Bible and Democracy

How should biblical texts be read when democratic institutions are under strain and Christian communities become actors in political conflict? Prompted by South Korea’s December 3, 2024 martial law crisis, this volume brings biblical scholarship into conversation with democratic fragility. It does not seek to discover modern democracy in Scripture or to construct a single biblical political theology. Instead, it investigates how biblical traditions, their reception histories, and contemporary practices of interpretation shape public imagination in moments of crisis. Bringing together studies of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, early Christian reception, Korean translation history, and Korean Christianity, the volume examines authority, legitimacy, memory, participation, exclusion, and public responsibility as contested theological and political categories. Its contributions show how scriptural interpretation can legitimate power, resist authoritarian appropriation, recover marginalized voices, and reconfigure communal responsibility. The volume offers a contextually grounded model for reading Scripture as a public, contested, and historically situated resource in democratic crisis.