Minjung theology deals with the central theme of theology, i.e. there are two separate opinions it is based off. According to Suh Namdong, minjung is the centre of focus rather than Jesus, whereas Ahn Byungmu claims that it focuses on both minjung and Jesus, as they are inseparable. The reasoning given was that Jesus was the medium used to understand the oppressed (Ochlos) rather than the oppressed used to explain Jesus instead. Jesus represented the oppressed and his priority was them, the Ochlos. Ahn Byungmu used the term “Son of Man” to explain his idea as to say that Jesus is the son of man or rather, mankind. It is difficult to explain either Jesus or the Ochlus without the other as they are bound together.
People tend to link minjung and the poor of Latin America. The key difference is that poverty is the biggest concern of Latin America and it is all due to the liquidation of the American neo-colonialism that affected their trade and industries, hence their focus is on the liberation of the poor. On the contrary, minjung not only focused on economically challenged but also other issues including cultural, political and social oppression. This is mainly due to the authoritarianism and partially totalitarian system.
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This links to the problem faced by the black people (black theology) as they are vaguely reflected on the minjung, as neither of these two communities will meet justice just by the abolition of poverty and their problems are rather multi-dimensional. Numerous oppressed groups compose the minjung, for instance women, the economically challenged, the illiterate, the workers and labourers etc. Latin theologies also use the Marxist theories to analyse their situations. Karl Marx’s socio-economic theory is a relevant theory used to explain the Latin American society and its structure and how it can be used to construct the liberation theology. However, Marxism cannot be used to analyse the minjung concept as their economic struggles existed before capitalism was introduced to Korea. The main instrument here are the stories of the minjung that unveils the oppression they have suffered from. Their stories are filled with the Han of the victims including starvation, wars, diseases etc.
The feminist theology strives for the equality of women and men in a society and the elimination of male dominance. They also often portrayed God with feminine attributes and maternal characteristics. The black theology fights for the rights of the black community as the Christian values taught to them were “White Christianity” that talked about how black people were inferior. Their theory also disagrees with the white male portrayal of Jesus and this helps them feel more at ease as their God does not look the people that victimised them for centuries and are still doing so.
All of these theologies have at least one thing in common, that is the liberation of underprivileged communities. Another thing is that some of these issues cannot be solved just by removing poverty, more needs to be done. All of their main goal is to unite people from all possible backgrounds and create a civil bond. However, the difference is the minjung represents everyone, it represents all of the oppressed, not just women, not just the poor but everyone that is a victim of the oppressive society in Korea. Additionally, most theologies have a fixed and final goal but minjung theology has goals that are more similar to objectives that are based off the current struggles they are experiencing. The social and political complications they faced in 1970s and 1980s are insignificant to today’s issues, hence minjung theology is more of a progressive theology rather than a conservative one that chases one ultimate goal and focuses only on the religion and God themselves but does not take its people and their struggles into consideration.
Liberation theology:
- Represents new systems of understanding human existence, interpreting the Bible and articulating theological reflections
- Sees religion as a historical and as a social product which should serve numerous needs of societies related to geographical, political or socio-economic differences
- Indicates changes that are taking place within religion and its corresponding society
- Dismisses both oversimplified conceptualisation of secularisation and over-secularized conception of society
The impacts:
- The oppressed in North Korea are also a part of the minjung as minjung represents the underprivileged individuals in both the Koreas.
- Restructured the concept of religion and the impression South Koreans have on Christianity
- Redefined the role of Christianity by enunciating and sympathising with economic and social issues
- Served as a powerful driving force in the country’s democratic movement
- Taken issues with other sources, for instance reunification, gender equality, environmental protection, economic polarisation
- Inspired Buddhism to follow its footsteps as several Buddhist NGOs exist
Conclusion
Minjung theologians claim that Christianity or the Bible cannot be fully interpreted unless the minjung history is taken into account and given attention to as the Bible is deeply engrained into the biblical minjung. The minjung theology is not just about the Christians in Korea, but is about people from all oppressive societies. Minjung theology’s aim is to explain the religion through the Ochlus rather than understanding the Ochlus through the Biblical interpretation. Although the minjung movement has helped stimulate a lot of new concepts in Korea, it is still not very accepted by a large population of Christians. One of the biggest obstacles is the Korean Protestant church as it is known to be quite conservative and yearns for improvement but it’s very lacking when it came to social concerns. The majority of the Christian community in Korea considers this theology as rather blasphemous as they misunderstand and think that God is not as important to them as the oppressed are. As a result, minjung theologians stand as a minority group right now. If minjung theologians and other theologians in Korea came together to stand on a united ground, the goals of the minjung theology would have been globalised and the focus would shift to the global minjung as well which includes the oppressed from all the races, religions, genders and classes.
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