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Toward an Authentic Korean Biblical Reading: Shamanism and the Bible in Dialogue by Yong-Chi Rhie A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Sheffield September 2013 Abstract This thesis focuses on the binary opposition between Yahwistic prophecy and shamanistic practices and the coexistence of various religious professionals in the Bible - prophets, magicians and diviners - who continually challenge theological distinctions set by the central religious hierarchy. My research explores Korean shamanism: from its basic worldview to the characteristics of shamanic practitioners and rituals, and to its syncretism with other religions, in which compatibility with the Korean authentic spirituality is the key to the successful settlement of missionary religions. Various shamanic models are proposed to find resources for the parallel study between the biblical faiths and practices and Korean shamanism, such as: the spiritual calling of prophetic figures in the Bible and of Korean shamanic neophytes; the paradox of prophetic condemnation against magic and divination employed by ‘others’, when similar techniques are used by the Old Testament prophets as a sign of divine connection; and the rite of passage of prophetic and shamanic practitioners, as a bridge between the secular and the sacred. Through a close reading of the prophetic narratives, this thesis resists what appears to be the dominant voice in the interpretative tradition of the Bible in the Korean church - a polarity between a central or Christian religion and a popular or shamanic spirituality - and points out that the Bible itself is a rich depository of competing i religious systems and models, with which Bible readers from various religious and cultural backgrounds can identify or compare in their own environments. ii Abbreviations AB Anchor Bible BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium BDB F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament Bib Biblica BIS Biblical Interpretation Series CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly DCH D. J. A. Clines (ed.), The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew HALOT L. Koehler and W. Baumgartmer, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament IBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching ICC International Critical Commentary Int Interpretation JB Jerusalem Bible JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSup Supplement to JSOT JSS Journal of Semitic Studies JPS Jewish Publication Society JQR Jewish Quarterly Review KJV King James Version iii LUT Luther Bible NAB New American Bible NCBC New Cambridge Bible Commentary NEB New English Bible NIC New International Commentary NIV New International Version OTL Old Testament Library OTS Oudtestamentische Studiën RSV Revised Standard Version SBL Society of Biblical Literature SBLASP Society of Biblical Literature Abstracts and Seminar Papers SBLDS SBL Dissertation Series SBLSBS SBL Sources for Biblical Studies SBLSP SBL Seminar Papers SBLSS SBL Semeia Studies VT Vetus Testamentum WBC World Biblical Commentary ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ZDMG Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft iv CONTENTS Abstract Abbreviations Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Note on Shamanic Models: Why Shamanism? 5 1.2. Constructing the cross-cultural Shamanistic Model 8 1.3. The Model Structure of Korean Shamanism and Prophecy in the Bible 11 1.4. The Use of Korean Shamanistic Models in Comparison with Prophetic 16 Figures in the Bible 1.5. The Outline of the Thesis 25 Chapter 2. Korean Shamanism 28 2.1.What is Shamanism? An Overview 29 2.2. Korean Shamanism: Syncretism and Survival 34 2.3. The Concept of Shamanistic Deities and Divine Government 36 2.3.1. Ancestors 37 2.3.2. Gods 41 2.3.3. Hananim 43 2.4. Korean Shamans 47 2.4.1. Magicians, Sorcerers, Diviners, or Spirit Masters? An Overview 47 2.4.2. Mudang: Korean Shamanistic Practitioner 50 2.4.2.1. Definitions and Characteristics of the Korean Shaman 50 2.4.2.1.1.1. The Two Types of Korean Shamans 53 2.4.2.1.1.2 The ‘Self-made’ Shaman 54 2.4.2.1.1.3. The ‘God-Appointed’ Shaman 57 2.4.3. The Role of Korean Shamans 60 v 2.5. Korean Shamanistic Rituals 62 2.6. Excursus: Minjung Theology 67 2.7. Conclusion 71 Chapter 3. Prophetic Initiation: Spiritual Calling 74 3.1. The Spiritual Calling in Korean Shamanism 76 3.1.1. Divine Selection: Supernatural Signs and Visions 79 3.1.2. Test of the Nominee’s Fitness: the Shamanic-illness 80 3.1.3. Trial and Conflict, and Divine Assurance: Reception of the Spirit 81 3.1.4. Induction of the Spirit and Returning to the Community 83 3.2. The Spiritual Calling in the Prophetic Narratives 85 3.2.1. Divine Initiation: Supernatural Signs and Visions 90 3.2.2. The Divine Message: Introductory Words 94 3.2.3. Resistance on the Part of the Nominee 97 3.2.4. The Shaman-sickness and Ezekiel’s Abnormal Behaviour 101 3.2.5. The Divine Reassurance 108 3.2.6. The Physical Act of Commissioning 111 3.2.7. Return to the Community 113 3.3. Conclusion 117 Chapter 4. The Spirit Masters in Ezekiel 13.17-23, 1 Samuel 28 and in Korean Shamanism 122 4.1. The Female Prophets in Ezekiel 123 4.1.1. Ezekiel 13.17-23: Magicians, Sorcerers, or Prophets? 