History and Nature of Renewal Movement in Korea

Remarking of Christianity has undergone revolution into a religion-essays'>world religion during the last century. In the book Global Awakening: How twentieth Century Revivals Triggered a Christian Revolution by Mike Shaw. The author points out an essential factor that has been underestimated in telling the stories about the Christianity Revivals. He uses case studies that show revivals globally; these studies show that global revivals are the heart of the resurgence of Christianity in the world. Revivals spur some other vital factors of growth lie elements of international and national influences and leadership. The case studies reveal interpretive frameworks which are inclusive other than the growth theories of the church. The author achieved this by linking the localized versions to global versions using the theme of revival. He points out that all the Christian versions arising from various parts of the world show that God has been at work fulfilling His redemptive purposes all along.

One of the places in the world, outside the United States (U.S.), that had significant charismatic renewal, which has been reviewed is Korea. About a hundred and ten years ago, there was an outbreak of massive revival in Pyongyang city, the capital of present North Korea. In 1907, Pyongyang was referred to as the city of women, wine, and songs; therefore, with its sin abounding nature, it was a dark city with its training school, Korean geisha. Pyongyang Great Revival was the second Korean revival and the high point of strength in evangelism in northern Korea. [footnoteRef:1]2Kil Sun-Ju, among the first Korean Protestants to be ordained as a minister of Presbyterian and Hardie, a Methodist Missionary, was the great inspiration for the Great Revival of Pyongyang. There were several other revivals before 1907 in Korea, for example, 1903 due to famine in the countrys center and the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905. In 1907, the Presbyterian Church in Korea wanted to become independent from Americas Board of Foreign Mission. This mission had been self-supporting but for quite some time, but things did not go well. [1: 2 Jang, Jung Eun.Religious experience and self-psychology: Korean Christianity and the 1907 revival movement. Springer, 2016.]

On sixth January, William Blair, a Presbyterian missionary, preached to thousands of Korea for about two weeks. The main focus was to urge them to turn away from the hatred of the Japanese people. [footnoteRef:2]3The kind of hatred they had was traditional since Koreas history in terms of conflict with the Japanese was long. Korean Christians and the missionaries were praying for the Holy Spirits outpouring for repentance and revival. It came on Saturday in January 1907 at night. Those present in the meeting prayed loudly, and the signs of awakening began appearing. One of the missionaries described it as a harmony of spirit and sound with no confusion, but rather it enhanced the mingling of souls through the power of the prayers. [2: 3 Jones, Arun. "The Great Revival of 1907 as a Phenomenon in Korean Religions."Journal of World Christianity2, no. 1 (2009): 82-110.]

Those present would rise and confess their sins one after the other; this made them weep uncontrollably after every confession until two in the morning. These acts of praying out loud and remorse over sin were among those distinguishing signs concerning this revival. The results of this were the addition of church members and lots of new conversions. [footnoteRef:3]4The Japanese soldiers also came under conviction, and Pyongyang was called Jerusalem of the East. The personal confessions and dynamic preaching of Kil Sun-Ju subsided eventually in the spring of 1907 due to the exhaustion of Kil from the...

…Christianity with the indigenous aspect worldwide, including in the United States. [6: 5 Lee, Timothy S. "Review of Religious Experience and Self-Psychology: Korean Christianity and the 1907 Revival Movement (New York, NY: Palgrave, 2016) by Jung Eun Jang."Pastoral Psychology67, no. 5 (2018): 563-567.]

The Great Revival in Korea resulted in many missionaries, and it was a phenomenon in the religions of Korea and the rest of the world. Most of the Christians declared to the missionaries of that time the urge of going back to the time of the revival in 1907 when they first encountered Jesus in their lives. This remark underscored the foundation nature of this revival to the lives of Protestants. This kind of revivalism heightened the renewal of life in the society and the church globally. [footnoteRef:7]Generally, this resulted in the development of Christianity in the U.S. who picked lessons from this revival since so many people converted and the confessions that solved the conflicts between Korea and Japanese. Although the colleges and seminaries in Korea had a contingent of native leaders, the community of Korea depended on the leaders of the western missionary. [7: Cho, Eunsik. "The Great Revival of 1907 in Korea: Its cause and effect."Missiology26, no. 3 (1998): 289-300.]

In conclusion, in Korea, the Great Revival in Pyongyang had a renewal in terms of charisma. There were several transformations among the people, whereby they repented, and this unified them. This served as a great example to the rest of the world and the U.S. in particular. Since the U.S has lways seen itself as a world, the revival changed the notion, and the country picked some lessons from this great revival. This revival serves as a significant aspect of unifying people by the use of religion.

Bibliography

Cho, Eunsik. The Great Revival of 1907 in Korea: Its cause…