Civil Disobedience

Definition and Meaning

Civil disobedience is the act by which citizens openly break a law or government order that they judge in conscience to be unjust, usually by nonviolent means, and accept the punishment that follows. It differs from revolution or armed resistance in that it seeks to expose the injustice of a particular law while acknowledging the legal order as a whole. It is also distinct from the right of resistance, a broader concept denoting the right to oppose tyranny. The term became widely known through an essay published in 1849 by the American writer Henry David Thoreau. It later became a major subject of Christian ethics through the civil rights movement led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Biblical and Historical Background

The passages most often cited as grounds for obedience to the state are Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-17, and Titus 3:1. The following passages are frequently cited as grounds for disobedience:

• The Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah, who refused to obey Pharaoh's order to kill male infants (Exodus 1:15-21)
• The episode of the fiery furnace, in which Daniel's three friends refused to bow down to the golden image
• Acts 5:29, where the apostles answered, "We ought to obey God rather than men"

Christian traditions differ in how they reconcile these two strands. John Calvin restricted resistance by private individuals but held that lesser magistrates, officials serving under the king, could restrain tyranny. John Knox is known to have advocated more active resistance. The Anabaptists and Quakers have maintained a tradition of nonviolent disobedience that includes refusing oaths and military service. In the twentieth century, the example of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who resisted the Nazis, is frequently discussed.

Practice in the Korean Church

During the Japanese colonial period, Ju Gi-cheol, Son Yang-won, and others were imprisoned for refusing compulsory Shinto shrine worship. Today many denominations honor them as models of disobedience grounded in faith.

During the era of military rule, the churches were divided. Progressive church bodies such as the National Council of Churches in Korea and the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea took part in the human rights and democratization movements and regarded resisting unjust laws as a practice of faith (see The Church and the Democratization Movement). By contrast, many conservative churches appealed to Romans 13 to emphasize obedience to state authority and the political neutrality of the church.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some churches did not comply with restrictions on in-person worship. Even within the church, opinion was divided between those who defended this as disobedience in defense of religious freedom and those who criticized it as endangering the safety of their neighbors. Civil disobedience thus remains a recurring issue in debates over the church and politics.