Park Hyung-ryong

Life

Park was born on the 28th day of the third lunar month of 1897 in Byeokdong County, North Pyongan Province, on the banks of the Yalu River. His family was not Christian. While studying at a traditional village school (seodang), he began attending church, and he is said to have been converted after hearing a sermon by the Rev. Kim Ik-du. He completed his studies at Sinseong Middle School in Seoncheon and at Union Christian College (Soongsil) in Pyongyang, from which he graduated in 1920. In 1921 he transferred to the University of Nanking in Nanjing, China, and later studied at Princeton Theological Seminary in the United States.

In 1931 he became professor of apologetics (the discipline of rationally explaining and defending the Christian faith) at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pyongyang. In the final years of Japanese colonial rule, he taught at Northeast Theological Seminary in Manchuria. After liberation, in the fall of 1947, he was invited to serve as president of Koryo Theological Seminary in Busan. However, because of differences with its founder, the Rev. Han Sang-dong, over the running of the school, he resigned in April 1948. In June of that year he became president of the newly opened Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Seoul, and a considerable number of the students who followed him transferred there as well. He devoted himself to theological education until his retirement in 1972 and died on October 25, 1978.

Ministry and Achievements

• Apologetic and doctrinal writings: In A Critical Review of Problems in Modern Christian Theology (기독교 근대 신학 난제 선평), he evaluated the theological currents of his day, distinguishing what he judged to be right from what he judged to be wrong. His major work is Dogmatic Theology (교의신학, 7 vols.), and his writings were collected in The Complete Works of Dr. Park Hyung-ryong (14 vols.).
• Controversy over the doctrine of Scripture: He steadfastly upheld verbal inspiration—the view that every part of the biblical text was written by the inspiration of God—and biblical inerrancy. Over this issue he debated Kim Jae-jun on the interpretation of Genesis and related matters. At the 24th General Assembly in 1935, the authorship of Genesis and issues concerning women were taken up, and he is said to have drafted the Assembly's response.
• Seminary administration: While president of the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, he negotiated to acquire land for the school from the government. In the process, without the approval of the board of directors, he handed approximately 30 million hwan to a man who had promised to broker the property, but the land was never obtained. This episode is known as the "30 Million Hwan Incident." In 1958, after a divided vote, the board accepted his resignation.

Influence on the Korean Church

His theology broadly follows the Calvinist orthodoxy of nineteenth-century Princeton Theological Seminary, the so-called "Old Princeton theology." This theology became the framework of conservative Presbyterian theology in Korea. The Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong) regards him as the leading theologian who passed on the tradition of the Pyongyang seminary to Chongshin University. The Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin) likewise views the early Koryo Theological Seminary's choice of him as its first president as an expression of its intent to inherit his orthodox theology.

By contrast, the Chosun Theological Seminary faction led by Kim Jae-jun separated in 1953 to form the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea. At the 44th General Assembly in 1959, supporters and opponents of membership in the World Council of Churches clashed, and the church divided into the HapDong and TongHap denominations. As to the real cause of this schism, many in the TongHap camp point to the 30 Million Hwan Incident, while the HapDong camp emphasizes theological issues surrounding the ecumenical movement (the movement for church unity across denominational lines). → Presbyterian schisms in Korea

Assessment

The HapDong denomination esteems him highly as a theologian who preserved the purity of Reformed theology and repelled the challenge of liberal theology. He has also drawn criticism. First, some charge that he merely gathered Western orthodox theology "like a bouquet" and transplanted it to Korea. In response, scholars who have studied him argue that he reconstructed the theology he received in his own way. Second, some contend that the fundamentalist view of Scripture he championed was one factor in church divisions. His defenders regard it as a scholarly response aimed at upholding the authority of Scripture. Third, some judge that after liberation he took a lax attitude toward dealing with past wrongs such as Shinto shrine worship and toward public repentance for them. Regarding the 30 Million Hwan Incident, opinion is divided between those who see him as the victim of fraud and those who hold that he bore heavy responsibility as president.