Affiliated Departments

Christian Theology, Pastoral Counseling, Christian Sociology, Christian Cultural Studies, Christian Social Welfare Studies

General Overview

Soongsil University was founded in Pyongyang, now in North Korea, in 1987 and became the first modern college in Korea in 1905. The University demonstrated a Christian integrity when it closed its doors in 1938 in resistance to the demand of the Japanese authorities to worship Japanese Shinto shrines. In this spiritual stream, the University brought up and produced a number of influential and respected pastors and Christian leaders, such as Han Kyung-Jik, Park Hyung-Ryong, Park Yoon-Sun, and Kang Shin-Myung. The Graduate School of Christian Studies was established in 1998, when the University celebrated its centennial anniversary. The Graduate School was designed to provide a high level of professional education and training for Christian leaders and ministers in accordance with the founding idea of the University and its historical tradition. The Graduate School of Christian Studies intends to challenge and enable students to fulfill the pastoral and theological needs of the 21st century of evangelical reformed theology.

Educational Goals/Objectives

The theological direction of the Graduate School of Christian Studies is threefold:

• It aims to create an evangelical-ecumenical spirituality;
• It aims to study and teach a biblically-based, reformational, and culture-transforming theology; and
• It strives to study and teach a pastorally-oriented and mission-oriented social service theology.

Our graduate school is committed to narrowing the distance between theological idea and the field of pastoral ministry. It provides students with an opportunity to advance to a PhD program through personal and specific supervision. One more crucial aspect of our program is its interdisciplinary approach to Christian studies. We incorporate any humanistic and social studies to better understand theological and religious issues.