“‘Greater Works Than These’: A Postcolonial Reading of the Johannine Healing Stories”

Over the course of her history, Korea has coalesced into a religiously pluralistic society: Keel Hee-sung defines Korean religious history as “a confluence of diverse religious streams which have flowed into Korea. Among many religions, shamanism, as the oldest folk religion, has formed the backbone of Korea’s religious life. As the most popular religion among the ordinary people, however, shamanism has been often suppressed by the so-called state religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism. With the introduction of Western Christian influence, political forces have further attempted to eradicate shamanism by despising it as a superstitious religion. Nevertheless, Korean shamanism has not only managed to survive but ironically has also gained credit for being a rich soil for the rapid growth of Korean Christianity. The success of the Korean Christian church would not have been possible without incorporating many aspects of Korean shamanism, since, as Harvey Cox observes, it is not easy for any new religion to appeal to people unless it is able to include or transform the elements of the already established. religions