This study seeks to investigate Korean church worship music through the lens of Luther's theology of church music, reflecting on its current state and realities while proposing a new direction for Korean church worship music. To accomplish this, the s...
This study seeks to investigate Korean church worship music through the lens of Luther's theology of church music, reflecting on its current state and realities while proposing a new direction for Korean church worship music. To accomplish this, the study delves into the biblical, historical, and theological theories of worship music, Luther's musical perspective, the background shaping his views on music, music philosophy, music theology, worship philosophy, and the evolution of church music. Furthermore, it analyzes the present condition and issues of Korean church worship music.
The study raises the following issues within Korean church worship music through case studies: Firstly, worship music should be spiritually based on Scripture and theology. Secondly, there is a need to create an environment for educating and training church music professionals for worship. Thirdly, there should be an increase in the availability of scripturally grounded hymn lyrics.
Currently, Korean church worship music lacks proper guidelines for selecting hymns for worship. The absence of standards in worship music has led to the inclusion of many hymns that are not suitable for worship. Therefore, this study seeks to establish a framework for Korean church worship music based on the theological principles of the religious reformer, Luther, and offers recommendations for improvement.
The structure of this thesis is as follows: Chapter I, Introduction, outlines the research objectives, previous studies, research methods, and scope. Chapter II reviews the historical theories of worship music through a literature review of worship music. Chapter III examines Luther's theology of music and compares it with Luther's worship music. Chapter IV assesses the current status and realities of Korean church worship music. Chapter V conducts case studies analyzing the relationship between current Korean church worship and worship music, focusing on regional and denominational differences through interviews with pastors. Chapter VI explores the direction of Korean church worship music based on Luther's music theology and provides practical alternatives. Chapter VII, Conclusion, summarizes the content explored throughout the study and offers recommendations for the future direction of Korean church worship music.