Abstract
This study examines the character and imagery of the apocalyptic visions of a rural evangelist in Korea at the end of the Second World War. Pak Tonggi, a charismatic figure who founded a millennarian movement called the Empire of Mount Sion, experienced five major visions which shaped both his ministry and his understanding of world history. This article examines these visions and compares them with the form and motifs of apocalyptic visions recorded in the Old and New Testaments. While Pak’s visions owe much to the ethos of the Biblical visions, their precise content and imagery are seen to be very ‘local’.
Keywords
The Empire of Mount Sion – A Korean Millenarian Movement
In earlier articles, 1 I have discussed the history of a Korean millenarian sect called Sion-san cheguk [시온山帝國], the Empire of Mount Sion, 2 which was founded in the early 1940s. In these articles, I highlighted the essentially pacifistic, pre-millenarian nature of this group which was quite different to the characteristics of many of the late 20th-century ‘millenarian’ groups studied by anthropologists. These latter groups were largely violent, revolutionary, and anti-colonial in nature. In my previous work, I had argued that the Empire of Mount Sion movement should be understood primarily in terms of its religious beliefs as these beliefs were the key factors which determined its social and political views. I argued that simply because the beliefs and actions of the Empire of Mount Sion movement had a political dimension or a political effect did not mean that the principal motivation for the actions of its followers had been either their political views or their sense of Korean nationalism. 3
Following their victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), Japan established a protectorate over the Kingdom of Chosŏn (Korea) in 1905, followed in 1910 by the formal annexation of the Korean kingdom into its growing empire. Colonial control over the Korean peninsula ended with Japan’s defeat in the Second World War in 1945. During the 1930s and early 1940s, the Japanese colonial authorities attempted to create a patriotic consensus amongst the peoples of its empire by imposing a requirement that imperial subjects attend rituals at State Shintō shrines, 4 where the emperor and his divine progenitors were venerated. For Korean Christians, this demand not only offended their sense of Korean patriotism, but also instilled in them the fear of committing idolatry. This fear of idolatry became the defining characteristic of the Empire of Mount Sion movement and its followers, and the source of their refusal to attend, much less participate in, State Shintō rituals.
The key figure in this millenarian movement was a charismatic rural evangelist called Pak Tonggi (朴東基, 1907–1991) who founded the movement, and whose apocalyptic visions came to shape the ideas and actions of this group even after it had become a ‘church’, an institutionalized religious entity, following the conclusion of the Second World War. Although in my earlier research I had examined the history of the movement and had commented on the importance of certain of Pak’s visions, I had not examined in detail the nature of Pak Tonggi’s visions, their motifs and imagery, or their relationship to the apocalyptic visions found in the Bible. In this article, I will examine five key visions which Pak had and I will show that although there is a clear apocalyptic character to these visions which owes much to the visions of certain Old Testament prophets, Pak’s visions are not simple replications of the Biblical visions.
