“This book was written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Movement.
“It stands out among the major discussions that Korean Protestantism must reflect on!”
_Recommended by Baek Deok-man, Yang Hee-song, and Lee Jae-geun

“Finding the way forward for the Korean church through the honest, courageous, and outstanding academic achievements of a struggling Christian historian!”

The word 'Protestant', which was born when Martin Luther posted the 95 theses on the Wittenberg church, contains the meaning of 'to resist'.
So, Protestants are soon to be ‘resisting people.’
This poses a very important question to Korean Protestants who claim to be descendants of the Reformation.
Has Korean Protestantism, often condemned as a shameless group colluding with injustice, always been a "dogmatic" religion? Is it truly testifying to the "freedom of conscience," the core of the Reformation?
Author Kang Seong-ho, who has been tracing the history of Korean Christianity in an engaging way through lectures and writings that engage the public, restores the stories of Christians in modern and contemporary Korean history who fought against injustice by listening to the voice of their conscience in this book, "Resisting Christians."
This book presents a three-dimensional portrait of those who were present at the March 1st Movement, those who risked their lives to protest against Shinto shrine worship, and those who tirelessly resisted to humanize precious human beings created in the image of God—Christians in the democratization movement, human rights movement, election campaign, and women's movement—through balanced data and interpretation.
In particular, it provides a detailed look at how female Christians have changed Korean society through the activities of missionary women and the human rights movement of the Korean Church Women's Association.
By following the scenes of resistance in modern and contemporary Korean history depicted by the author, we can clearly see what the "spirit of Jesus" that Korean Christianity must recover is.

If my previous book (The Dark History of Korean Christianity) dealt with the shadows of history, I think this book might be the light of history.
However, I did not describe it in a completely positive light.
I wrote honestly and without reservation about what I felt were limitations.
Could it be said that this is a special privilege for general history students who do not have to worry about the opinions of a specific religious group?
Of course, I tried to take into account the ‘limitations of the times’.
Pages 11-12

The March 1st Movement was an event that demonstrated the potential of Christians to resist and fight against injustice.
We have examined the fact that there were a significant number of Christians who resisted the empire through national representatives, mission stations, evangelical women, and Christian nationalism.
However, what I would like to emphasize regarding the March 1st Movement and Christianity is that, although it is clear that Christianity in colonial Korea actively participated in the March 1st Movement, it was not accomplished 'only' under the leadership of Christianity.
Cheondoism, a descendant of Donghak, also contributed greatly to the preparation and initial spread of the March 1st Movement, and farmers and workers gradually emerged as the main players in the March 1st Movement.
Page 58

The movement against visiting Shinto shrines and refusing to bow to the national flag was a kind of confession of faith.
In fact, it cannot be said that their resistance was a challenge to the system itself.
He simply raised his voice in resistance against an issue that went against his religious beliefs.
Even if their resistance is not included in the nationalist or democratization movement, I believe it has sufficient historical significance.
Because it played a pioneering role in protecting freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.
In that sense, the conservative denominations of the Korean church can be seen as having their roots in those who fought for inner freedom.

What is unfortunate is that conservative religious groups are becoming increasingly rigid.
It seems that the tendency to condemn others in the name of protecting the truth, without even tolerating small differences, is gradually worsening.
They regularly review theological views, monitor the private lives of others, and label anyone who disagrees with a specific theology as a heretic.
Ironically, this ideological verification is the way Imperial Japan oppressed those who refused to worship at Shinto shrines.
I wonder if, 70-80 years later, the descendants of those who refused to worship at the Shinto shrine are repeating the ideological scrutiny of Imperial Japan.
The sad reality is that the descendants of those who stood up to power to protect freedom of conscience are actually suppressing it. (pp. 109-110)

Hospitality restores symbolic value to others who have been denied their personhood and treated as objects, thereby enabling them to be recognized as human beings.
The human rights movement of the Church Women's Association can be said to be, in a word, the embodiment of hospitality.
The Church Women's Association did its best to provide a place for those who were wandering around without a place to stay.
For them, the Christian community can be said to be a welcoming community that acknowledges the excluded.
Because what victims of state violence and patriarchal order need to gain the right to become human beings from ghosts is unconditional hospitality.
Page 204

The Thursday Prayer Meeting, which began in July 1974, contributed greatly to making the world aware of the violence of dictatorship by vividly conveying the voices of those who suffer.
This is because the Thursday prayer meeting was an alternative space where people could gather in a situation where freedom of assembly was suppressed.
The Thursday prayer meetings also saw the issuance of important statements criticizing the Yushin regime, which often led to street demonstrations.
At that time, the Thursday Prayer Meeting was the only anti-government rally held legally every week in our country.
So, whenever a Thursday prayer meeting was held, the authorities used every means possible to obstruct it.

Thursday prayer meetings have been a crucial tool for Christian resistance in the human rights movement.
Although it was closed for a while due to oppression by the authorities, it consistently spoke with a prophetic voice and struck at the very heart of power.
In particular, most of the revelations about torture of prisoners and manipulation of information during the investigation process were made through Thursday prayer meetings.
In this process, the Christian Church Hall, where the Thursday prayer meeting was held, along with Myeongdong and Seongdong, came to be regarded as a sacred place for the democratization movement.
Pages 267-268

Being a Christian has many meanings.
One of them is that we are called to be agents of resistance against injustice.
Christians are beings who struggle with resistance and fight against despair.
Jesus of Nazareth also struggled through life.
His life, as recorded in the Gospels, can be viewed from the perspective of a struggle for resistance.

I am confident that Korean Christianity will gradually improve if it does not forget the biblical spirit of resistance, and I want to say that we should not even give up on that hope.
I believe that the history of Christian resistance is crucial for envisioning how the values ​​of God's kingdom will be realized on earth.
Because history is a mirror that looks back at us.
I sincerely hope that the struggles of Christians who resist will not end up as fossils of history but will continue.
Pages 306-307

--- From the text