Daniel Lee

Mrs. Lucarelli
Honors World History
November 4th, 2016

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary religion means, an organized system of

beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a God or a group of gods. From this dictionary
definition it tells us that a religion is a belief we have in a God or gods (and philosophies).
Religion dates back many centuries ago, with the most popular ones being Christianity, Islam,
Hinduism etc. There are not many places in the world where when you turn a corner youll see
some kind of church, temple, mosque, or a religious building. This shows how important religion
is but how does religion influence people? Religion helps many with their problems, and finds
peace within their religion, and others may use it to ensure that they are safe, and others use
religion as a way to find connection. For example, in Christianity, people try to build a
relationship with Jesus, while also finding salvation. This can be seen in many countries all over
the world but what is the influence of Christianity in Korea? Christianity influences the korean
people by setting a guideline for parenting, changed views of world, and is the most practiced
religion in korea.
To begin with, in korean culture family values, and parenting is very important. In korea
many families, and parents are taking their parenting outline out of Christianity. In an article on
quod.lib.umich.edu it states, A growing body of research on parenting and religion emphasizes
the significance of the roles of religious faith in parenting. These include the impact of religion in
the construction of ideal fatherhood From this quote you can see that ideal fatherhood is an
important part of parenting and this was taken from Christianity.

Furthermore, Christianity has influenced the korean peninsula by changing the views of
many koreans. For example in an article from thediplomat.com it states, For its first 75 years
[the Catholic church] underwent the most horrendous persecution, comparable really to the
history of the early church, says Dr. James Grayson, professor of Modern Korean Studies at the
University of Sheffield...At least 8000 Catholics were killed, and many have since been
canonized, giving Korea the fourth largest number of saints of any nation from this piece of
evidence you can see how Christianity was not accepted by the government of Korea in the past,
however 200 years later the country has seen big improvements. Off a chart on pewresearch.org
it says that 86% of the Catholic population in Korea has a positive view of Pope Francis while
66% of the Catholic population in the US has a positive view of Pope Francis. This is a major
improvement compared to the ugly past relations with christians.
Finally, Christianity influenced Korea in such a positive way that the nation that once
ordered to have Christians killed now has a positive view upon this religion. Off a chart on
pewresearch.org you can see that in 1900 only 1% was christian, and now in present day Korea
46% percent of the country has no religion, 23% Buddhist, 29% Christian, and 2% other. This
graph presents that Koreas most practiced religion is Christianity and this is a surprise judging
by the statistic that only 1% of korea was christian in 1900, but what made Christianity grow in
South Korea? In a quote from religious.blogs.cnn.com it states, Catholics in South Korea are
increasingly prosperous. In an interview with Catholic News Service, Bishop William
McNaughton, who served as the first bishop of Inchon from 1962 until 2002, recalled that when
he arrived in the country, most of his congregation was poor. Now, he says, theyre wealthier
than average. From this quote you can see how the rising economy has helped Christianity grow
in Korea.

In conclusion, religion is a very important part of life history, and more but it can also be
used in different aspects of life, like in korea it has influenced parenting, and how to be a better
person. Christianity also changed Koreas views on many things like now changing the opinions
of many koreans on having a positive view on Religious leaders. In addition, Christianity in
Korea was a mere 1% in the past but now in present day it is the most practiced religion in the
country.

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mfr/4919087.0008.104/--influence-of-christianity-

on-korean-parenting?rgn=main;view=fulltext
- http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/12/6-facts-about-christianity-insouth-korea/
- http://thediplomat.com/2016/04/christianity-and-korea/
- http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2014/08/12/five-ways-south-korea-might-be-thechurch-of-the-future/