The Visions of Pak Tonggi
Pak Tonggi lived in Ch’ŏngsong County [Ch’ŏngsong-gun, 靑松郡] in southeastern Korea, which lies north and east of the major metropolitan city of Taegu [大邱]. Pak’s work as an evangelist and rural pastor in local Presbyterian churches was largely confined to this county and some townships bordering on it such as Ŭisŏng [義城] and Ulsan [蔚山]. In early 1928, while he was studying at the Taegu Bible School [大邱聖經學校, Taegu sŏnggyŏng hakkyo], he fasted and prayed for 15 days for the assurance of his personal salvation. On 8 January 1928, he had a vision which became the foundation for his work as an evangelist. He referred to this vision as the Chungsaeng-ŭi ŭnhye [重生의恩惠, Grace of the Second Birth]. It became the first of five key experiences which informed his beliefs and work in the period before Japan’s defeat in World War II. While this vision of 1928 gave him both the assurance of his salvation and the courage to preach to others, the remaining four visions were visions of the apocalyptic demise of Japan and the creation of a new world order. Experienced from 1940 onwards, these four subsequent visions were the Sipchaga yŏnggwang [十字架榮光, Glory of the Cross], the First Vision of the Heavenly Host, the Second Vision of the Heavenly Host, and the Call to Found the Empire of Mount Sion. 5 I shall examine each of these visions in turn. 6
The First Vision: The Grace of the Second Birth
There is only one published source for Pak’s vision of 1928 which is found in Ilche malgi Yŏngnam chiyŏk Kidokkyo-in hang-Il undong (hereafter: IM) and translated below. In this record Pak is depicted as praying in his room at the bible school in Taegu where he was studying. The authors of the IM describe this experience in this way: While he [Pak] was praying earnestly before the south wall [of his room], something like a blackboard appeared on the wall. All of his sins from the age of eight to 21 [years of age] were clearly shown in writing in white letters. Sins against God, sins coming from his relationships with other people, sins of commission were there. Seeing this writing, he lamented and with loud weeping repented [of his sins]. At that moment, a vision of a brilliant white cross with a gracious and gentle Jesus nailed to it appeared on the west wall [of the room].
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The authors of the IM comment that Pak felt that through this experience he had come to know that his sins had been really forgiven. The assurance and the confidence which this experience gave him became the basis of Pak’s call to Christian ministry, and also firmed up his determination to study the Bible and theology more seriously. 8 The authors go on to comment that Pak’s experience is similar to the vision depicted in the Book of Daniel 5:5–28, the story of Belshazzar’s Feast, which Pak would have known from his frequent reading of the Bible. 9 However, their understanding of the two visions is too simplistic. First of all, the contexts of the two visions are totally different. The experience depicted in Daniel 5 is a prophetic condemnation of the sins which had been committed by the king and then a statement of the punishment for these sins which is to follow. There is no call to repentance. Secondly, although the recipient of the vision in Daniel is the king, Belshazzar, the interpreter of the vision is the prophet Daniel. However, in Pak Tonggi’s vision, he is both the recipient of the revelation of his sins and the interpreter of the vision. Pak’s vision ends with an image of Grace (Jesus on the Cross) which follows upon the repentance by the recipient of the vision. Significantly, any sense of contrition or repentance is lacking in the vision recorded in Daniel 5. The only similarity between the two visions, then, is the motif of the words which are written on a wall. Pak’s vision concludes with the assurance of the Grace of God (forgiveness for sin) based on the repentance of the sinner, while this element is entirely lacking in the story in Daniel 5.
The Second Vision: ‘The Glory of the Cross’
In the decade following his experience of grace and rebirth, Pak Tonggi worked as an evangelist with certain pastoral responsibilities in the area of his home village, and as far away as Ulsan on the east coast of Korea, and the important town of Ŭisŏng to the north of his home county. As the Japanese colonial government put increasing pressure on Koreans in this period to accept attendance at State Shintō rites, Pak, like many other Christians, took an equally uncompromising stance in criticising this policy and refused to participate in them. He was interrogated and tortured on several occasions. Pak was clearly much troubled by the pressure being applied to Koreans to commit what he saw as idolatry, the worship of gods other than God Himself. 10 On 29 November 1940, Pak had his second major vision, which was apocalyptic. It became known as the Sipchaga yŏnggwang [Glory of the Cross]. There are two records of Pak’s experience, one in the IM and one in the Sion-san Yesu-gyo changno kyohoe-sa (hereafter: SYCK). They are in all essential matters the same, but there are some differences. I will translate and discuss both of these records in turn.
The authors of the IM provide detailed background to this experience, noting that Pak Tonggi had been praying regularly at Mae-san [梅山] behind the Presbyterian Church at To-dong in the early hours of the morning. He prayed for courage and strength. He was well aware of his weaknesses of which he was reminded several times throughout the day. He prayed for strength to fight against [the policies of] Japan. He prayed that the Lord’s Will would be done on earth as in Heaven. [On this day], he returned to the manse and had this vision.
