Mothers’ Prayers and Korean Feminist Minjung Theology: The Hermeneutical Encounters among Hannah, Mary, and Lee So Seon

Mothers’ Prayers and Korean Feminist Minjung Theology: The Hermeneutical Encounters among Hannah, Mary, and Lee So Seon

Korean theologians began to study Minjung theology after Jeon Tai Il’s self-immolation in 1970. In addition, they hermeneutically read and study the Bible in the Korean contexts, and dedicated their life to developing Minjung theology. However, the Christian research of Minjung women has been overlooked in the Minjung theology studies. This paper aims to introduce the faithful life of Mrs. Lee So-Seon (1929-2011), the mother of Jeon Tae Il, and analyze it with two biblical mothers: Hannah and Mary. Lee symbolically became a mother of Minjung. Her prayer for hope and strength encourages people to look forward to a better future in Korea, and seek the Kingdom of God in the world. Her prayers are able to do away with the yoke of oppression and intensify the oppressed people’s cry for justice. Moreover, I will demonstrate that the theological and hermeneutical interpretation of Lee’s prayers with Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10) and Mary (Luke 1:46- 55)—can be intertwined with the prayer and life of Lee. This analytical study enables us to understand how we read the biblical texts of mother’s prayers in the Korean women's contexts, empowering women for a wise life and justice. It also invites us to reconsider the meanings of doing theology in Asia.