Bang Ji-il

Life

Bang was born in 1911 in Seoncheon, North Pyongan Province, into a Christian family whose faith went back three generations to his grandfather, Bang Man-jun. His father, Bang Hyo-won, was a Presbyterian missionary who worked in Shandong Province, China. Bang attended Sinseong School in Seoncheon and Union Christian College (Soongsil) in Pyongyang, and then studied at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pyongyang. In 1931, while a student at Soongsil, he reportedly founded the monthly Christian magazine Gyeojassi (The Mustard Seed) with fellow students. During his seminary years he served as an evangelist at Jangdaehyeon Church, the center of the Great Pyongyang Revival, where he ministered alongside the Rev. Gil Seon-ju.

Upon graduating from seminary in 1937, he was ordained and immediately left for Shandong Province, China, as a missionary. After returning to Korea in 1957, he was appointed to Yeongdeungpo Church in Seoul, where he served as senior pastor until 1979; that same year he was named pastor emeritus. On October 9, 2014, he lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital, and he died early the following morning at the age of 103.

Ministry and Accomplishments

Mission in China. Bang worked in Shandong Province for twenty-one years, from 1937 to 1957. He later recalled that during this period he lived under five regimes, including the Nationalist government, the Japanese occupation, and the Communist government. He is said to have suffered hardship for refusing demands to join the Greater East Asia Mission Society established by imperial Japan. In 1957 the Chinese authorities sought to deport him to North Korea. However, after Western media reported on him as "the last Protestant missionary remaining in China," he was reportedly able to return to South Korea by way of Hong Kong. In 1998 he is reported to have received the Order of Civil Merit, Moran Medal, in recognition of his help, during his years in China, in repatriating Koreans there, including independence fighters, student soldiers, and forced laborers.

Denominational and Ecumenical Work. In 1971 he served as moderator of the 56th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap). From 1982 he chaired the board of trustees of the Korean Bible Society, and he also served as chairman of the board of the Kidok Kongbo, a Christian newspaper. For more than fifty years he led a Monday Bible study group. Beginning in 2010, he also served as a "Sharing Life" goodwill ambassador for the Korean Organ Donation Movement. His writings include the autobiography Naui Na Doem (I Am What I Am, 2013).

Influence on the Korean Church

Korean Presbyterians began their overseas missions by sending missionaries to Shandong in 1913. Bang ministered in the same region as his father, representing a second generation of service there. For this reason he is regarded in the history of Korean church missions as a figure linking the early overseas missions with present-day missions. Academic studies have also examined his work as an example of "incarnational mission," in which the missionary adapts himself to the local language and culture. The Incarnation refers to God's becoming human and coming into the world.

Until late in life he continued to appear at denominational General Assembly meetings and ecumenical events, and he was called "a living witness to Korean church history." He preached at the 2013 Union Easter Service. In July 2014, a few months before his death, he personally appeared as the model on posters for the "Rod of Discipline Great Prayer Rally," which called for repentance among pastors and the renewal of the church. He consistently warned against the church growing merely in numbers and insisted that faith must grow along with it. His motto is often quoted as "I would rather wear out than rust out."

Assessment

Many describe him as an elder statesman respected across denominational lines. The Kukmin Ilbo reported that he was the only former moderator to have attended the denomination's General Assembly for more than forty years. At the same time, most of the assessments available to date are based on memorial articles published in the Christian and secular press around the time of his death. Objective academic studies of his mission work in China and his pastoral ministry remain few. No significant criticism of him was identified in the preparation of this article.