FRANKLIN RAUSCH

10.18399/acta.2016.19.1.003

.Theodicy Suffering Problem of Evil Christianity Religion

Suffering is a human universal experienced within distinct historical contexts that poses an especially serious theological challenge to Christians: how does one reconcile suffering with belief in an omniscient, omnipotent, and just God? This article will explore how Korean Christians have developed theodicies, attempts to explain this apparent contradiction, that speak to their particular historical contexts by surveying the thought and actions of six Korean Christians (three Catholics and three Protestants): scholar and catechist Augustine Chŏng Yak-chong (1760–1801), author of the Silk Letter Alexius Hwang Sa-yŏng (1775–1801), assassin of Itō Hirobumi Thomas An Chung-gŭn (1879–1910), nationalist preacher Kil Sŏn-ju (1869–1935), miracle worker Kim Ik-tu (1874–1950), and pacifist and historian Ham Sŏk-hŏn (1901–1989). By bringing together Koreans from different Christian traditions and times, this article will reveal the similarities and differences in Catholic and Protestant theodicies, how those theodicies developed in response to the particular historical contexts Koreans faced, and how they helped shape the historical choices made by their authors and their audiences. In particular, this article will show that while Korean Christians were willing to passively accept individual suffering, they could be driven to take direct, even violent action, when their communities were faced with this-worldly existential threats.