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Sheba (Son of Bichri)
[People]Sheba was a Benjamite who appears in 2 Samuel 20. Shortly after Absalom's rebellion, he rose up against David but was killed by the inhabitants of the city of Abel-beth-maachah.
Job 13:15
[Bible Verses]In this verse Job declares that, even at the risk of death, he will defend his ways before God. Because of a variant reading in the Hebrew text, translations divide between "I have no hope" and "I will trust in him," and the verse is frequently discussed.
Job 15
[Bible]Eliphaz's second speech. He rebukes Job's words as empty, declares that no human being can be clean before God, and then describes at length the miserable end that awaits the wicked.
Ex Opere Operato
[Doctrine & Theology]*Ex opere operato* (Korean *sahyoron*, "efficacy of the work") is the doctrine that a sacrament is efficacious when it is rightly performed as Christ instituted it, regardless of the faith or moral character of the minister. The Korean term is a translation of the Latin phrase.
Silent Prayer
[Doctrine & Theology]Silent prayer is prayer offered inwardly without speaking aloud, or prayer in which one ceases speaking and rests quietly before God. In Korean churches the term is used alongside *mukdo* (wordless prayer) and "meditative prayer."
Romans 5:8
[Bible Verses]Romans 5:8 reads: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It is a key verse for the teaching that God's love precedes any human worthiness, and it also figures in debates within the doctrine of the atonement over how the cross is to be understood.
Acts of the Apostles
[Bible]The Acts of the Apostles is the fifth book of the New Testament. It records how, after the ascension of Jesus Christ and with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the church began in Jerusalem and spread as far as Rome.
The Sabbath and the Lord's Day
[Controversies]A discussion of whether Christians should observe the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath or the first-day (Sunday) Lord's Day, and whether the Lord's Day should be kept in the manner of the Old Testament Sabbath.
Homosexuality and the Church
[Controversies]The question of how the church should respond to homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ church members and clergy. Most Korean denominations hold the traditional position that homosexuality is sin, and the issue is closely intertwined with the debate over enacting an anti-discrimination law.
The Church and Politics
[Controversies]The question of how the church and individual Christians should engage in politics. Views differ on the meaning of the separation of church and state, the boundary between preaching and political speech, and the proper forms of the church's social engagement.
The March First Movement and Christianity
[History]The March First Movement and Christianity examines the role Protestantism played in the March First Movement of 1919. Protestants accounted for 16 of the 33 National Representatives, and churches and Christian schools served as bases from which the independence demonstrations spread across the country.
Schisms in the Korean Presbyterian Church
[History]The schisms in the Korean Presbyterian Church were the divisions of the once-unified Presbyterian Church in Korea during the 1950s into the Kosin, Kijang, Tonghap, and Hapdong bodies over the handling of Shinto shrine worship, views of Scripture, and membership in the World Council of Churches (WCC). Further divisions into numerous denominations followed.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
[Heresies & Cults]The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a religious organization founded by Joseph Smith in the United States in 1830 and commonly known as the Mormon Church. It accepts the Book of Mormon as scripture alongside the Bible. In Korea, the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap), the Korean Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Hapshin), and other bodies have declared it heretical.
Epistle to the Galatians
[Bible]The Epistle to the Galatians is the ninth book of the New Testament, a letter written by the apostle Paul to the churches in the region of Galatia. It teaches that a person is justified not by the works of the law but by faith.
The Twelve Disciples
[People]The Twelve Disciples were the twelve men whom Jesus Christ kept close to him during his public ministry, teaching them and sending them out to preach. The New Testament also calls them "apostles."
The Fall
[Doctrine & Theology]The Fall is the Christian doctrine concerning the event in which the first humans, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God's command, bringing sin and death upon the human race, and concerning the condition into which humanity entered as a result.
Sermon on the Mount
[Bible]The Sermon on the Mount is the collection of Jesus' teachings recorded in Matthew 5–7; the name refers to the sermon He delivered on a mountain to His disciples and the multitudes. It contains the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, and the Golden Rule.
Perseverance of the Saints
[Doctrine & Theology]The perseverance of the saints is the Reformed (Calvinist) doctrine that God upholds to the end those whom He has truly saved, so that they never fall away completely from the faith. Other denominations understand the matter differently.
The Church and the Democratization Movement
[History]The church and the democratization movement refers to the activities of South Korean Protestants who, on the basis of their faith, called for the restoration of human rights and democracy under the military governments of the 1970s and 1980s. Pastors and young people from denominations affiliated with the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) were at its center.
The Korean War and the Church
[History]This article covers the losses suffered by Korean Protestantism during the Korean War (1950–1953) and its responses to them. It addresses the changes the war brought to the Korean church, including the deaths of believers and the destruction of churches, refugee flight and relief work, the establishment of the military chaplaincy, and the division of the Presbyterian Church.