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A Lecture On Early and Medieval Church History by Dr. Moses Chung*

    Thank God for sending Dr. Moses Chung and Missionary Rebecca Chung to Mexico who taught us an Early and Medieval Church History. Dr. Chung lectured on an Early and Medieval Church History at Missionary Barnabas Choi’s house, two hours per day for four days from March 13 to 16. Nine missionaries in all from 5 chapters in Mexico City, attended. From IPN Barnabas and Rebecca Choi, Andres and Maria Kim, attended for 4 days. From Cuautitlan Daniel Baek for a day. From UAM Pablo Park for four days. From Santo Tomas Lidia Roh, for four days. From CU Pablo Lee for 3 days.

    Through an Early Church History, firstly we learned the importance of a right attitude in listening and proclaiming the word of God is for every person. We know that in order for a person to proclaim the word one must humbly and personally accept the word of God, meditate on them, and then proclaim the word with fear and trembling. Secondly, we learned the spirituality of the Fathers of the desert. St. Antony, the founder of the desert Fathers, divided all his properties among the poor and offered himself to God by going into the desert. His training for spirituality began with moderation in eating and drinking, laid stress on ardent silent prayer and a recitation of the Bible. In particular, we realized that a recitation of the Bible that he emphasized is helpful for personal faith and for the growth of the church.

    Through a Medieval Church History, we knew that the schism between the Western church and the Eastern church was provoked by a lust for power and a desire for fame. When a spiritual leader of each church once had his own authority, and did not disown himself and abused his authority continuously, the church was filled struggle and division. Through his lecture on the monastery we were deeply moved by St. Francis’ spiritual life. He was truly a humble, frank, and tearing saint, who was one of the most respected monks with a distinguished life of faith. We were touched by him, for he suffered from his trivial desires to the point of death, yet he held on to God’s grace while co-working with his fellow monks. We all have to live a holy life and to beautifully co-work with our co-workers, struggling against our sins to the point of death.

    We want this education to extend to not only the chapters in Mexico City but also to all the chapters throughout Central and South America that the missionaries and coworkers there may also benefit from the study of church history to live a more fruitful and abundant life(M. Barnabas Choi: Mexico Regional Coordinator). 

* Editor’s Note 

Dr. Moses Jun Ki Chung:

Born in Hampyŏng in Korea(1948); BA and MA in History at Northeastern Illinois University(1977-82); Ph. D., in History at University of Chicago(1987); Postdoctoral research at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago(1988-89); D. Min. in Missiology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School(1991); Research regarding ‘German Pietism’ at Bonn University(1991-92) in Germany; professor of Historical Theology, that is, History of Christianity, in later years Dean of Graduate School and Vice President, at Kwangshin University(1992-2014) in S-Korea.

Books: Social Criticism of Uchimura Kanzo and Kim Kyo-shin(The UBF Press,1988); A Short History of University Bible Fellowship(Gospel Publishing Co., 1992), and other books.