"Korea-Japan dialogue starts for Asian theology of reconciliation," Ecumenical News International, 29 November 2006
Ecumenical News International
Daily News Service
29 November 2006
Korea-Japan dialogue starts for Asian theology of reconciliation
ENI-06-0941
By Hisashi Yukimoto
Kyoto, 29 November (ENI)--Theologians from Korea and Japan, its coloniser in the first half of the 20 century, have begun a dialogue in search of an Asian theology that can act to reconcile, and that goes beyond nationalism in both countries.
The two-day Korea-Japan Theology Forum 2006 was held in Kyoto from 24 November. It was hosted by the Japan Society of Christian Studies (JSCS). Organizers said the meeting was unprecedented and that it was the most significant communication between theologians from the two countries in recent years.
"The biggest reason for holding the forum is that there has, in Korea, been a major theological concern with nationalism," coordinator Katsuhiro Kohara of Doshisha University told Ecumenical News International before the meeting. "So far, Christianity in Korea has grown integrally with nationalism," he said, noting there were also those who disagree with this standpoint.
Politically, sentiments of resentment against Japanese linger in some Asian countries, particularly in Korea, which Japan occupied from1910 to 1945, and in China. Some Asians feel Japan has not atoned enough nor apologised fully for its aggression and atrocities up to 1945.
Lee Jeong Bae, a Korean scholar of indigenous theology from the Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul led 31 delegates as the president of the Korean Society of Systematic Theology. He presented a view on "transnational" Asian theology rooted in an East Asian philosophy called Donghak, or eastern learning.
"What is necessary is to 'indigenise criticism' [against deviant nationalism] in solidarity with forces outside religion," said Sadamichi Ashina, a Japanese associate professor of Christian studies at Kyoto University and the executive director of the JSCS.
The Rev. Renta Nishihara, an Anglican theologian at Tokyo's St. Paul's University (also known as Rikkyo) said: "Modern Christianity in Japan has shifted its basis from rural people to urban elites, and has lost its power to criticise those in power."
Said Kim Ae Young, a feminist theologian from Hanshin University in Osan, Korea, "A new concept of 'nation' seeks to include people and women who throw themselves into movements for social change toward a construction of a new north east Asia."
The forum aims to continue next year in Korea, said organizers.
[374 words]
All articles (c) Ecumenical News International
Reproduction permitted only by media subscribers and
provided ENI is acknowledged as the source.
Ecumenical News International
PO Box 2100
CH - 1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Tel: (41-22) 791 6088/6111
Fax: (41-22) 788 7244
Email: eni@eni.ch
Daily News Service
29 November 2006
Korea-Japan dialogue starts for Asian theology of reconciliation
ENI-06-0941
By Hisashi Yukimoto
Kyoto, 29 November (ENI)--Theologians from Korea and Japan, its coloniser in the first half of the 20 century, have begun a dialogue in search of an Asian theology that can act to reconcile, and that goes beyond nationalism in both countries.
The two-day Korea-Japan Theology Forum 2006 was held in Kyoto from 24 November. It was hosted by the Japan Society of Christian Studies (JSCS). Organizers said the meeting was unprecedented and that it was the most significant communication between theologians from the two countries in recent years.
"The biggest reason for holding the forum is that there has, in Korea, been a major theological concern with nationalism," coordinator Katsuhiro Kohara of Doshisha University told Ecumenical News International before the meeting. "So far, Christianity in Korea has grown integrally with nationalism," he said, noting there were also those who disagree with this standpoint.
Politically, sentiments of resentment against Japanese linger in some Asian countries, particularly in Korea, which Japan occupied from1910 to 1945, and in China. Some Asians feel Japan has not atoned enough nor apologised fully for its aggression and atrocities up to 1945.
Lee Jeong Bae, a Korean scholar of indigenous theology from the Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul led 31 delegates as the president of the Korean Society of Systematic Theology. He presented a view on "transnational" Asian theology rooted in an East Asian philosophy called Donghak, or eastern learning.
"What is necessary is to 'indigenise criticism' [against deviant nationalism] in solidarity with forces outside religion," said Sadamichi Ashina, a Japanese associate professor of Christian studies at Kyoto University and the executive director of the JSCS.
The Rev. Renta Nishihara, an Anglican theologian at Tokyo's St. Paul's University (also known as Rikkyo) said: "Modern Christianity in Japan has shifted its basis from rural people to urban elites, and has lost its power to criticise those in power."
Said Kim Ae Young, a feminist theologian from Hanshin University in Osan, Korea, "A new concept of 'nation' seeks to include people and women who throw themselves into movements for social change toward a construction of a new north east Asia."
The forum aims to continue next year in Korea, said organizers.
[374 words]
All articles (c) Ecumenical News International
Reproduction permitted only by media subscribers and
provided ENI is acknowledged as the source.
Ecumenical News International
PO Box 2100
CH - 1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Tel: (41-22) 791 6088/6111
Fax: (41-22) 788 7244
Email: eni@eni.ch