Korean Religions in Relation: Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity

From the publisher’s website:

Examines Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity in Korea, focusing on their mutual accommodation, exclusion, conflict, and assimilation.

Instead of simply being another survey of the three dominant religions in contemporary Korea—Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity—this unique book studies them in relation to each other in terms of assimilation, accommodation, conflict, and exclusion. The contributors focus on major issues that have historically challenged the relations between the three religions from the Goryeo period to the present and how each religion has responded to them. The essays bring a new perspective to the study of Korean religions, one that is especially pertinent in the current age of religious pluralism with all its tensions.

“…a welcome contribution to the body of knowledge regarding multi-layered Korean religions. The volume’s ten essays offer different approaches to Korean religions, bringing us one step closer to a contemporary re-thinking of the Korean religious tradition.” — Reading Religion

Anselm K. Min is Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate University and the author and editor of many books, including Dialectic of Salvation: Issues in Theology of Liberation, also published by SUNY Press.

Contents

1. 1. A Relational Approach to the Study of Korean Religions: An Overview | Anselm K. Min

Part I. Buddhism and Confucianism: Accommodation and Conflict

2. Interactions between Buddhism and Confucianism in Medieval Korea | Jongmyung Kim
3. Philosophical Aspects of the Goryeo-Joseon Confucian-Buddhist Confrontation: Focusing on the Works of Jeong Dojeon (Sambong) and Hamheo Deuktong (Gihwa) | A. Charles Muller

Part II. Confucianism and Catholicism: Conflict and Assimilation

4. Catholic God and Confucian Morality: A Look at the Theology and Ethics of Korea’s First Catholics | Don Baker
5. On the Family Resemblance of Philosophical Paradigm: Between Dasan’s Thought and Matteo Ricci’s Tianzhu Shiyi | Young-bae Song

Part III. Protestantism and Korean Religions: Exclusion and Assimilation

6. A Genealogy of Protestant Theologies of Religions in Korea, 1876–1910: Protestantism as a Religion of Civilization and Fulfillment | Sung-Deuk Oak
7. What Can Christianity Learn from Korean Religions? The Case of Ryu Yongmo | Young-Ho Chun

Part IV. Confucianism, Christianity, and the Challenges of the Modern World

8. Resurgence of Asian Values: Confucian Comeback and Its Embodiment in Christianity | Namsoon Kang
9. Korean Confucianism and Women’s Subjectivity in the Twenty-First Century | Un-sunn Lee
10. Confucianism at a Crossroads: Confucianism and Democracy in Korea | Young-chan Ro
11. Between Tradition and Globalization: Korean Christianity at a Crossroads | Anselm K. Min