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The authors of the IM then describe the experience which Pak had upon returning to the manse as follows: From the east side of Mae-san, the blue sky opened with a crimson colour, and the glory of the (green) Cross was flowing down [to earth]. On the left side, a northwesterly wind was blowing from Ŭisŏng. At the place where the wind seemed to stop, a man was standing who was dressed in golden clothing, wearing a topless hat with a single crimson band tied around it. Again from the right side of the Cross, a wind blew towards Taegu. Pak Tonggi was surprised and looked directly [at the place where the wind blew]. Right in front of him, a man wearing green clothing was standing. He had no neck.
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His whole body was without strength. It seemed as if he were dead. At that moment a sharp wind blew from Taegu, and there was something which was being carried along with the wind. Going closer, he saw that it was a man’s head. The head went to the neckless angel and attached itself. Suddenly the whole body came alive. The eyes had light [in them] and blinked. [The angel] approached him [Pak Tonggi]. The angel opened the Bible in his hands. It was the second chapter of the Book of Joel. At the same time, from the centre of the Cross a strong wind blew and went straight into Evangelist Pak’s body. Then, with an indescribably strange appearance, his face reddened and he was swept up into the sky. Pak Tonggi spoke in Hebrew from the Book of Joel. This word play was without the assistance of any person. The Hebrew [texts] which he had memorized were Joel 2:1–2; 10–21; 28–32.
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If we examine the structure of this vision, we can see that it is composed of seven different sections: 1) light from the Cross is seen floating down to earth; 2) a wind is blowing from Ŭisŏng in the northwest; 3) a man appears dressed in gold and wearing a topless hat with a crimson band; 4) a wind then blows towards Taegu and in front of Pak a weak, headless man in green clothing appears; 5) a wind then blows from Taegu bringing a man’s head which attaches itself to the headless man who is now identified as an ‘angel’; 6) the ‘angel’ then comes alive and opens the Bible in his hands to the second chapter of the Book of Joel; and 7) a wind then comes from the Cross and strikes into Pak who is swept up into the sky reciting in Hebrew sections of Joel 2. In this vision, there are no motifs or images which are derived from the visions of any Old Testament prophet – not even the Book of Joel from which Pak quoted during his ecstatic experience.
The second version of Pak’s vision is found in the SYCK, which is a history of the movement and subsequent church written in 1997 by Chŏng Unhun, Pak Tonggi’s closest lieutenant. The book was written some 6 years after Pak Tonggi’s death, and is based upon recollections of what Chŏng had heard from Pak Tonggi about this crucial experience. Therefore, although it is the same incident as recorded in the IM, it was recorded some 13 years after that record, and is probably less accurate in its description of the details than the former record.
Chŏng describes the event as follows: Evangelist Pak Tonggi, who had returned [to the manse] after praying on a hill, saw a strong wind blowing from the northwest. The wind covered the hill, Mae-san, on which he had been praying. Presently, the heavens abruptly opened and the Cross appeared with Jesus Christ hung on it. The Cross was green, the colour of the power of Life. The dignified face of Jesus Christ was full of the power of Life and strength. Again, a strong wind blew from the left side of the Cross towards Ŭisŏng. That wind filled the heavens. A man appeared from the direction of Ŭisŏng toward which the wind had blown. His clothes were golden. The hat he was wearing had no top and there was a red band around it. His face, while changing to a shining face, looked directly at Evangelist Pak. Then, a strong wind blew from the right side of the Cross and went in the direction of Taegu. That wind filled the whole earth and the heavens. Suddenly, looking in the direction to which the wind had gone, a man came and stood in front of Evangelist Pak. Looking at him, he had no neck.
