• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.131-139
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• 2007

Purpose: This study was to compare the perceptions about hospice and the meaning of life between the participants and non-participants of the hospice volunteer education program. Method: Descriptive survey research design was used. Participants were 63, and the data collecting period was from October to December, 2006. Instrument developed by Jung-Hee Kim(1990) and Eun-Ja Lee(1998) was modified to measure the perceptions about hospice. To measure the meaning of life, P.I.L (Purpose In Life) instrument by Crumbaugh and Maholick(1969) was utilized. The data were analyzed using $X^2-test$, t-test and Pearson-Correlation Coefficient. Results: 1. The participants in the hospice volunteer education program demonstrated higher perception scores about hospice than the non-participants (t=5.193, p= .001). 2. The program participants also showed higher scores of the meaning of life than non-participants (t=3.084, p=.005). 3. The perception about hospice and the meaning of life had positive correlation (r= .46, p= .01). Conclusion: Therefore, hospice education program must be established in a continual and systematic way in order to standardize the hospice system in Korea.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.34
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• pp.323-351
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• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to reveal how Christian ideas are indicative of Theocentricity (God-centeredness) whereas Daesoon Jinrihoe ideas are indicative of anthropocentrism (human-centeredness). This task will be accomplished through comparing incarnation theology from the Bible and The Canonical Scripture. Both Christianity and Daesoon Jinrihoe affirm that there is another world above the human world that cannot be touched by human sense organs. And they both acknowledge a supreme deity who exists in that above world. Furthermore, they share the notion that the supreme deity came into the human world after being born from a woman. Where they depart is that in Christianity, this belief refers to Jesus, the one who was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, whereas in Daesoon Jinrihoe, it is instead believed to be Kang Jeungsan (secular name: Kang Il-Sun) who was born in Gaekmang Village in Korea more than 100 years ago. The Christian God came to the human world as an atonement for humanity and died on the cross; The God of Daesoon Jinrihoe came to the human world to help mankind settle all enmities. To this end, he traveled through the realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, to recalibrate the faulty Degree Numbers. The sin mentioned in Christianity means treachery against the supreme deity. It is implied that sin is not tolerated in the world of God. Due to this, the first man, Adam, was driven out of Eden after betraying God, and afterwards, there came to be an infranchissable boundary between the world of God and the world of man. By way of comparison the faulty Degree Numbers, mentioned in Daesoon Jinrihoe, were produced naturally. In other words, the faulty Degree Number existed not only in the human world, but also in the world of divinities, and those two worlds not only interact but also affect each other. Therefore, it can be said that the two worlds of Christianity are worlds in which order and systems are completely different, and that the two worlds of Daesoon Jinrihoe are worlds that operate under the same order and systems. Both explain via this two-part division to emphasize one part as more important than the other. Christianity regards the world of God as the ultimate source and ultimate concern of the human world and emphasizes the absolute faith and worship of God is the highest value in life. But Daesoon Jinrihoe, on the other hand, argues that the human world determines the value of the divine world, and that the co-prosperity of man and his surroundings are the core values of the human era (The Era of Human Nobility). Therefore, the root cause of Christianity's theocentricity is that among the two worlds that are completely cut off from one another, they believe in God's world as the ultimate source and purpose of the human world. The root cause of Daesoon Jinrihoe's anthropocentrism is that among the two worlds that interact and influence each other, they believe the human world determines the meaning of the divine world.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.72
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• pp.117-146
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to understand the faith and life experiences of Christian seniors who hold a doctoral degree and to glean insights for the senior ministry of the church from what they propose based on their wisdom and own experience. To this end, seven participants were purposefully selected based on certain criteria and interviewed. Research findings were presented into three categories: faith, calling and life after retirement, and suggestions for the senior ministry of the church. For the research participants, the mature faith was fear of God and acknowledgement of Lordship of God, revealed through thoughts, words and actions and their agreement. The natural outcome is others may recognize such true godliness embodied in love of neighbors. The call to scholarship was a gift of God, which accompanies responsibilities, The research participants were immersed in meaningful work for the church and the next generation, following their calling even after retirement. The church's ministry for the elderly should start from recognizing resourcefulness of their life and wisdom for sanctification and growth of congregation members across all generations, aim for shaking souls of the elderly for God-pleasing life and eternal inheritance, and be supported by younger generations, online ministry and technology. To ensure that eternal goals, the fulfillment that comes from doing meaningful work, and passion to complete the race without stagnation in all aspects of piety, morality, and intelligence should become the characteristics of the lives of all elderly people, not just the research participants, such preparation should start before retirement by intervention and aid of the church.

• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-60
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• 2018

The paper was inspired by Jung's words in the Red Book "just as Christ tormented the flesh through the spirit, the God of this time will torment the spirit through the flesh." I propose that the new form of torment in this era could be eroticism as a way of the individuation process because it seems to be one of a very few ways left to modern men to grasp the sense of permanence, the essence of the divine, without religion because of its peculiar nature of transcendence. I suppose that it is not only a man who is tortured but also god is in torment since the divine needs a man as a womb for his incarnation. Therefore I suggest that man and god are fated to seduce each other to be redeemed by each other. I imagine that Eros with numinous sexuality seduces a man who has potentials for the god's incarnation and who would be willing to give in to the god's demand. This god needs a man who desires his essence of perpetuity, the eternal water of life, in ecstasy. Thus the purpose of the divine's seduction is to make a man awake from unconsciousness to pursue god himself, namely the individuation process. I call such divine seduction "eroticism of god" There seem to be a certain type of people who are destined to live eroticism as a way of individuation process. Through investigations, a melancholic tendency appears to be suitable for this type of individuation. Melancholia is deeply related to the poignant awareness of impermanence as the existential condition, which is a precondition for seeking permanence through eroticism. Melancholia essentially causes deep longing for eternity that bears fulfillment, which exists in eroticism, so melancholic agony seems inevitable for eroticism as the path for individuation in that, without knowing about deficiency, we never seek what is lacking in us. It can also be viewed that while a lover is driven to seduce lost love, what actually waits to become seduced for redemption is the god of love itself behind the human beloved. Man and god are fated to seduce each other for redemption. I suppose that the initiation to Eros implies how to seduce Eros. In a woman's psyche, psychological virginity is one of the essential qualities that her ego needs to attain. To the male it is vital to live his sensuality thoroughly and to experience his own and his lover's emotions to their limit. It cannot be an easy task because it demands us to give up our egotism entirely. Through eroticism, unconsciousness seduces us to make us live life as a whole. The god of love brings powerful sexuality as a means of "spiritual crisis" to redeem our lukewarm soul. Only a few can withstand the experience since it requires a strong will to bear the brunt of the sword despite the keen awareness that it may leave us bleeding in pain.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.65
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• pp.55-80
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• 2021

This study attempted to find a Christian religious alternative to the seriousness of the problem of low birth rate which has become a national and social problem, and its alternative. Korea is a low birth rate country. The phenomenon of low birth rate and childbirth avoidance is a reality that not only are national problems but also Korean churches are experiencing serious problems, and will continue to affect them. It will affect the church in four major ways. First, is a sharp decline in the number of members. Second, is the decline of Sunday schools. Third, various family problems and generational conflicts will arise. And it brings problems such as a crisis of faith among members. Young people living today have an unconventional attitude toward marriage, childbirth, and parenting. But for Christians, childbirth is a way of living in that God blessed us to "be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth." In other words, childbirth must be recognized as a blessing from God, not a human decision. Therefore, we must know how precious the fetus is in front of God and that it is a precious life. Thus, we should be interested in how to nurture the life God has given. To do so the church's role is education is to shape the value of life from a biblical perspective. Therefore the church needs to see how the Christian faith of young and married couples who are about to marry, give birth, and raise children, affects the childbirth and rearing of children. And it is necessary to study what the role of church and Christian education is to solve the problem of low birth rate and to suggest alternatives. For this study, we will first identify the factors of low birth rate. Then we will confirm childbirth and the blessing of God through the Bible. Finally, the role of the church in low birth rate and educational alternatives will be presented.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.25
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• pp.391-420
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• 2011

