The public roles of early korean protestant christianity and future prospects

This study explores how the early Korean Protestant movement -a movement that experienced unprecedented vitality in the late 19th and early 20th centuries -initiated a number of positive societal changes in Korea, promoting various forms of human rights. Martin Marty's notion of public Church provides a helpful lens through which this movement can be analysed. Early Korean Protestantism not only guided the future direction of the nation, transcending class and gender. It was a major force in reforming Korean society. The Protestant Church served as a positive agent of social change, enlightening Korean people through the abolition of the class system, the promotion of women's rights, the healing of incurable diseases, the use and spread of a refined linguistic system, resistance to Japanese imperialism, and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. Using Marty's terminology to analyse the Protestant movement will thus allow us to synthesize the notions of 'public' and 'private', doing away with bifurcations that have limited such discussions in the past. The upshot of our historical analysis will be an exhortation to today's global theological community: we must take up a more specific and detailed public theology that communicates appropriately with the many publics that make up our global society.