Horace H. Underwood and the Shinto Shrine Rites Controversy in Colonial Korea
For the western missionaries the Shinto shrine rites controversy in colonial Korea was a theological crucible. As the Japanese government began forcing mission schools to attend the Shinto shrine ceremonies, American missionaries from the Presbyterian Church in the USA were divided between “fundamen...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
Theology today
Year: 2022, Volume: 79, Issue: 2, Pages: 184-196 |
| IxTheo Classification: | BN Shinto CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBM Asia KDD Protestant Church RJ Mission; missiology |
| Further subjects: | B
George S. McCune
B Korean Presbyterian Church B Shinto shrine rites controversy B Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy B Horace H. Underwood B American Presbyterian mission in Korea |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | For the western missionaries the Shinto shrine rites controversy in colonial Korea was a theological crucible. As the Japanese government began forcing mission schools to attend the Shinto shrine ceremonies, American missionaries from the Presbyterian Church in the USA were divided between “fundamentalists” and “liberals” fighting a fierce theological battle over the nature of and participation in the Shinto shrine rites. Horace H. Underwood, President of Chosen Christian College in Seoul, was a leader of the “liberal minority” party. The “fundamentalist majority” held that the Shinto shrine ceremonies were religious acts and hence bowing during a Shinto ceremony violated the First Commandment. Underwood was uncomfortable with many religious elements in the Shinto rituals, but nevertheless believed that mere attendance and a bow did not constitute either participation in the ritual or worship of the enshrined beings. He thought that the conservative leaders were dictating other people's conscience. |
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| ISSN: | 2044-2556 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Theology today
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/00405736221091919 |