Date of Graduation
Summer 2016
Degree
Master of Arts in Religious Studies
Department
Religious Studies
Committee Chair
John Schmalzbauer
Abstract
This thesis explores and compares the ways in which the Bible is read, interpreted, and held as an authority by conservative Evangelicals in the United States and South Korea. By examining the history, literary practices, and social systems in each country, I reveal authorities other than the Bible that emerge from Evangelical culture. Discourse theory, reader-response theory, and rhetorical criticism provide the theoretical lenses through which each expression is viewed. My research strategies included: (1) a six month ethnographic project held in two Korean Evangelical communities; and (2) a survey of Korean laity. Data were collected from direct observations, Evangelical media, sermon notes, and the survey conducted in Korea. This study also critiques arguments that position biblical literalism and perspicuity as broad Evangelical identifiers. This critique reinforces the need for non-Western based studies on Evangelicalism. By revealing the range of historical, social and ideological influences that affect conservative Evangelical power structures, the claim of ultimate biblical authority is shown to be a mask for the diverse forms of authority that actually exist in the American and Korean expressions of conservative Evangelicalism.
Keywords
Evangelical, Christianity, conservative, authority, power, social, Bible, American, South Korean, international, critique
Subject Categories
Religion
Copyright
© Harold Arthur Brower
Recommended Citation
Brower, Harold Arthur IV, "The Problem Of Authority In Conservative Evangelical Christianity: A Critique Of American And South Korean Expressions" (2016). MSU Graduate Theses/Dissertations. 2955.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2955
