they consider most Americans Christian ( they always assumed I was ) and the desire to emmulate Americans always seemed strong to me. Most of my time was in Cities so the Country may be different.

8

I’m also wondering among the Koreans who are Christians, how large a role does religion play in their everyday lives? Are most of them hard-core born-again Christians, or do most of them just pretty much go to church on Sunday, meet some people, and that’s about it? In the case of Hong Kong, I know that it used to be that most Christians are just garden variety Anglicans or Catholics, but in the last couple decades, the more conservative, Evangelical type of Christianity has started spreading like wildfire. I wonder if something similar is also happening in Korea.

9

I don’t know about numbers, but I do know that some of the most extreme versions of Christianity are practiced there. They have weeks long fasts in caves in the dark with no food or water. That’s hardcore.

10

:eek:

11

^ Weeks may be limited to two, I believe. I really can’t find any information online, and I got the story either from a missionary, or from a church magazine.