Released Prisoner Saints

Background

During the final years of Japanese colonial rule, the Government-General of Korea compelled the churches to take part in Shinto shrine worship (the rite of bowing at Japanese Shinto shrines). In September 1938, the 27th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, with Moderator Hong Taek-ki presiding, adopted a resolution approving shrine worship. Those who refused were imprisoned, and some, such as Ju Gi-cheol, died in prison. Those who remained in prison until liberation and were then released are called the Released Prisoner Saints. In the Kosin tradition they are also called sujin seongdo (守眞聖徒), meaning "saints who kept the truth."

Course of Events

• August 17, 1945: About twenty people were released from Pyongyang Prison, among them Yi Ki-seon, Chae Jeong-min, Han Sang-dong, Ju Nam-seon, Choe Deok-ji, Jo Su-ok, and Ahn Ei-sook. Prisoners held elsewhere, such as Son Yang-won, were released at about the same time.
• August–September 1945: Rather than dispersing, the Released Prisoner Saints stayed for about two months at Sanjeonghyeon Church in Pyongyang, where Ju Gi-cheol had served as pastor. There they held prayer meetings and Bible conferences (gatherings for intensive Bible study). According to accounts, when a special session of the Pyongyang Presbytery met at the church on September 4, the participants, led by Yi Ki-seon, Chae Jeong-min, and others, fasted for three days and repented of shrine worship.
• Around September 20, 1945: They issued the five-point "Basic Principles for Rebuilding the Korean Church." The principles were as follows: because all pastors and elders had taken part in shrine worship, they should undergo church discipline and repent before returning to ministry; discipline should take the form of voluntary self-restraint, with pastors taking a leave of absence of at least two months; during that period, deacons or lay members should lead worship; these principles should be made known and implemented throughout the country; and the theological seminary should be restored.
• November 1945: About two hundred ministers from six presbyteries in North Pyongan Province gathered at Wolgok-dong Church in Seoncheon, North Pyongan, to discuss the rebuilding principles and the question of self-restraint. Hong Taek-ki and others objected, arguing that those who had suffered in prison were no different from those who had suffered by staying behind to protect the church, and that repentance and punishment for shrine worship were matters to be settled between the individual and God. The meeting reportedly ended without reaching a conclusion.

Outcome and Influence

When the rebuilding principles failed to win broad support, the Released Prisoner Saints went their separate ways.

• Reform and Restoration faction: Yi Ki-seon and others gathered the churches that adhered strictly to the principles and organized a separate presbytery. About thirty churches joined, including Sanjeonghyeon Church and congregations in North Pyongan and Hwanghae provinces.
• Rebuilding Church (Jaegeon Church): While in prison, Kim Rin-hui, Park Sin-geun, Choe Deok-ji, Yi Gwang-rok, and others had regarded as sin not only shrine worship but Japan's entire policy of turning Koreans into imperial subjects, and they had refused to comply with it. Insisting on a more thorough repentance, they founded the Rebuilding Church. Kim Rin-hui established a Rebuilding Church in the North. Choe Deok-ji moved to the South in December 1945 and founded the Rebuilding Church there on February 18, 1948.
• South Gyeongsang region: The church renewal movement led by Han Sang-dong, Ju Nam-seon, and others came into conflict with the existing church leadership. Through the founding of Koryo Theological Seminary and subsequent disputes within the presbytery, the movement led to the organization of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (Kosin) in 1952. The Kosin side explains this outcome as the result of those who had refused shrine worship being forced out of the General Assembly. The circumstances of the separation are covered in the article Schisms in Korean Presbyterianism.

Assessment

The Kosin church, the Rebuilding Church, and others honor the Released Prisoner Saints as those who remained steadfast in the faith. The Basic Principles for Rebuilding are regarded as a leading document calling for the church's public repentance for shrine worship in the period immediately after liberation. NewsNjoy and others hold that because the principles never went beyond slogans, the Korean church missed its opportunity to repent properly of shrine worship. By contrast, the church historian Min Kyoung-bae considered Hong Taek-ki's objection to contain reasoning that was difficult to refute. He also suggested that the demands of the Released Prisoner Saints did not sufficiently take into account the perspective of grace.