Multiple Roles of the Bible Women in the Early Korean Church

The Bible Women had done very important works in the early Korean mission field. In this paper, I considered the role of the Bible Women in the early Korean Christianity according to three categories: the church, baptism, and Christian education based upon the missionaires’ journal The Korea Mission Field. The Bible Women were people who helped missionaries in the early period of mission in Korea. The expansion of Korean Christianity from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century based upon their great roles of the Bible Women. Missionaries had influenced on Korean women’s lives that had been marginalized from the male, upper-middle class focused socio-cultural system in the early 19th century. Learning and practicing Christian gospel with the missionaries, the uneducated and marginalized women could have an opportunity to be human beings. The opportunity to be a Bible Woman was the opportunity to transform one’s life. Numerous women were liberated from the traditional patriarchal oppression through their new occupation as Bible Women. They served as preachers, Christian teachers, leaders and evangelists in the early Korean church community. Overcoming the limitations of the Contemporary Korean protestant churches, such as materialism, individualism, and expansionism, we need to look closely at the works and roles of the Bible Women in the early Korean Christian era. As evangelists, ministers, national leaders, and Christian educators, the Bible Women should be remembered in the Christian educational community.