Christina Rossetti's novella Maude displays Tractarian influences in terms of Holy Eucharist, Puseyism, and the doctrine of Reserve. Tractarianism is High Church revival movement of nineteenth century. In the story a teenage girl, Maude went through hard time receiving Holy Eucharist due to self-consciousness and internal guilt according to Puseyism. She felt guilty when she enjoyed worldly things and outward beauty. Due to guilt Maude refused to receive Holy Communion, which is complete connection to God. Her cousin, Agnes suggested that in refusing Holy Communion Maude is following her own will not God's will. Later Maude overcame Puseyite thought of self-hatred and reconciled with her identity as a poet and a woman. Maude oscillates between concealing and revealing, secrecy and truth, sincerity and affectation, and modesty and display. Her marvelous poetic talent makes people praise her but she withholds private feelings and attempts to divert attention from herself. Like Maude herself, the meaning of her poems is at times reserved and withheld. This tendency goes with the doctrine of Reserve in Tractarianism. The doctrine of Reserve utilizes indirect methods to reveal divine attributes because finite human being can not accept infinite God. The doctrine of Reserve sees to it that the expression will be veiled, indirect, subdued and self-effacing. Rossetti adapts a poetic method of Reserve when Maude has anxiety over 'display and poetry' and generates the reticence, secrecy, mystery, renunciation, modesty and detachment. According to Mary Arseneau, by veiling and expressing herself through symbols she can rise above the self and employ the phenomenal to suggest a noumenal reality. Thus the poetry becomes an expression of longing for the divine. The poem "Three Nuns" exemplifies Maude's maturity and gradual progress in the relationship with God. Rossetti suggests the vision full of hopes and promises of reuniting with God. In conclusion, in some sense, authoritative and conservative Tractarianism affects Rossetti both ways. On the one hand, it makes Rossetti abnegate herself and leads her to asceticism, on the other hand, it makes Rossetti express her faith in God and write amazing devotional poems such as "Three Nuns". A poem within the poem has three voices that are in perfect harmony. In the poem the first and second nun show hesitation to fully commit to God's will and the desire for the world prevents them from having heavenly joy. Third nun reveals spiritual maturity and sings new life in God where their hopes and joys begin. Rossetti expresses the procedure of spiritual growth through the poem "Three Nuns". For Rossetti, self-abnegation and self-expression both are involved in the doctrine of Reserve, Puseyism and Holy Communion.

• English & American cultural studies
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.33-64
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• 2018

Through the experimental narrative construction by authorial divinity, Muriel Spark's novels and films based on her fiction show the difficulty of living like a human being under various inhumane and manipulative circumstances of the modern capitalistic society. By adopting flash-forward, self-reflection, and deceptive omnipotent viewpoints, her work has surprisingly predicted the post-modern trend in which humans are increasingly attracted and interpellated to the digitalized media. Muriel Spark called the recent anesthetic situation by stimulation "a driver's seat" because it is a symbol of how humans should act to maintain the critical subject. Emphasizing the value of self-reflection, religion and morality in the mechanized society, Muriel Spark stressed literature should play the role of helmsman who sails safely in the rough sea. In Muriel Spark's works, God is often synonymous with writers. As a Jewish immigrant she experienced alienation in Scotland, marital violence, prejudices of the London-based publishing world, Nazism, and Watergate. For her, the harsh reality of the modern society needs to be guided and complemented by something beyond human control. But rather than relying entirely on traditional Catholic doctrines such as Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh, Muriel Spark has taken a personal, religious view of literature and insists that the genuine writer must play God's play. Seeking for the speculative vision for the future of human life in God's plan, she tries to understand the complex twisted motives of human beings which are often far from the ideal form. Simply put, her search of self-reflection, religion and ethics is modeled on the God's plan for the ideal human being who is supposed as the writer with the transfigurative imagination of the trinity.

