I. About the General Council

The Presbyterian Church of Jesus, Korea General Council, is composed of churches that adhere to the principle of the autonomous local church. It was founded as a general council to avoid the authoritative denominational control. The word "council" was added to highlight the fact that many of the common administrative processes were reformed in favor of the autonomy of the local church.

The General Council"s principles of faith can be attributed to the guidance of Pastor Paik Yong Hee. Therefore, studying Pastor Paik"s teachings would be foundational to understanding the General Council.



II. The General Council"s Theology

1. Theological Heritage

The Presbyterian church in Korea is recognized as the defender of the purity of faith. The General Council is considered the most conservative even within the Presbyterian Church and possesses many faith-oriented traits of the New Testament Church. Ideally, churches should strive to be both conservative and progressive, but this is rarely the case. However, God made evident that the General Council"s conservatism was not merely outward replication of the New Testament church -- His power working through the General Council"s simple faith was manifested in the "world"s greatest Sunday school movement."

Doctrinally, the General Council did not stop at iterating traditional doctrines, but rediscovered the doctrine of the regenerated spirit which had been lost in modern systematic theology. This discovery clarified that man"s heart, along with the flesh, is of the physical realm, and that only man"s spirit is of the spiritual realm. This discovery concluded the on- going "trichotomy vs. dichotomy" debate and reestablished the teachings for "the saint"s life after salvation." After these teachings came to be known as the doctrines of "the regenerated spirit," "basic and constructive salvation," and "trichotomy," many presbyterian denominations that preached traditional theology labeled these doctrines as heresy simply because they were different from Calvinism.

Despite such hasty judgment from some theologians and denominational leaders, Pastor Paiks"s teachings became widely accepted by many denominations including presbyterians, baptists and Sungkyul (Holiness) churches. As a result, most evangelical media since 1980 have focused on Pastor Baek as a central figure of the conservative Korean Christians.


2. Theological Characteristics

The aforementioned doctrines hereafter to be known as "Baek Yonghee theology" have become more well-known since 1990 as the rapid development of biotechnology sought to undermine modern theology.

Modern theology is being reduced to instruction from myth or legend as recent development in modern sciences, especially biotechnology, strive to cloud the generally accepted line between God and man. Modern psychology, classifying the heart as part of the “psyche,” has dismantled the theological understanding that man"s heart, or man"s soul, is part of the spiritual realm. Moreover, the mapping of the human brain has led to increased understanding of the origin and mechanics of the human thought process. And genetic engineering is on the verge of discovering the blueprint of man"s heart. What was traditionally deemed spiritual have been reduced to physical and exposed to be manipulated by scientific theories and technology.

Pastor Paik’s teachings are even more noteworthy when one considers that he established that the nature of man can be divided dichotomically into spirit and flesh (composed of heart and body) and trichotomically spirit, heart and body, when no one could anticipate such scientific discoveries. His teachings, which furthered theological doctrines such as the constitution of man and salvation, illuminate biblical truths about creation and life in a time of ever-developing scientific discoveries and claims; and it is worth a closer look.

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