Tapestry of Korean Biblical Interpretations in the Making

Korean Christianity is renowned for its rapid growth and conservative theological orientation. This phenomenon is inextricably tied to Korean appropriation of the Bible in their religiocultural and sociopolitical context since the eighteenth century. Less understood, however, is the complex tapestry of Korean biblical interpretation that emerged from being missionized, colonized, internally divided, and incorporated into global norms. These countervailing forces proffer a distinctive Korean-ness of biblical interpretation. On the one hand, it tracks closely the influence of conservative Western missionaries. On the other hand, it reflects God’s liberating intervention for Koreans and the Korean diaspora. Both of these movements respond to and move beyond distinct histories of oppression. This introduction coheres twenty-four papers by grouping them into four waves of reciprocal interpretative encounters shaping Korean appropriation of the Bible and Christian practices. Although some conservatively align with received Western orthodoxy, others embrace a sense of complementarity that informs the spectrum of Korean Christian thought and practice, the long-standing religious traditions of Korea, the diversity of Korea’s global diaspora, and the learning of non-Koreans who are attentive to the impact of the Bible in Korea.