Dalit theology is a branch of Christian theology that emerged among the Dalit caste in the Indian subcontinent in the 1980s. It shares a number of themes with Latin American liberation theology, which arose two decades earlier, including a self-identity as a people undergoing Exodus. Dalit theology sees hope in the "Nazareth Manifesto" of Luke 4, where Jesus speaks of preaching "good news to the poor ... freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind" and of releasing "the oppressed."
The opium of the people or opium of the masses is a dictum used in reference to religion, derived from a frequently paraphrased partial statement of German revolutionary and critic of political economy Karl Marx: "Religion is the opium of the people." In context, the statement is part of Marx's analysis that religion's role is as a metaphysical balm for the real suffering in the universe and in society.
Christian communism is a theological view that the teachings of Jesus compel Christians to support religious communism. Although there is no universal agreement on the exact dates when communistic ideas and practices in Christianity began, many Christian communists argue that evidence from the Bible suggests that the first Christians, including the Apostles in the New Testament, established their own small communist society in the years following Jesus' death and resurrection. Many advocates of Christian communism and other communists, including Karl Kautsky, argue that it was taught by Jesus and practised by the apostles themselves. This is generally confirmed by historians.
The practice of Christianity in Korea is marginal in North Korea, but significant in South Korea, where it revolves around two of its largest branches, Protestantism and Catholicism, accounting for 8.6 million and 5.8 million members, respectively. The initial variety of Christianity in the peninsula, Nestorianism, spread to Korea in the Middle Ages by way of China via Middle Eastern adherents to the Church of the East. Catholicism was first introduced during the late Joseon Dynasty period by Confucian scholars who encountered it in China. In 1603, Yi Su-gwang, a Korean politician, returned from Beijing carrying several theological books written by Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit missionary to China. He began disseminating the information in the books, introducing Christianity to Korea. In 1758, King Yeongjo of Joseon officially outlawed Catholicism as an "evil practice." Catholicism was reintroduced in 1785 by Yi Seung-hun and French and Chinese Catholic priests were soon invited by the Korean Christians.
The Three-Self Patriotic Movement is the official government supervisory organ for Protestantism in the People's Republic of China. It is colloquially known as the Three-Self Church.
Kang Ryang-uk, also spelled Kang Lyanguk, was a North Korean Presbyterian minister and Chairman of the Korean Christian Federation since 1946.
Minjung theology emerged in the 1970s from the experience of South Korean Christians in the struggle for social justice. It is a people's theology, and, according to its authors, "a development of the political hermeneutics of the Gospel in terms of the Korean reality." It is part of a wider Asian theological ferment, but it was not designed for export. It "is firmly rooted in a particular situation, and growing out of the struggles of Christians who embrace their own history as well as the universal message of the Bible."
There are no known official statistics of religions in North Korea. Officially, North Korea is an atheist state, although its constitution guarantees free exercise of religion, provided that religious practice does not introduce foreign forces, harm the state, or harm the existing social order. Based on estimates from the late 1990s and the 2000s, North Korea is mostly irreligious, with the main religions being Shamanism and Chondoism. There are small communities of Buddhists and Christians. Chondoism is represented in politics by the Party of the Young Friends of the Heavenly Way, and is regarded by the government as Korea's "national religion" because of its identity as a minjung (popular) and "revolutionary anti-imperialist" movement.
19th-century German philosopher Karl Marx, the founder and primary theorist of Marxism, viewed religion as "the soul of soulless conditions" or the "opium of the people". According to Marx, religion in this world of exploitation is an expression of distress and at the same time it is also a protest against the real distress. In other words, religion continues to survive because of oppressive social conditions. When this oppressive and exploitative condition is destroyed, religion will become unnecessary. At the same time, Marx saw religion as a form of protest by the working classes against their poor economic conditions and their alienation. Denys Turner, a scholar of Marx and historical theology, classified Marx's views as adhering to Post-Theism, a philosophical position that regards worshipping deities as an eventually obsolete, but temporarily necessary, stage in humanity's historical spiritual development.
Cheondoism is a 20th-century Korean pantheistic religion, based on the 19th-century Donghak religious movement founded by Choe Je-u and codified under Son Byong-hi. Cheondoism has its origins in the peasant rebellions which arose starting in 1812 during the Joseon.
Chilgol Church is a Protestant church on Kwangbok Street, Kwangbok, Chilgol, Pyongyang, North Korea. It is one of two Protestant churches in the country. It is dedicated to Kang Pan-sok, who was a Presbyterian deaconess and the mother of Kim Il Sung.
Bongsu Church is a Protestant church in the Konguk-dong of the Mangyongdae District of Pyongyang in North Korea.
The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity (Korean: 평양정백사원) is an Eastern Orthodox church in Jongbaek-dong, Rangrang District in Pyongyang, North Korea. It is the first and only Orthodox church in the country, and one of only a handful of Christian churches there overall.
The Pyongyang Theological Seminary is a Protestant theological seminary in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It is run by the government-controlled Korean Christian Federation (KCF) and trains pastors and evangelists for it.
The Pyongyang Revival or the Great Pyongyang Revival of 1907 was a Protestant revival that occurred in and around the city of Pyongyang, what is today the capital of North Korea. A key figure of the movement is often seen to be Kil Sun-joo, one of the first Korean Protestants ordained as a Presbyterian minister. R. A. Hardie, a Canadian physician and Methodist missionary who primarily worked in Wonsan, was also an inspiration for the movement.
The three-self formula or three-self principle is a missiological strategy to establish indigenous churches. Its principles are: self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation. It was first coined in the late-19th century by various missions theorists, and is still used today in certain contexts such as in the Three-Self Patriotic Movement in mainland China.
"Direction of Endeavor for Chinese Christianity in the Construction of New China", commonly known as "The Christian Manifesto" or "The Three-Self Manifesto", was a political manifesto of Protestants in China whereby they backed the newly founded People's Republic of China (PRC) and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Published in 1950, the manifesto paved the way for the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) of Protestants. This movement proclaimed the three principles of self-government, self-support, and self-propagation. The drafting and content of the manifesto was, and remains, controversial to this day.
The Propaganda and Agitation Department, officially translated as the Publicity and Information Department, is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with coordinating the creation and dissemination of propaganda in North Korea. It is the highest propaganda organization in the country.
Robert Alexander Hardie was a Canadian physician and Methodist evangelist who for 45 years served as a missionary in Korea. He is recognized as the catalyst for the Wŏnsan Revival (1903) and also inspired the Great Pyongyang Revival (1907) in what is now North Korea.
The United Front Department of the Workers' Party of Korea is a department of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) tasked with relations with South Korea. It conducts propaganda operations and espionage and manages front organizations, including the Chongryon.
