찰스 피니 부흥운동의 중심 주제로서의 성화의 성격에 관한 연구

Churches in Korea are confronted with crisis. The stagnant and slow growth of churches since the 1990s exemplifies such crisis. Then, what accounts for such phenomenon? It is the ‘loss of trust.’ Korean Church has lost the balance between theology and life, resulting in the absence of ethics and morals. Due to this, Korean Church is no longer trusted in the society. In order to diagnose the criteria for revival of church in Korea, it is necessary to study Charles Finney’s Second Great Awakening for his main focus in the movement was ‘sanctification(holy life of Christians).’ In particular, the current study investigates the characteristics of sanctification promoted by Finney, in terms of “Christian Perfection.” Sanctification of Christians have three characteristics, which are perfect sanctification, persons’ responsibility, and work of Holy Spirit. In his view, perfect sanctification did not mean achieving state of no sin. Rather, it meant the state of voluntary obedience as a response to the love and grace of God through Jesus Christ and reacting sensitively towards sin to keep away from it. In addition, sanctification was the responsibility and duty of Christians, who have made decisions to follow Jesus Christ. However, Finney did not deny depravity of human. Finney’s sanctification started from a clear premise that men are corrupted by sin and they can be saved only by the grace of God. The responsibility of human, argued by Finney, is about revealing the absolute sovereignty and glory of God to the world as the new creation in Christ. By stressing that sanctification as voluntary obedience to grace and as responsibility and duty are completely dependent upon Holy Spirit, Finney does not overlook the fact that the lives of Christians, as well as their redemption, are under the sovereignty of God. Therefore, Finney’s revival movement in relation to sanctification will be able to present the direction of revival and cure for Korean Church, which has been hurt by the indifference to ethics.