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Again, from the direction in which the wind had gone, a man’s neck came flying. The neck went and attached itself to the man’s body. The man was resurrected. The power of Life overflowed, and his eyes sparkled. The man, while coming in the direction of Evangelist Pak, opened a Bible. It was the second chapter of the Book of Joel. Again, from the centre of the Cross a strong wind blew towards Evangelist Pak and went into his body. Evangelist Pak’s body, at the same time that he received the joy of an indescribable spirit, began to fly into the air. Then, he spoke in the Hebrew language Chapter Two, verses 28 to 32 of the Book of Joel. A strong northwest wind filled the entire heavens, and the fullness of the entire distant universe was seen.
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In this version, the structure of the vision may be said to be composed of the following eight elements: 1) a wind blows from the northwest; 2) the Cross appears with Jesus on it; 3) another wind blows from the Cross towards Ŭisŏng; 3) a golden man appears from the direction of Ŭisŏng wearing a topless hat with a red band, 4) a wind comes from the right side of the Cross and goes in the direction of Taegu, and a man appears with no neck; 5) a neck (head?) comes flying from the direction of Taegu and attaches itself to the man’s body; 6) the man comes alive and opens a Bible to the second chapter of the Book of Joel; 7) yet another wind blows from the Cross into Pak’s body. He then flies in the air and begins to recite parts of Joel 2 in Hebrew; and 8) a wind then blows from the northwest, filling the heavens and revealing the entire universe.
The only differences in the two records is that the second record provides detail on the meaning of the colours in the vision, is more descriptive of the image of Jesus on the Cross, clearly states that the man/’angel’ was resurrected, is not so detailed about all the verses of Joel 2 which Pak is said to have recited, and adds another visionary element, the revelation of the whole universe. These differences are not significant and do not alter the basic structure or meaning of Pak’s experience. What is significant, however, is that none of the images or motifs which occur in either version of Pak’s vision are derived from the visions of prophets in the Old Testament. They are unique to Pak’s vision, confirming an observation made about the first vision, the Grace of the Second Birth.
Three points are made clearly in both versions of the vision of the Glory of the Cross. Firstly, important events, changes in the narrative of the vision, are always signalled by the blowing of wind. It would not be too extravagant to say that the motif of the wind is an image of the Holy Spirit, which ‘blows wherever it pleases’ (John 3:8 NIV) to use the words of Jesus when speaking to the Jewish leader Nicodemas. 16 The word used in the New Testament for ‘wind’ and for the ‘Spirit’ is the same word in Greek, pneuma (πνϵυμα). In the passage from John 3, Jesus is saying that the Spirit is sovereign over all things and works as he pleases to renew the human spirit. 17 In Pak’s vision, the spirit is depicted as blowing over the whole area in which Pak is conducting his ministry. Things which are lifeless, such as the headless man, are given new life through the work of the Spirit. This is not a particularly apocalyptic motif. Finally, the Spirit thrusts Himself into Pak’s body, casting him up into the air and giving him the power to recite passages of Scripture (Joel 2) in a foreign language (Hebrew). This concluding aspect of Pak’s vision must derive from St. Paul’s description in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 of the end of time when the Son of Man will return and the believers will be caught up in the air with Him. This is an eschatological statement about the ‘end time’, but lacks a specifically apocalyptic reference.
Second, the vision of the Glory of the Cross, however, does bear comparison with Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones, recorded in Ezekiel 37: 1–14. In this vision, the prophet is shown by God a valley full of lifeless, dry bones and is commanded to prophesy to them to come alive. This happens in two stages where first flesh and sinew are added, and then they are brought to life by the command to the Breath of Life (coming from the four directions of the compass) to breathe into these bones. In his analysis of this passage, William Hugh Brownlee speaks of how this vision provided hope to the people of Israel during the period of the Babylonian Captivity (587–538 BC) because new life would be breathed into them. 18 In Pak Tonggi’s vision, we can see the action of the Holy Spirit as wind bringing life to a lifeless person. Otherwise, the imagery in the vision is very different from Ezekiel’s vision. It is individual rather than collective; it is an addition of a body part rather than the reconstruction of many bodies; the prophet is not commanded to speak to the body, but is a passive observer of what is occurring. This latter point appears to be a characteristic of Pak’s visions. He observes what is or will happen, but he is not commanded to speak or prophesy. Something happens to him; he is not involved directly in what God is doing. However, the meaning of Pak’s and Ezekiel’s visions are similar. Hope is given to a people in a situation of national crisis and hopelessness.
