Christianity

Definition and Name

Christianity is the religion centered on faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ. "Christ" is a Greek word meaning "anointed one" and translates the Hebrew "Messiah" (John 1:41). The Korean term Gidok (基督) is a phonetic rendering of "Christ" in Chinese characters, and the religion is also called Geuriseudogyo or Keuriseuteugyo in Korean. Most Christians believe that God exists as the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ.

Biblical and Historical Background

The scripture of Christianity is the Bible, which consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. Christianity arose in first-century Judea out of Judaism, and Acts 11:26 records that the disciples were first called "Christians" in Antioch. In the eleventh century, the Eastern and Western churches split, separating the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions. Then, in the sixteenth century, the Reformation within the Western church gave rise to Protestantism. These are regarded as the three major branches of Christianity.

Usage in the Korean Church

• Use of the name: In Korea, it has become established practice to call Protestantism Gidokgyo ("Christianity") and Catholicism Cheonjugyo. The word Gidokgyo also appears in the names of Protestant denominations such as the Korean Methodist Church and the Korea Baptist Convention. The Catholic Church holds that, because Catholics also belong to Christianity, it is incorrect to apply the term to Protestantism alone, and it now more often uses the term Geuriseudogyo. Protestant media have also explained that, when a distinction from Catholicism is being drawn, the accurate term is Gaesingyo ("Protestantism").
• Introduction to Korea: Catholicism reached Korea before any missionaries did, arriving as part of Seohak (西學), or "Western learning." Korean Protestantism commemorates as its starting point the arrival at Jemulpo on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1885, of Horace Underwood, a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian), and Henry Appenzeller, a Methodist missionary.
• Number of adherents: In the sample tabulation of Statistics Korea's 2015 Population and Housing Census, Protestants numbered 9,676,000 (19.7 percent) and Catholics 3,890,000 (7.9 percent). In that census, Protestantism surpassed Buddhism for the first time to become the religion with the most adherents. However, some observers noted that this Protestant figure also included members of certain groups that Korean Protestant bodies have designated as heretical.