History and theology of Korean pentecostalism: Sunbogeum (pure gospel) Pentecostalism

Abstract

The object of this study is to investigate the context and texture of Korean Pentecostalism - Sunbogeum (pure Gospel) Pentecostalism. This study shows that Sunbogeum Pentecostalism is the complex product of four factors: first, Korean religio-social circumstances; second, the doctrine of classical Pentecostalism; third, the influence of the American Assemblies of God; and fourth, the person Yonggi Cho. Accordingly, it is a dynamic indigenized spiritual movement/theology which has been developed in the modern Korean context. The historical parts (Part I and II) reveal how Koreans had been prepared for a pentecostal type of faith: Korea’s religious heritage of Hananim concepts and shamanism. In addition to this, the long periods of oppression by the surrounding powers, especially by China and Japan, the division of Korea into two parts, and the economic expansion in South Korea since 1960s have provided a fertile soil for experience-oriented pentecostalism. From the time when the Korea Assemblies of God was organized with the help of its American counterpart, the movement began to establish itself in Korea. The real Sunbogeum movement breakthrough occurred when the team of Yonggi Cho and Ja-Sil Choe started a tent church in the western suburbs of Seoul. The spectacular growth of the Yoido Sunbogeum Church came when it moved to the Yoido Island in 1973. Making world evangelization its vision, taking the home-cell system as its tool through mobilizing Spirit-filled lay people, having a close personal relation with the Holy Spirit by constant prayer and devotional life, Yonggi-ism, as Korean pentecostalism has come to be known, came to the fore as an impressive example of church growth and world evangelization in the 1980s. Part III deals with its theology. The triple prayer - overnight prayer, tongues, and fasting - became the power source of its movement as well as of its theological development. The particular feature of Sunbogeum theology can be seen by its adding ‘prosperity’ to the Full Gospel of classical Pentecostalism. Yonggi Cho takes the view that Adam’s total depravity through his fall is wholly restored to believers by Christ’s substitutional sacrifice on the cross. This whole restoration can be only understood in pneumatological correlation because the cross event provides the basis for this holistic salvation while in practice the Holy Spirit performs this salvation for His saints. These concepts were formed into the Fivefold Gospel and Triple Salvation. Having a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit is characteristic of its pnematology. Yonggi Cho’s theological methodology, the fourth dimension - the spirit controls the material - appears to be more revolutionary and radical among other Pentecostal circles. If we are led by the Holy Spirit, scientific knowledge, its principle of cause and effect, and modern scientific convenience can be utilized to explain Biblical truth and to apply Biblical teaching to daily life. This methodology can be called a supernatural science. Here, we may notice the strong synthetic characteristic of Sunbogeumism in binding supernatural/norm and natural/material. Although the strength of Sunbogeum theology is that it encourages Korean Chris-tians and global churches to respond effectively to the teaching of the Bible together with stimulating church growth as a way for missions, its weaknesses, the danger of falling into ‘positive theology,’ which provides Christians with the means of seeking their own blessings while neglecting the aspect of crucified God, cannot be overlooked. Its anthropocentric tendency in its theological approach constructs a fundamental weak-ness of Sunbogeum pentecostalism. Sunbogeum pentecostalism as a Korean contextual theology has manifested its potential as an influential pentecostalism. However, its theological reflections have been rather less explored compared to its size and influence. This study raises three questions/suggestions: first, the question of the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will for Spirit-filled Christians; second, the task of further study of the fourth dimension as a theological methodology; and third, the question if there is a theo-logically responsible syncretism. Sunbogeum pentecostalism will further play an important role in a new millennial urban culture, sharing its strengths in pneumatology and its triple prayer, as long as it further improves its theology.