Third, although there is a lack of specifically Old Testament apocalyptic imagery in the vision, the vision is infused with apocalyptic beliefs. The text which the man/’angel’ shows to Pak Tonggi, the second chapter of the Book of Joel, is about the ‘Day of the Lord’, when the Lord God will come to judge the earth. In verse 2:11, the text says that ‘The Lord thunders at the head of his army’. This text states that the Lord is coming, that the Lord is at the head of a great army, and that He is coming with this army to judge the world. The opening and concluding verses of this chapter (Joel 2:1 and 2:32) state specifically that the deliverance for Israel will be on Mount Zion. Verse 32 says ‘for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls’. Thus, the prophet tells us that the centre of God’s judgement of the world and of His redeeming activity will be on Mount Zion. It also tells us that the remnant who will be saved is a group of people whom the Lord has called. This final verse confirms a point made at the opening of the chapter that it is the Lord who brings about the new world order; it is not the work of those who remain faithful to Him. God acts; the people receive.
This vision, the vision of the Glory of the Cross, became the foundation of Pak’s movement, the Empire of Mount Sion. Experienced at the height of Japan’s war effort in continental East Asia and under conditions in Korea where opposition to attendance at State Shintō rituals was vigorously suppressed, this vision would have been seen by Pak and his followers to be a clear statement of God’s judgement on Japan, and a sign of Japan’s ultimate defeat in the Second World War. Although none of the motifs or images in the vision derive in a concrete way from Old Testament imagery or imagery in the Book of Revelation, the use of the Book of Joel provides a clue to Pak’s understanding of the unfolding of history. 19 First of all, he believed that God was the ultimate judge of history and that He would act to bring about justice. This idea is the basis of all subsequent activity by him and his followers which are perceived to be ‘political’ by the Japanese authorities. Second, Pak did not see that he or his followers were asked to be directly responsible for bringing about God’s judgement. This was to be work of God Himself. This pacifistic view is reflected in the essentially pre-millenarian character of the Empire of Mount Sion movement which I have noted earlier, making it unlike many other anti-colonial, religious movements in the 20th century which were often violent and revolutionary. 20 Third, Joel states that the centre of God’s activity in judging and redeeming the world was to be on ‘Mount Zion’. When Pak Tonggi later received a prophetic word to create an organization which was to govern the new world order, it was called the ‘Empire of Mount Sion’. This title described what for Pak and his followers was happening in the great world conflict of the twentieth century, that the Second World War was the apocalyptic event referred to in Scripture.
First Vision of the Heavenly Host
Over 2 years after the experience of the Glory of the Cross, in late December, 1942, Pak had a third vision which both encouraged him and confirmed him in the validity of the vision of the Glory of the Cross. Chŏng Unhun remarks that the years immediately preceding this experience had been difficult for Pak Tonggi. He had persisted in rejecting attendance at Shintō shrines and had become well known both to the authorities and local people for his views. He had been interrogated and tortured. The church which he had ‘pastored’ as an evangelist had been closed by the colonial authorities in order to stop his anti-shrine activities. Then, either in his home village of Surak, or in the neighbouring village of To-dong, Pak had a vision of the heavenly host which had been sent to comfort him. Afterwards, he described how there were 500 heavenly warriors dressed in gold clothing and 30 angels clothed in green who sang to encourage him in his work. The song was the 19th-century hymn ‘O, Spread the tidings around’. 21 This hymn, composed in 1890 by Frank Bottome (1823–1894), contains references to the coming of God’s Comforter, the Holy Spirit. 22 There is little detail given about this vision, but clearly it encouraged him in his resistance to shrine worship, and would have confirmed him in his view that God would bring about Japan’s defeat.
