| Why did American Protestants in the 1880's send their missionaries to a far-distant hermit kingdom, Korea? Before the first missionaries came from America in 1884, it was the images of Korea that American Protestants appreciated, evaluated, and used to choose Korea as a new field for their missions. These images not only informed their observations about Korea but also their reflection on American theology and missions, particularly in the making a new decision of target field and relevant methods. The missionary call appealed to their faith, zeal, and worldview, providing a clear-cut view of American Protestantism.;Various historical layers formed a soil for the American missionary mind in the 1880's, such as Puritan heritage, revival movements, the missionary experiences to the Native Americans, Western expansion, urban missions, and early foreign missions. In the late 19th C, voluntary societies, churches' mission boards, and the Student Volunteer Movement provided effective and practical instruments for American missions. Growing nationalism, urgent premillenialism, liberal theologies, and mission theorists contributed to the developing American missionary movements. Based on these factors, Americans along with other Europeans had formed the images of non-European people who, they regarded, were in need of Western instructions in civilization, morality, and Christianity. Americans firmly believed that they were the center of civilization and religion and their missionaries practiced the missions in the ways of Westernization through evangelization and civilization.;American interest in Korea resulted in opening a new diplomatic relations between the two nations in 1882. Americans viewed Korea as a potential provider for natural resources and trading markets. This expectation soon turned into disappointment by their early experiences in Korea, such as political complexity and commercial sluggishness.;Americans created images of Korea as a forbidden land that had kept their policy of isolation from foreign countries and as a result, a hermit kingdom where stood far distant from Westerners and was unknown to the world. After the treaty with the U. S., Americans visitors reported Korea as a nation of political disorder with feudal despotism and complex international powers. It was a very poor country that had meager systems of transportation, market, and currency. The people were uncivilized, continuing their unreasonable morality and customs, and holding their primitive and pagan religions. While more Americans showed curiosity, the nation held the image, “nothing to charm” for Americans.;Unlike the images from American officials and traders, Protestant missions introduced Korea as a new mission field for American churches. They interpreted that the new opening of the nation was a call for the Gospel and some converts even before the first missionaries gave Macedonian voice for the new mission. The fact that there had been no missionary or church rather encouraged Presbyterians and Methodists to launch their pioneering missions with the sense of providential guide. Overcoming the first negative impressions, the early missionaries in Korea took a key role in changing the image of Koreas as very moral and spiritual people. The rapid growth of missions changed the image of the nations as a ready field of harvest for American missions. Consequently, it was according to the images to which American churches respond by sending their missionary to Korea, an end of the earth from American continent, civilization, and Christianity. |
