This article aims to examine the possibility and some challenges of doing public theology in Korea. While vibrant public theological discourse can be seen in many different contexts around the globe, the conservative Korean churches and theologians (which are the mainstream of Korean Christianity) remain largely indifferent to public theology. This is unfortunate, especially considering that the DNA of public theology can be seen throughout the history of Korean Christianity. As such, this article first examines how the early Korean church played a prophetic role and contributed to the wider society in the praxis of Christian faith that was socially engaged and publicly intelligible. This is then followed by a discussion on how the church was changed during the Cold War, the period of dictatorships, and the Industrialization era. It is especially important here to examine how a particular strand of Reformed theology from the United States, specifically that of J. Gresham Machen and Cornelius Van Til, was adopted. This had a profound influence on the reshaping of the role of the Korean church in public life. In conclusion, the article then urges the Korean church to engage in public theological discourse actively and extensively for the restoration of its prophetic role, its “bilingual” approach to faith praxis (navigating both contexts of the church and society), and to explore the rich diversity of the Reformed tradition, in order to recover its lost role as a public church.

中文翻译：

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在韩国进行公共神学的（我）可能性？


本文旨在探讨在韩国进行公共神学的可能性和一些挑战。尽管在全球许多不同的背景下都可以看到充满活力的公共神学话语，但保守的韩国教会和神学家（韩国基督教的主流）仍然对公共神学基本上漠不关心。这是不幸的，特别是考虑到脱氧核糖核酸公共神学的影响贯穿韩国基督教的历史。因此，本文首先探讨了早期韩国教会如何在社会参与和公众理解的基督教信仰实践中发挥预言作用并为更广泛的社会做出贡献。接下来讨论教会在冷战、独裁时期和工业化时期如何变化。这里特别重要的是要考察美国改革宗神学的一个特定流派，特别是 J. Gresham Machen 和 Cornelius Van Til 的流派，是如何被采用的。这对韩国教会在公共生活中的角色重塑产生了深远的影响。最后，文章敦促韩国教会积极、广泛地参与公共神学话语，以恢复其预言作用，恢复其“双语”信仰实践方式（在教会和社会的背景下航行），并探索改革宗传统的丰富多样性，以恢复其作为公共教会失去的角色。