이승만과 하와이 감리교회와의 관계

박혜수(Hae-Soo Park) 연세대학교 신과대학(연합신학대학원) 2012 신학논단 Vol.68 No.-

Syngman Rhee, upon turning 20 years old in April 1895, enrolled at Pai Chai College established by American Methodist evangelist Henry G. Appenzeller and studied English and modern science. This was Syngman Rhee’s first encounter with Methodist Church. After graduating Pai Chai College, Syngman Rhee was implicated in attempts of coup’ de ta with Park Young Hyo and was arrested in January 9, 1899, living a prison life at Hansung Prison for five years and seven months, until August 1904. In prison, severe pain and hardships made him pray and turn to Christianity. Regular visits by Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries made Syngman Rhee mature as a Christian, along with his conversion. He evangelized and taught gospel to a number of people by constructing prison library and school in prison. Furthermore, since his conversion in jail, he started writing and researching on Christianity through reading Christianity related books in full-fledged effort. In November 1903, his thesis ?his first church-related dissertation written while in prison, titled “Church Strategy,” was carried in the Methodist theology magazine, Christian Monthly. In August 1904, immediately prior to his release from prison, he presented his thesis, “The Toils of the Korean Christian Brethren” ? also carried in Christian Monthly ? thereby continuing his efforts to spread the gospel and the salvation to one’s family and country. Upon obtaining his doctorate degree from Princeton University on July 18, 1910, Syngman Rhee returned to South Korea on October 10 to act as a manager of Seoul YMCA, staying in Korea for a year and a half. During Korean Lay Electoral Conference held in Seoul on March 9, 1912, he was elected as a representative of Korean layman for the Quadrennial General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Following his participation at the Quadrennial General Conference, on 3 February 1913, Syngman Rhee made his second visit to Hawaii. Immediately after Rhee arrived in Hawaii, from 27 February to 2 March, he supervised a training organization for Bible study and Methodist doctrine for Korean Methodist religious servers and leaders who participated in the Conference from Honolulu’s First Methodist Church. This created an opportunity for Rhee to carve out his reputation as a model religious worker for the Methodist Church in Hawaii. On 25 August 1913, Syngman Rhee took office as the principal of the Korean Boarding School for Boys, a school operated by the American Methodist Episcopal Mission. Upon Syngman Rhee’s assumption of the principal’s post, the school changed its name to the Korean Central School and, through the innovative operation of the school, in six months the enrollment skyrocketed from 36 to 120 students. Clashes with the Methodist Episcopal Mission’s education policies, however, resulted in the school’s leaving the Methodist Episcopal Mission, and Rhee went on to independently establish a Korean Christian Institute. In essence, while the Americans strove to Americanize the Koreans by completely assimilating them into Hawaiian society, Rhee on the other hand wanted to train and prepare the Koreans in the event that they would have to contribute to Korea’s exercise to recover its national sovereignty. As conflict between Rhee and the Methodist Episcopal Mission surfaced, Rhee left the Methodist Church and established independent Korean Christian Church. Although he left the Methodist Church in Hawaii to achieve his goal of establishing a church owned and asserted by Koreans, Rhee never left Methodist Church. Whether he acted on his own or under the auspices of the Methodist Church, he was forever a Methodist. Syngman Rhee, upon turning 20 years old in April 1895, enrolled at Pai Chai College established by American Methodist evangelist Henry G. Appenzeller and studied English and modern science. This was Syngman Rhee’s first encounter with Methodist Church. After graduating Pai Chai College, Syngman Rhee was implicated in attempts of coup’ de ta with Park Young Hyo and was arrested in January 9, 1899, living a prison life at Hansung Prison for five years and seven months, until August 1904. In prison, severe pain and hardships made him pray and turn to Christianity. Regular visits by Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries made Syngman Rhee mature as a Christian, along with his conversion. He evangelized and taught gospel to a number of people by constructing prison library and school in prison. Furthermore, since his conversion in jail, he started writing and researching on Christianity through reading Christianity related books in full-fledged effort. In November 1903, his thesis ?his first church-related dissertation written while in prison, titled “Church Strategy,” was carried in the Methodist theology magazine, Christian Monthly. In August 1904, immediately prior to his release from prison, he presented his thesis, “The Toils of the Korean Christian Brethren” ? also carried in Christian Monthly ? thereby continuing his efforts to spread the gospel and the salvation to one’s family and country. Upon obtaining his doctorate degree from Princeton University on July 18, 1910, Syngman Rhee returned to South Korea on October 10 to act as a manager of Seoul YMCA, staying in Korea for a year and a half. During Korean Lay Electoral Conference held in Seoul on March 9, 1912, he was elected as a representative of Korean layman for the Quadrennial General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Following his participation at the Quadrennial General Conference, on 3 February 1913, Syngman Rhee made his second visit to Hawaii. Immediately after Rhee arrived in Hawaii, from 27 February to 2 March, he supervised a training organization for Bible study and Methodist doctrine for Korean Methodist religious servers and leaders who participated in the Conference from Honolulu’s First Methodist Church. This created an opportunity for Rhee to carve out his reputation as a model religious worker for the Methodist Church in Hawaii. On 25 August 1913, Syngman Rhee took office as the principal of the Korean Boarding School for Boys, a school operated by the American Methodist Episcopal Mission. Upon Syngman Rhee’s assumption of the principal’s post, the school changed its name to the Korean Central School and, through the innovative operation of the school, in six months the enrollment skyrocketed from 36 to 120 students. Clashes with the Methodist Episcopal Mission’s education policies, however, resulted in the school’s leaving the Methodist Episcopal Mission, and Rhee went on to independently establish a Korean Christian Institute. In essence, while the Americans strove to Americanize the Koreans by completely assimilating them into Hawaiian society, Rhee on the other hand wanted to train and prepare the Koreans in the event that they would have to contribute to Korea’s exercise to recover its national sovereignty. As conflict between Rhee and the Methodist Episcopal Mission surfaced, Rhee left the Methodist Church and established independent Korean Christian Church. Although he left the Methodist Church in Hawaii to achieve his goal of establishing a church owned and asserted by Koreans, Rhee never left Methodist Church. Whether he acted on his own or under the auspices of the Methodist Church, he was forever a Methodist.