Sok Hon Ham (1901-1989) is little known outside Korea. However, within Korea he has been given several descriptive names through his life: "Conscience of Korea", "Prophet in the Era of Suffering" and "Crying in the Wilderness". As these names imply, he was a deep religious thinker, great civil rights activist and prolific writer of history, politics, religion and society. Ironically however, he never attained the position of an "official" religious scholar, politician, journalist or historian. This thesis examines Sok Hon Ham's understanding of the philosophical Taoism of Lao- tzu and Chuang-tzu, along with Western Quakerism. In categorical terms, Sok Hon Ham was an Oriental-Christian thinker, yet his ideas and life style changed according to the historical circumstances both within Korea and the around the world. The thesis explores the inter relationships between philosophical Taoism and Western Quakerism through a study of his tumultuous life and kaleidoscopic thoughts. It examines him as an intermediary between East and West and assessed how he was shaped by and responded to the terrible challenges of his time.
Return to Table of Contents Go to Introduction Go to Chapter I. Biography of Sok Hon Ham