A Quest for Intercultural Theology: Converging Faith and Culture in Minjung Theology

A Quest for Intercultural Theology: Converging Faith and Culture in Minjung Theology

This paper aims to define the principles of converging faith and culture in minjung theology as a quest for intercultural theology. To do this, the paper raises the question of how faith and culture can meet each other without violating each other’s identity. To address this question, I will use the experience of the United Church of Canada’s global partner, the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK) and Suh Nam-dong’s minjung theology as a theological approach to the process of converging faith and culture. To begin, I will identify two major theological paradigm shifts from the experience of Korean Protestantism, specifically the PROK’s birth and the development of minjung theology. Then, I will present and critique Suh Nam-dong’s model of converging faith and culture. Finally, I will propose Suh’s model as a contribution to the quest for intercultural theology. In the convergence, there is no attempt to violate each other’s identity; both traditions are maintained and mutually enriched.