능동적 평신도 지도자 “원로”:

Elders, the Active Lay Leaders:

This article aims to find some references in the Old Testament to contemplate the lay leadership of Korean Catholic church in the period of martyr. It describes firstly the diverse role of ‘the elders’(~ynIqez>) during and after the Exile. Second, it reveals the parallel characters between the elders of Ancient Israel in those periods and the Korean lay leaders in the martyr period(1784-1886 AD). From the beginning of the history, it is evident that diverse lays participated in the governance of the Ancient Israel. So-called ‘the constitution of the Ancient Israel’(G.Braulik) in the Book of Deuteronomy 16,18-18,22 describes that Four Great Institutions of Ancient Israel, i.e. Judge, King, Priest (and Levite) and Prophet, have to cooperate to govern the Israel in order to serve the God as the ultimate ruler. Obviously this list contains the lays. However the scribes and elders, omitted in this list, should be considers to participate also the administration of Israel and they are succeeded to the lay intellectuals and the lay leaders in nowadays. The elders are ‘natural’ in Ancient Near Eastern World so as to the Ancient Israel. They were not only the leading figures in the city administration but also took the serious role to develop the theology in Ancient Israel. The roles of the elders during the Exile were impressive: They should be regarded as the only possible ‘sub-institution’ which can take care the people in Exile. They should not only take the necessaries of the people’s life but also help them to build the identity. Moreover they offered the spacial center for the people(synagogue) and participated the renovation of the priesthood by Ezechiel. They helped also to the compilation of the Holy Scripture during the Exile. The elders were the leading figure of Return too. Their leadership was steadily passed to the priests after the completion of the Second Temple in 515 BC. The Zeitgeist right after the Exile was to help to build the identity of People of God in the Persian Empire and integrate them. According to R. Albertz, the elders supported the scribes, that is, the lay theologians, to compile the new edition of the Holy Scripture(KD), which is passed to the priests(KP ≈ P). The elders of Ancient Israel in those periods and the Korean lay leaders in the martyr period are active lay leaders. The parallel characters between them, i.e. identity, diverse role, contributions not only to the church but also to the development of theology should be seriously took into the consideration.