한국교회 설교와 교인 교육에 대한 문화사회학적 비판: 서사와 코드를 중심으로

Abstract

The Korean church today is the center of criticism from society where it is trying to expand its role and influence. After many analyses, suggestions have been made for changing the problem and this article is one of the attempts. A new methodology, “Cultural Sociology”, is applied which has been is theoretically well established by two prominent sociologists, Jeffery Alexander and Phillip Smith. They consider cultural elements as significant factors in constructing, maintaining, and changing social phenomena, which includes religious phenomena. Narratives and symbolic codes are two factors. Based on their methods, this study investigates the problems of the Korean church, especially in sermons and religious education. The first concern is to know the most prevailing form of narrative found in the sermons of the Korean church and to compare the results with the main narrative of the Bible. The same comparative process is conducted for the binary opposition of symbolic system between the sermons and the Bible. Significant discord was found from the comparison and some of the church problems are clearly associated with these findings. The second concern is to review the most read, current Korean religious publications. Two books are examined for their narrative and symbolic codes. These narratives and codes are compared to those of the Bible and meaningful discord is detected. This article traced the cause of the problems that the Korean church faces in relationship to the cultural factors of the sermons and educational books. As a result, the narratives and codes of the Korean church need be corrected to reflect the Bible. With this attempt, the church would have a chance of reformation and become a reborn body of Christ. Cultural elements can have a significant influence in maintaining and reforming even a religious organization and its role and place in the society.