Second Vision of the Heavenly Host
Three months later, on 31 March 1943, Pak Tonggi had a second vision of the Heavenly Host. On the evening of that day, he had gone to the Tongho Church in the Kyŏngsan area, and upon entering the church he again saw a vision of the 500 heavenly warriors and 30 angels which was said to have given him strength and courage. 23 Again very few details of this vision have been recorded, but the effect of it was to confirm Pak in his course of action, and to give him the strength to carry on. There is something almost ‘Old Testament’ about these visions, as something given to him as a prophet to predict and confirm what is going to happen. However, as with the previous two experiences, he is not told to do anything. He simply receives strength and encouragement.
Call to Found the Sion-san cheguk
Early in the evening of 25 April, 1944, his followers claimed that Pak Tonggi received a revelation from the Holy Spirit to found the Empire of Mount Sion, the Sion-san cheguk. At a meeting of his followers held at that time, he set up the foundations of the political structure of the coming new world order, and simultaneously announced its name, the Empire of Mount Sion. Pak created a cabinet government consisting of nine ministers of state, including a Governor-General of Japan. 24 With the exception of this latter figure, all other ministers of state were assumed to be in charge of the rest of the world covering domestic affairs, external affairs, justice, agriculture, education, defense and so on. Nine of Pak’s followers were assigned to these posts, but Pak himself is not listed as having been given a specific post. Chŏng Unhun says about these events that an empire can only be ruled by a ch’ŏnja [Chinese: tianzi, 天子] or ‘Son of Heaven’ 25 and that the Japanese, by having a state called an ‘empire’ ruled by a figure claiming to be the ‘Son of Heaven’, 26 had committed the sin of idolatry which deserved severe punishment. He also makes it quite clear that the head of the new state, the Empire of Mount Sion, was Jesus Christ. He interprets the name of the new state to mean ‘Mount Sion Kingdom of God’ or ‘Mount Sion Kingdom of Christ’. 27
On this day, 25 April 1944, the meeting also agreed upon a flag for the Empire of Mount Sion consisting of 22 alternating stripes of white, red and green. In the centre was a double square of red and green lines set against a white background. In the centre of this square was a red cross surrounded by a green circle enclosing a wreath of the Rose of Sharon, 28 the Korean national flower. The meaning of the colours and symbols displayed on this flag are referenced to verses from the Book of Daniel, and the Revelation of St. John the Divine, books of apocalyptic prophecy, although some of the explanations are a bit far-fetched. 29
The 25 April became such a significant date in the calendar of the Empire of Mount Sion that it came to be referred to as Kŏn’gug-il [建國日, National Foundation Day]. 30 Thus from that day forward, Pak’s followers understood themselves to be in the vanguard of the world events which were leading to the creation of the millennial kingdom of Christ. There was a political framework in place, and the coming kingdom was symbolized by its flag.
Subsequent Developments
At some unspecified date(s) between October and December 1944, the Empire of Mount Sion adopted three other flags for use in the coming apocalyptic battles. These were flags for the Messiah, the Archangel Gabriel, and the Archangel Michael. The meaning of each of these flags again is referenced to passages from the Book of Daniel (Chapters 10 to 12) and from the Book of Revelation (Chapter 20), all describing the apocalyptic end of the current world. Flags or banners, however, are not mentioned in any of these passages of Scripture. The flags are quite simple in design. The Messiah’s flag is a white cross set against a royal blue background. The Archangel Gabriel’s flag is a red cross set against a white background, and looking very much like the Flag of St. George, the English national flag. The flag for the Archangel Michael is similar to Gabriel’s flag except that its stripes are thicker. The similarity of Gabriel’s flag to the Flag of St. George is interesting as the Archangel Gabriel is identified by Pak as being Great Britain and referred to the ‘Political Leader’. Michael is identified as being the United States, and referred to as the ‘Military Leader’. 31 Thus, the cataclysmic war being fought in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War was being carried out by two great powers which are clearly identified as archangels and have assigned tasks within their joint effort. The importance of these flags for our analysis is that they symbolize the archangels who are actually bringing about the creation of the millennial kingdom. The leadership of the Empire of Mount Sion movement are only passively involved in the establishment of the millennial kingdom through the creation of a framework for the coming new world order. This waiting on God to bring about the demise of the current world order is an example of the pre-millennial beliefs of Pak and his followers, and is similar to the beliefs of the Christians of the Early Church.
