“Peace in the world does not come through victory won from the enemy, but through reconciliation. It is the way that peace on the Korean peninsula should come.”
So declared Professor Emeritus Jurgen Moltmann (speaker in photo) of Tubingen University, Germany, at the “Second International Symposium,” held jointly by Seoul Theological University (STU), Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary (PUTS), and Tubingen University of Germany on September 4, with the theme “Peace and the Task of Christianity.”
Prof. Moltmann presented the results of his research on a message delivered by Dietrich Bonhoeffer during a 1934 World Council of Churches meeting. He explained, “Reconciliation means forgiveness. It is overcoming the bad with the good… It is the beginning of new life, shared not only by humans, but by all of creation together.”
Regarding peace on the Korean peninsula, Prof. Moltmann said, “The current situation of security between the South and the North on the Korean peninsula is not peace. Peace is more than the ending of war. It is the eradication of political and economic oppression. Peace is not a peaceful situation, but a process of the countries removing their hateful relations and building trust.
Moltmann also emphasized the church’s proactive actions to bring about peace. He said, “When a drunk drives his car into a crowd, it is important for the church to hold a funeral for the victims and to offer solace to their families. The more important matter, however, is to take the steering wheel from the driver. Peace must be realized within justice and freedom.”
In his keynote speech “Christianity and Peace,” STU President Yu Suk-sung said, “The recent extreme tension between South and North has reminded us that peace is a necessary condition for us.” He went on, “The peace of Christianity is a just peace. This is not a given condition, but a process we must realize. Therefore the church needs to be a community that is constructing peace… Realization of peace in the Korean peninsula will be reunification. When the Korean peninsula is reunited, peace will be realized in East Asia, and all throughout the world.”
This symposium was the second in a series following the joint symposium held in July at Tubingen University. The participants from Tubingen University are Theology Department Dean Dr. Jurgen Kampmann, systematic theology Prof. Christoph Schwoebel, practical theology Prof. Ruth Conrad, and New Testament theology Prof. Michael Tilly.
The Korean participants include PUTS President Kim Myung-yong and Prof. Shin Ok-su, and Rev. Park Jong-wha of Kyungdong Church.
Reporter Pyeong Seon Jeon (junbs@kmib.co.kr), from Bucheon, with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok, from Bucheon
Click here for the original article in Korean
J. Moltmann: “Peace comes not by defeating the enemy, but by reconciling”
2015-09-09 14:57
