The publication of the first issue of Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia (JDTREA) in late 2021 was an important scholarly moment of pride for Daejin University and the Daesoon Academy of Sciences as academic institutions, and also for Daesoon Jinrihoe, South Korea’s largest new religious movement. For me as Editor, it signalled the start of an enterprise that will contribute significantly to the emergent body of research in English on Korean, and more broadly East Asian, new religions.
The second issue of the Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia has come together very smoothly and contains six fascinating articles focusing on Daesoon Jinrihoe and the Vietnamese new religion of Caodaism. The comparative method is used to great effect in the opening article by George Chryssides (York St John University, UK), “Disseminating Daesoon Thought: A Comparative Analysis.” This research compares three new religions in Korea; Daesoon Jinrihoe, the Unification Church, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Chryssides analyses membership statistics, evangelisation techniques, and the ways the three organizations are financed. The second article is by Christopher Hartney (University of Sydney) and is titled “Vietnamese Syncretism and the Characteristics of Caodaism’s Chief Deity: Problematising Đức Cao Đài as a ‘Monotheistic’ God Within an East Asian Heavenly Milieu.” This piece uses monotheism as a cross-cultural category that permits the analysis of Caodaism alongside Western Christianity and Western ideas about God, yet the focus is on how Vietnamese religious thinkers develop it is a unique fashion.
The third contribution is by Bernadette Rigal-Cellard (Université Bordeaux Montaigne [France]) and is titled “Incarnation and Divine Essence in Daesoon Thought: A Comparative Study between Daesoon Thought and Christianity.” This study compares ideas about gods taking on human form, and the implications for the theological conception of the universe and the destiny of believers. Next is Rosita Šorytė’s “Daesoon Thought as the Source of Daesoon Jinrihoe’s Social Work” which shifts attention to the practical work of doing good and being a positive force in the world, which is an important goal of Daesoon Jinrihoe. This is followed by Tuan Em Nguyen’s article “The Spreading of Caodaism to Taiwan: Man’s Will versus Divine Will” which examines the doctrine, philosophy, and ideas about prophecy, of Caodaism. The final contribution is Brian Fehler’s “Traditions of Western Rhetoric and Daesoon Jinrihoe: Prolegomena to Further Investigations”, which emphasises the need for extensive and detailed research in the area of Asian new religions.
The journal issue is completed by reviews of three relevant books by current scholars. Again, to be editor of this varied and informative collection is an inspiring and encouraging thing, and I believe that JDTREA will win further subscribers and readers with this second issue. As always, I am obliged to Bae Kyuhan, Lee Gyungwon, Jason Greenberger and Choi Wonhyuk from Daejin University, and to all the scholars who have contributed research to this issue. In a world that has survived two years of Covid-19 lockdowns and the upending of many of our expectations, achievements such as these should be celebrated.