Studies of the Book of Isaiah in the Korean Church since its Beginning

Abstract

The history of the Korean Church is marked by its unfailing enthusiasm toward the Bible in general and the OT Prophets in particular. Well before Protestant Christianity was introduced to Korea, Korean nobility had already read the Bible in the late 18th century through their contact with French Roman Catholic missionaries working in China. Some Korean trading merchants participated in the translation of the Bible into Korean by helping John Ross, a Scottish missionary to China and Manchuria, in his translation of the Bible into Korean. Even a Confucian noble man like Yi Soo-Jung himself translated the Gospel of Luke as early as the late 19th century in Japan. No wonder Korean Christianity has been called a Bibleloving or Bible-committed one. Faced with the decline of their mother country, Korean Christians (both Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians)specially put their trust in the OT and its bountiful promises and prophecies designed to sustain the people of Israel in many national crises and tribulations. The OT provided them with many inspiring lessons and convictions because of its apparently nationalistic tone and universal vision of a peaceful world full of freedom, justice, and equality. The book of Isaiah, among others, has for several reasons been one of the most widely read OT books in Korea since Christianity was introduced to Korean people in the late 19th century: its messianic hope, its sociopolitical oracles, and its frequent quotations in the NT. A survey of the uses and interpretations of the book of Isaiah illustrates how Korean Christians and Bible scholars have appropriated its message in close response to their contemporary sociopolitical challenges. The present essay reviews how both the Korean Church and academia have read and interpreted the book of Isaiah these two past two centuries. It also pays special attention to how the socio-religious milieu of Korea influenced Korean people s reading and interpretation of the book. To this end, the present article examines commentaries, monographs, articles, and important books of sermons which deal with the book of Isaiah with attention to themes and methods. For this reason the present essay takes a historical approach to major works on the book of Isaiah and categorizes them into several types in accordance with their exegetical method, focus, and targeted reader. Through its diachronical analysis of major works on the Book of Isaiah, the present essay categorizes all Korean works on Isaiah into three types of interpretation: pre-critical and over-Christological (supercessionistic)interpretation, historical-critical interpretation, and historical-canonical interpretation. The initial stage of the Korean people s reading of Isaiah has been marked by its supercessionistic and spiritualizing tendency. The middle stage of Korean churches and Christians has moved a bit toward the historical-critical reading with relatively insufficient attention to the pastoral and devotional function of the Book of Isaiah. The latest stage seeks to steer a middle road between Christological and spiritualizing reading on the one hand and historical and canonical reading on the other hand. The present essay concludes that the interpretation and reading of the Book of Isaiah in Korea has been undergoing various stages of change in accordance with the societal and cultural environments they have faced.