Observations and Conclusions
In this article, I have looked at the apocalyptic visions and imagery used by Pak Tonggi who founded a millenarian movement called the Empire of Mount Sion in Korea during the final years of the Second World War. I have not considered the visions and spiritual directions which he received after Japan’s defeat because after the end of the war this millenarian movement changed into an institution, a church. I have discussed the history of the Sion-san Presbyterian Church in another article, 32 but suffice it to say that in the aftermath of the world war the anticipated new world order did not emerge and this crucial fact had a significant impact on the way the Empire of Mount Sion became transformed into a church.
I noted that there were five major visions which Pak had between 1928 and 1945, four of them directly related to the vision of a new world. In examining the structure of these visions, we can see that although they draw on the ethos of judgement and apocalypticism found in both the Old and New Testaments, they do not simply copy the recorded prophetic visions either in structure or symbolism. In the crucial initial vision of the Grace of the Second Birth, only the motif of handwriting on a wall is similar to Old Testament imagery as found in the Book of Daniel. The structure, people, and purpose of the vision are entirely different, in fact opposite in meaning. The Book of Daniel focuses on divine judgement and punishment, whereas Pak’s vision is one of grace and forgiveness to the repentant soul.
The four visions connected with the end of the current world order likewise draw much on the long history of apocalyptic thought in Judaism and early Christianity, but these prophetic visions are not copies of the Biblical examples. The principal vision, the ‘Glory of the Cross’ only hints at what is to happen. The vision of the armies of the Lord coming to destroy the evil rulers of the world is not explicitly stated. We only know what is to occur because the vision refers to the prophecies contained in the Book of Joel which Pak Tonggi is said to have recited in the original language. In the second chapter of that book, the coming of the Day of the Lord is described as the assemblage of a huge army. Nowhere does the text of that book identify this army with a specific king or nation, although other prophets do in their visions of divine judgement (cf. Isaiah 7 and elsewhere). We only learn after the creation of the political framework of the new world order in early 1944 that the battle for Christ’s kingdom will be led by two of the world’s great powers, who are identified as archangels. The archangel Gabriel appears prominently in the Book of Daniel, Chapters 8 and 9, where he reveals what will happen on the Day of Judgement. In the Gospels (Luke 1) he also appears as one who reveals what is to come and one who offers comfort. He is alluded to in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation. 33 Like Gabriel, Michael also appears in the Book of Daniel as the patron and champion of Israel, and the leader of ‘the celestial hosts in the final battle against the forces of evil’. 34 The roles which Pak assigned to Britain and the United States accords well with the Biblical description of the work of these two archangels. However, the images of a great battle do not occur in his vision. We only know that it will happen.
The third and fourth of Pak’s major visions were experiences of the Host of Heaven come to give him comfort and encouragement in his resistance to Shintō shrine worship and to prepare him for the coming cataclysmic war against evil. Images of the Heavenly Host are found throughout the Old Testament both as a sign of God’s sovereignty and His determination to accomplish His Will. 35 In the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke Chapter 2, the sudden appearance of the Heavenly Host is seen as bringing comfort and hope to all people. This image in Luke is closer to the meaning of Pak’s third and fourth visions, although the motifs of Pak’s vision have a very ‘local’ feel about them. The Heavenly Host comforts Pak by singing a well-known 19th-century hymn! This element of localism confirms my view that although the ethos of Pak’s visions reflect the ethos of prophetic visions in Scripture, they are not simple replications of them.
