Yesterday I was visited by two Korean ladies who turned out to be missionaries. I opened the door to them because I expected that they wouldn't speak English and that would be the end of it. Also, I was a little interested in whether or not this sort of thing was different in Korea than in the U.S. It turns out that they did speak English (and were specifically targeting our mostly-American neighborhood) and a visit from missionaries is exactly the same as in the U.S. Having made the mistake of engaging them, I figured it would be interesting to hear what they had to say.
This is what I was told: they were theology students from the 'Church of God' and they had homework, which was to show me a 3-minute video. That didn't seem too bad. The video began by telling me that there are "hidden secrets in the Bible which will now be revealed." Definitely a red flag. The "hidden secret" is that the word used for God many times in the Old Testament is Elohim, a Hebrew word which is the plural form of El, meaning God. So God is not 'God' but 'Gods'. So far, so good. I was taught that the plural term is used because God is triune: God the father, God the son, and God the holy spirit. But no, this turns out not to be correct. The plural word is used in the Bible because there are two Gods--God the Father and God the Mother. Oh boy! The justification for this "hidden secret" is from Genesis 1:27 where "God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." So since there are two genders for people there must be two gods, one for each gender. Interesting. I made the mistake of saying as much, because that is an interesting and creative (and I believe wrong) interpretation of that verse. However, my missionaries took my saying "interesting" as an invitation to continue.
For some unexplained reason the fact that there are two Gods is also a reason to say that churches should only be called Church of God, nothing else. Churches that are called by other names are not only wrong, but they are a threat to the true church, which is, obviously, their own church. Of course. At this point, I glanced at my watch and it really was time for me to go pick up my husband and son on the base. I didn't get out of the visit without exchanging phone numbers, but fortunately my phone wasn't able to call the missionary's phone and vice versa. I'm hoping that's the end of it. There was left open the possibility of another visit on Thursday afternoon, but I think I will probably have some errands to run around that time...
Korean culture, we were told, is very polite and Koreans are extremely reluctant to say 'no' outright. However, I don't really want to be a target for this sort of evangelism. Later on I asked my neighbor, who is Korean but married to an American, about this visit. She said actually Korean culture is changing and it is now acceptable to be firm in rejecting these sorts of visits. Korea, for whatever reason, is more open than many Asian countries to non-traditional religions. Although Buddhism is still prevalent, there are many, many other religions here. Unfortunately, this means that there are also problems with the more cult-like religions too. I do find other beliefs interesting, but I also have other things to do with my time so I think I won't answer the door to missionaries again.
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