Hidden but Real: the vital contribution of Biblewomen to the rapid growth of Korean Protestantism, 1892-1945

摘要

It was initially as Scripture distributors (or 'Biblewomen') that female converts helped build up the early Christian community in Korea at the turn of the twentieth century. As training increased and the church developed further, women operated as evangelists and leaders of widespread female church groups. By the 1920s, educated female professionals from mission backgrounds were having a significant impact on society at large, as the threat from Japan intensified. Tabitha Won, Sadie Kim and Hwal-ran Kim are singled out in turn to represent each of these three phases across a half-century of Protestant growth up to 1945, underlining women's vital—if under-acknowledged—contribution to the inculcation of the new faith in Korea.