• English Language & Literature Teaching
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.277-290
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• 2006

This study is to find out the meaning of the death in Donne's "Holy Sonnets" and divine poems. Death issue is the important theme and is used frequently in his poems. He expresses an assertion of faith about the defeat of death and wishes to gain new birth and eternal life through death. Ironically death must be died for rebirth and an inevitable death. Death is another way to get new life and return to Christ. Many readers think that "Hymn to God my god, in my sickness" is Donne's most distinguished achievement in his divine poems. The poem shows that death must be accepted willingly because it is only through death that man can reach heavenly bliss and gain new life. He develops an antithetic parallel between two hills and two trees. Paradise and Adam's tree which brought death into the world are related analogically to Calvary and the Cross, which brought resurrection and eternal life. Death and resurrection are shown to be conjoined in the poem. To sum up, Donne tried to pursuit death for rebirth and modeled after Christ's death and Resurrection.

• Journal of Christian Education in Korea
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• v.67
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• pp.339-375
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• 2021

The author considers that contemporary society has entered the era of 'life on earth in peril' as a very serious situation in comparison with the past, and assumes that this life-in-peril situation, known as 'life crisis,' is one of the most urgent and important issues in Christian education as well as in public education. This urgency and importance is mainly based on the belief that Christianity is the religion of life that values all living beings' life and all Christians have the sacred vocation to cope with this crisis of life on earth, given by the life-giving God. For this reason, this study aims at identifying some tasks that Christian education should perform in the era of imperiled life, premising that diverse life-threatening situations and circumstances in today's world are closely related to the Christian Sabbath. More specifically, first of all, this article analyzes some notable phenomena of the life crisis in the contemporary world, such as deaths from intentional self-harm (suicides), deaths from industrial accidents and disasters, the real-life situation of vulnerable populations, people's indifference and insensitivity to the situation, and natural environmental degradation, by reflecting on current global issues as well as issues in Korea. This paper also criticizes neoliberalism, productivism, consumerism, economic materialism, egotism, and anthropocentrism as ideologies for causing these phenomena. After the criticism, the author interprets, from biblical and theological perspectives on the Christian Sabbath, main purposes and meanings of the Sabbath for contemporary society that are deeply connected with the crisis of life on earth: confessing that God takes the initiative to govern every creature's living and being; building the relationship with the God who has given the power of life to all living beings; practicing the Sabbath rest by living a holy life; and participating in the Sabbath rest as 'life-giving ministry.' In conclusion, this article suggests Christian educational practices that confront the life crisis, rooted in the purposes and meanings of the Christian Sabbath: reminding participants of the belief that God is the source of life on earth; cultivating 'life literacy'; helping people to resist the crisis of life; and encouraging humans to pursue the well-being and peace of both humanity and the earth.

• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.105-159
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• 2021

The Red Book is a personal record that contains Jung's psychological self-experiment and describes his own experiences of the individuation process. Throughout The Red Book, Jung describes how he got caught by the spirit of the depths and dethroned the spirit of this time, how he regained his lost soul by getting to the bottom of inner processes, how he differentiated the soul upon encountering the various aspects of his soul, and finally how he confronted God approaching Jung in the form of the divine opposites. The spirit of the depths as a personification of the collective unconscious caught up with Jung and launched him into the individuation process. The spirit of the depths was "the God yet to come". Jung realized that he had been driven by the collective spirit of his time and then set off on a journey into a new territory of life under the guidance of the spirit of the depths. Jung first encountered his lost soul, afterwards experiencing various aspects of the soul-spirit duo such as Salome-Elijah, Helena-Simon, and Baucis-Philemon. In the process of individuation, the initial experience of the soul can appear to the ego as a Satanic force which darkens the consciousness. The Red Book describes how Jung consciously integrated the Satanic force and came to realize the meaning of it. Jung's experience of emotionally gripping aspects of the soul led him to the awareness of the dark side of God, Satan, while the insights he gained from that Satanic emotionality led him to the awareness of the bright side of God, Christ. Through this process, he finally encountered the opposites in God. Jung also referred to the Self as an image of God which manifests itself in the psyche. Jung later discovered God as a phenomenal psychic reality which incarnates itself from the unconscious into the conscious. He did it in terms of strict empirical science. Although the incarnation process of the deity is the main cause of psychological conflict and distress of a human being, if accepted consciously, we come to realize that the incarnation process of the deity in the psyche is the ultimate teleology and meaning of our life as well.