123 4.1.2. Exegetical Issues in Ezekiel 13.17-23 127 4.1.3. Interpretation of the Text 128 4.1.3.1 Bands, Veils, and Souls Flying Away Like birds (Ezek 13.18) 128 4.1.3.2. Handfuls of barley, morsels of bread, and the consequence of 132 vi hunting souls (Ezek 13.19) 4.1.3.3. You Hunt, I Will Snatch Them (Ezek 13.20-22) 138 4.1.4. Conclusion 140 4.2. The female Medium at Endor (1 Sam 28) 142 4.2.1. Introduction: The Story of Saul 142 4.2.2. The Bridge between the Living and the Dead 146 4.2.2.1 Interpretation of the Text (1 Sam 28.8-25) 150 4.2.3. Conclusion 160 4.3. Conclusion 161 Chapter 5. Magic, Miracles and Prophecy of Elijah and Elisha 165 5.1. Characteristics of the Prophecy of Elijah and Elisha: An Overview 165 5.2. Kangshinmu and Sesupmu: Two Types of Korean Shaman 170 5.3. The Story of Elijah and Elisha 175 5.3.1. The Prophets in Between Life and Death 175 5.3.1.1. Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 17.1-16) 175 5.3.1.2. Elisha and the Woman of Shunem (2 Kgs 4.8-37) 190 5.3.2. The Prophets in the Community 197 5.3.2.1. Elijah as a Bearer of Fire and Rain: the Prophet on Mount Carmel (1 Kgs 18-19) 197 5.3.2.2. Elisha as a Bearer of Life and Death: the Prophet in Jericho And Bethel (2 Kgs 2.18-25) 208 5.3.3. The Prophets in the Commissioning 212 5.3.3.1. Elijah’s Commissioning: the Prophet in the Wilderness and on 212 Mount Horeb (1 Kgs 19) 5.3.3.2. Elisha’s Commissioning: The Prophetic Succession from 224 Elijah to Elisha (1 Kgs 19.19-21; 2 Kgs 2.1-18) 5.3.3.3. Epilogue 237 vii 5.4. Conclusion 238 Chapter 6. Conclusion 244 Bibliography 258 i Chapter 1. Introduction I believe that in every religious culture there is a dynamic between official and popular religions. If official religions offer a more formalised system and organisation toward a religious culture or ethnic group, it is popular religion (or a folk belief; in Korea, shamanism) which sustains the basic worldview of people and the connection to the supernatural world by providing them familiarity, continuity and various means of coping with an ever changing ‘real’ world. The acts of ‘legitimate’ religious practitioners in the Bible (prophets and priests) have been accepted because they inhabit a particular ideological tradition in the text, whereas so-called ‘popular’ or ‘shamanistic’ religious groups are generally condemned as falsehood or pagan ritualism. However, when it comes to the religious phenomenon itself, it is almost impossible to distinguish the action of institutional figures in the Bible from those of the ‘others’, because the pattern of their actions criss-crosses too many times to support this ideological distinction. In order to discover multiple layers of religious culture in the Bible, we have to set aside momentarily what appear to be the dominant voices, or the dominant ideology, and examine the co-existence of other, competing or even complementary, voices 1 in the biblical text. The reason I start my research with the magical and divinatory activities in the Bible is because the conflict between the ‘legitimate’ prophecy and other ‘popular’ or shamanistic activities in the Bible is the major obstacle for modern Korean biblical readers in their multi- religious culture. As the most recognised symbol of Christianity, the Bible has been used as an ideological tool for fundamentalists to separate religious phenomena from Christian principles, as evidence why certain religious activities and beliefs should remain marginal or be condemned. The problem is that, whereas Korean Christians have successfully adapted a new religious system on top of their traditional (shamanic) belief and practice, to the extent that one observes that Korean churches are ‘shamanised’,1 Korean biblical reading still remains within the boundaries of the monolithic teaching of church, widening the gap between the religion they read and the religion they perform. Even if the reader notices that the Bible witnesses various acts of so called ‘popular’ or ‘shamanistic’ spiritualists, when it 1 A.