한국 구세군의 사회적 영향력

The Social Influence of the Salvation Army in Korea : A Sociological Study of Missions

The Salvation Army was founded upon the teachings of early Christianity - redeeming the poor, fighting capitalism religiously - bearing its roots in the revivalism of John Wesley's Methodism. Given the social significance of missions and the vast amount of written records about them, it is ironic that there is not so much literature on the sociology of missions. Although there are valuable documents of mission movements, many records of mission works, the monographs from the mission fields, these documents rarely have been utilized from the sociological point of view. With this in mind, in order to estimate the reputation of the Salvation Army, which celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 2008, the author has analyzed a collection of newspaper clippings of its activity between 1997 and 2007. The findings are as follows: the Salvation Army in the country historically avoided engaging in the political realm of transforming social and political structures, as its mandate is to "save souls" from suffering eternal damnations. In other words, the Salvation Army's individualistic emphasis on moral perfection can be compared with Liberation Theology's focus on structural evil that is curtailing the quality of human life. Although the Salvation Army lacks in biblical emphasis on social justice, it asserts that all people bear dignity and are equal before God; they are trying to build the Kingdom of God one person at a time. Unlike Buddhism or Roman Catholicism, the social legitimacy of Protestant Christianity in Korea is deteriorating. The Salvation Army, though small but sound, may soothe the current crises of Korean churches.