모든 종교는 평화를 추구한다. 평화는 삶의 모든 양식과 관련되어 있음에도 불구하고, 평화에 관한 연구는 전공 분과학문의 테두리 안에 서 개별적 관심에 따라 이루어져 왔다. 한반도 평화는 종교연구와 평화연구의 공통된 주제이다. 그러나 종교연구자들은 평화의 사회적 측면을 간과해 온 반면, 평화연구자들은 종교의 심층적 이해를 도외시 해 온 경향이 있다. 이 연구는 인간에 대한 종교연구의 심층적 이해와 사회에 대한 평화연구의 사회과학적 이해를 융합한 ‘종교평화학’을 한반도 평화연구의 새로운 방법론으로 구성하기 위한 기초연구이다. ‘종교평화학’은 종교연구와 평화연구의 개별 분과학문 체계에서 출발하 여, 분과학문의 경계를 넘어서는 융합적 차원에서 수행됨으로서 종교연 구와 평화연구 각각의 한계를 극복하고, 종교와 평화 연구의 상호 발전과 성숙에 기여하는 담론 생산을 목표로 한다.

Korea is recognized home and abroad as a country where various religions exist without conflict or enmity which is rare in the world. However, it's certain that Korea is one of the country where social conflict can happen caused by religious conflict or enmity at any time. The conflict and enmity among religions are already deep and it can’t be solved by temporary measure. It will be difficult to overcome this problem without continuous and honest conversations among religions. This study was done with this issue and I aim at finding the new way for conversation and collaboration to reach peace among religions. In Korea, the portion of protestantism and buddhism is biggest and these two religions have the most serious conflict between them. In this situation, I analyzed two survey results. One is ‘the survey for social credit to Korean churches’ done by ‘Christian Ethics Movement of Korea’ with the aim of “evaluating the social credit of Korean churches and finding a way to enhance it.” The other is ‘social culture in Korea and survey of people about religion’ done by ‘Buddhism Society Institute,’ affiliated by Jogye Order of Korean Buddhist with the aim of “finding a indicator for religions in Korea including buddhism and to utilize as a fundamental data on social culture and religion in Korea.” The result of the study shows that the future of Korea churches will be pessimistic if they continue church individualism and aggressive evangelism for the growth of church. It is an urgent task to reform such a image. The way to reach the harmony and co-existence for the peace among religions may be different but being different does not mean wrong. I believe that we can reach harmony with the spirit of ‘Hwa-i-bu-dong’(peace in difference) which is admitting and respecting others. In this era, community spirit is required for rebuilding of community. Religion is not an exception of it. Furthermore, religion has more responsibility and duty compared to other sectors in the society to enhance community spirit and social spirit. Like this, it can be the way to reach the ultimate goal or original function of the religion. For conversation and collaboration among religions, the authenticity from the deep inside of people’s heart is required absolutely.