Shamanistic Influences In Korean Pentecostal Christianity: An Analysis

The Precursor To And Beginnings Of Korean Pentecostalism

Spring 2000
By Jeremy Reynalds

Prior to the latter portion of the 20th century, Korea was extremely resistant to the message of the gospel. With deep Buddhist and Shamanistic roots, Korea was commonly referred to as the "hermit kingdom." Catholic missionaries arrived in 1784, bringing the first Christian ministry, but they encountered the whole gamut of persecution, ranging from plain indifference to martyrdom. Anti-Catholic sentiment came to a head in the infamous 1866 massacre, when as many as 10,000 bishops, priests and new converts were martyred for their faith.

Protestant missionaries did not arrive until about a century later. They landed at Inchon, a city quite near to Seoul. Prior to their arrival, John Ross had successfully translated the New testament into the Korean language during the 1870's.

Presbyterian Henry Underwood and Methodist Henry Appenzeller arrived in Korea from the United States in 1884. With the Presbyterians sending more missionaries to Korea than the Methodists, it did not take long for Presbyterianism to become the country's biggest Christian body, although substantial progress was very difficult for all of the Christian church bodies during that time. It is worth noting that by 1900, Korea Christians still only comprised 0.4% of the country's population.

The first spiritual revival among that small group of Korean Protestant believers began in 1903 in the City of Wonsan, "where a mighty wave of confession and repentance occurred under the leadership of R.A.

Hardie, a Methodist missionary from Canada." This revival had both profound and lasting results. There occurred a "renewal of personal holiness which has characterized the Korean church ever since." Subsequent revivals between the years of 1904 and 1907 intensified this passion for holiness in addition to resulting in church growth.

In 1906, a Korean student initiated early morning prayer meetings with resulting positive effects on the Korean church. "This custom, as well as the all night prayer, also became vital to the spiritual life of the Korean churches. In these meetings, the missionary H.A. Johnson linked the Korean experience to the Welsh revival which was sweeping the world at the time."

There was another revival at Pyongyang in 1907. The prevailing characteristics of this revival were a hunger for the Word manifesting in intense Bible study and intense prayer with everyone praying at the same time.

During these times of prayer, there occurred what could be best described as a great wave of weeping and prayer that swept over those present, which included both Methodist and Presbyterian missionaries as well as the Korean laymen. Observers called the meetings indescribable. Synan notes that the thunderous style of prayer which was a characteristic of those meetings still so remains in today's Korean church. He also points out that while the meetings did not feature the vocal charismata such as tongues and healing, there were a number of prophecies of a new Pentecost for Korea and the world.

The advent of World War II interrupted this precursor to the development of Korean pentecostalism.

In 1940 all of Korea's foreign missionaries were forced out of the country by the Japanese. This time resulted in a period of persecution for all of the churches which were forced to go underground. Churches were not free again until the Japanese were defeated again in 1945. However, this period of freedom did not last long. The Korean War, beginning in 1950, caused considerable hardship for every aspect of Korean society, including the church community. When the Korean War finally ended, Korean churches were finally free again to develop and receive needed help from abroad. during this time frame, the first American Pentecostal denominations established Korean mission fields.

In 1952, the American Assemblies of God sent Abner Chesnut as their first Korean missionary. He first made contact with the Chosun Pentecostal Church. The Korean Assemblies of God was organized in 1953. The next year, the Korean Assemblies of God opened its first Bible School. Paul Yonggi Cho was one of its first students.

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