The fifth and last of Pak’s principal visions is the command to set up the framework for the new world order, the Empire of Mount Sion – to do something. We are told nothing about the vision itself other than the fact that Pak was commanded to set up a government in waiting, waiting for Christ to begin the final battle with evil. We don’t know the content or structure of his vision, but we do know what he did as a result of this vision. He created a cabinet system of government with eight ministries of state and a figure who was delegated to rule Japan as an occupying or colonial power. Chapters 19, 20 and 21 of the Book of Revelation are full of imagery about the final battles with evil and the creation of a ‘New Heaven and New Earth’. In Chapter 21 of the Book of Revelation in particular, there is a very complex description of the world to come. None of the imagery in that chapter (and the others), however, appears in Pak’s fifth major vision. In fact, the structure of the Empire of Mount Sion looks more like a 20th-century nation state, indeed like the government of the Empire of Japan. This is another example of the ethos of apocalypticism influencing Pak while the structure, content and imagery of the visions are quite different from their Biblical equivalents.
At some unspecified time at the end of 1944, a few months after Pak’s fifth vision, he appears to have had a least one further vision in which the banners under which the actors in the final battle against evil would fight were revealed to him. Again, we have not been told the content of his vision(s), but we can see the effect of them in the creation of three flags to symbolise the Messiah, and the two archangels’ forces. The use of banners as a symbol of the forces of the Lord arrayed against the forces of evil is not used in any of the apocalyptic texts in either the Old or New Testaments. Flags are a more modern symbol of the nation state. Pak would have regularly seen in public places the Japanese flag, the Hinomaru [日の丸, Circle of the Sun], a potent symbol of Korea’s domination by the Japanese empire, and of the idolatrous practices conducted at Shintō shrines. He would also have been familiar with the flag of the old Korean kingdom Chosŏn, the T’aegŭk-ki [太極旗, Flag of the Great Ultimate]. If he had had access to books of world history or geography, he could have seen images of the British, English, and American flags. In any event, Pak’s vision(s) used images which were known to him from his every-day experiences and did not reflect the very dramatic imagery in the Biblical apocalyptic texts.
This study of a small millenarian movement which appeared in mid-20th-century Korea has shown that it emerged during a period of foreign occupation and during the height of the Second World War. The founder of this movement, Pak Tonggi, had a series of visions which first assured him as a repentant soul of his salvation, and gave him the courage to oppose the practice of what he saw were idolatrous activities. His work in this sense is a typical prophetic act against a falling-away from God. Second, we have seen how Pak came to see the Second World War as the final cataclysmic war before the establishment of the millenarian kingdom of Christ. His visions encouraged him to persevere under difficult circumstances, showed him what would happen in the future, and showed him what he should do to help create the structure of the new world order, the New Heaven and New Earth – the Empire of Mount Sion. Clearly, his reading of Biblical apocalyptic literature taught him how to interpret world events. However, the images and structure of all of these visions owe virtually nothing to Biblical imagery and motifs. Theologically-conservative groups such as the Empire of Mount Sion are often perceived to be literalistic in their interpretation of Scripture, leading one to think that the images and motifs in their prophetic and apocalyptic visions would reflect the apocalyptic imagery of the Old and New Testaments. This case study shows that although the visions of Pak Tonggi breathe the ethos of Scriptural visions, the imagery and motifs of the narratives of the visions are entirely ‘local’. We may conclude that when we are researching millenarian movements anywhere in the world we need to look both to the local historical context for the possible causes of millenarianism, and to the local culture for the imagery and motifs which are used to express it, and not simply turn to the text of Scripture.
Footnotes
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.