Yun Chi-ho(1865-1945) was the first Korean to study theology in the United States of America. After returning to Korea, he contributed largely to Korean independence movement and Christian higher education. This paper examines Yun’s thought on mission and education, claiming that Yun was a pioneering theologian of mission in paving a way to renewing the Christian education for life. He criticized the racially-distorted theological position of Western missionaries and changed the direction of mission from evangelism for conversion to transformation in individual life and social structure. As his diary shows, Yun’s early experience of the USA allowed him to recognize the racial prejudice of American missionaries toward indigenous people in mission fields. He argued that non-Christians should be treated as the same spiritual and intellectual beings as the missionaries. For him, Christian mission was a necessary step for widening the freedom of religion among non-Christians because it gave them more options to cultivate themselves both intellectually and morally. He believed that it was not human agents but God that was the ultimate subject of mission. His participation at the World’s Parliament of Religions strengthened his confidence in Christian mission. At the World Missionary Conference in 1910, Yun presented his ideas of mission to Western missionaries and theologians. According to him, Korean Christianity was Bible and common people centered. Pointing out three dangers(① the revival of Buddhism and Confucianism, ② the introduction of Western philosophy, and ③ the emphasis on sudden conversion), he put the principle of Christ over the first principle in the matter of financial planning and distribution decision. He believed that the self-determination of indigenous leaders through the cooperation with missionaries was more important than the needs of missionaries and their home churches. For Yun, Christian mission was deeply related to Christian education for life. He contended that Christian life was the life of faith and community open to culture and the world. In conclusion, Yun proposed a viable form of Korean Christianity which seemed to be more sympathetic to the hearts of Korean people and their culture in the early 20th century Korean context. His contemporaries, however, failed to recognize the importance of vision and strategy developed by Koreans themselves.

• 안신(서울대 강사ㆍ종교학) | Ahn Shin