The Church and Politics

The Meaning of Separation of Church and State

Article 20 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea provides that no state religion shall be recognized and that religion and politics shall be separated. The principle was originally intended to prevent the state from establishing or interfering with any particular religion. Interpretations differ as to whether it also means that "the church should not speak about politics."

Two Directions in Scripture

• Submission to authority: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers" (Romans 13:1), together with the exhortation to pray for kings (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
• Resistance to authority: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29), along with the Old Testament prophets who rebuked unjust kings.

The Experience of the Korean Church

• During the Japanese colonial period, Christians took a leading role in the March First Movement, but when confronted with compulsory Shinto shrine worship, they were divided between compliance and resistance.
• In the 1970s and 1980s, some churches and the National Council of Churches in Korea took part in the movements for democratization and human rights, while other churches appealed to the separation of church and state and concentrated on evangelism. Assessments of the churches' relationship with the government during this period, as reflected in events such as the National Prayer Breakfast, are likewise divided.
• Since the 2000s, conservative churches have become actively involved in politics through public rallies, campaigns against proposed legislation, and the founding of Christian political parties.

In every period, then, there have been both "engaged churches" and "churches that keep their distance," and these positions have at times been reversed as the political landscape shifted.

Current Issues

• May a sermon endorse or criticize a particular political party or candidate? Korean election law prohibits using one's official position within the church to campaign in an election.
• Is participation in a political rally in the name of the church different from participation by individual Christians?
• Can the church speak with one voice on public issues such as life, poverty, reunification, and the environment?

Many theologians conclude that the church should address public issues on the basis of biblical values without siding with any particular political faction, but opinions divide again over where that boundary should be drawn.