Koreans' View of God Through Phenomenological Methods

Western civilization developed in a scheme of confrontation and discrimination. The ontological constellation that has become a global destiny with the spread of Western power is fundamentally rooted in the masculine and patriarchal view of God in the West. Therefore, the salvation on which our future depends will be accomplished with the change of the view of God. And the new view of God that is to be sought should be one that harmonizes all kinds of conflicts such as God and nature, nature and man, man and woman. This article aims to show that the new view of God that we are waiting for to arrive clearly appears in Korean ancient history and Donghak. The harmonization of impersonal universal divinity and personal supreme deity, as well as the ontological role of human beings as the center of this harmonization, are all emphasized in the doctrin of God of ancient times and Donghak. This article understands that the ancient viewpoint of God refers to that of the Donghak beforehand and the latter proves the former. We take the phenomenology of 'fact itself', especially the phenomenology used by Heidegger in his thoughts on Being as a method. The intention of this article is to reveal that the coming view of God that will be the foundation for opening a new world of coexistence and prosperity is at the same time the oldest one. Our attempt is made through phenomenological methods.