Christian historian Professor Choi Jong-won's "Reading Church History Backwards"
“Where has today’s church lost its way?
“Where should we go?”
Recommended by Kang Young-an, Kim Ki-seok, and Bae Deok-man

This book, "Reading Church History Backwards," starts from the question of reading Christian history from a "backwards" perspective.
It presents a different approach from the traditional church history that focuses on doctrine and theological formation.
Previous studies of church history have failed to adequately capture the relationship the church has had with society throughout history.
This book argues that church history should be viewed as a record of the interaction between church and society, and that we should examine how the church exists and responds within society.

Through twenty themes selected from church history, the author shows how the church in each era responded to social changes and challenges.
Although the topics are a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar, each topic reveals new meaning when viewed through the mirror of society.
Standing in front of a mirror means reflection, and reflection is accompanied by discomfort and embarrassment.
As you examine the text, you may experience your existing beliefs being shattered or you may experience deep doubts.

“This book honestly confronts and records the truth of history and social reality.
“It serves as a milestone, pointing the way to deeper understanding and reflection for all who love the church.”

This book does not ignore the reality of the Korean church today.
It clearly reveals the deep gap between the institutional church, which has lost trust from society and is seen as anti-social, and the Christians living within it.
The church was never an ideal space and will never be perfect.
The church is a community of people who fall, struggle, and rise again, and their footsteps are the history of the church.

Now readers will enter into the unfamiliar and uncomfortable history of the church.
This journey is rough and unkind, but at the end of it, you will gain a new perspective on the church.
The past is not fixed, but is reinterpreted according to today's perspective, and all history is present history.

However, despite the popular acceptance and success of the King James Bible, James I failed to fully achieve religious and political unity.
A small group of separatist Puritans who opposed his religious policies eventually left for the New World on the Mayflower in 1620.
The Bible they took with them at that time was the Geneva Bible.
They shaped the social, political, and ecclesiastical culture of the New World based on the strict religiosity presented in the Geneva Bible.
Additionally, after the death of James I, England experienced a long civil war due to conflict between the Church of England and the Puritans.
Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan who fought in the English Civil War, published a pamphlet with excerpts from the Geneva Bible to encourage his troops and followers.
In this way, the Bible was a political book located at the center of national politics.
--- From "01 The Bible, a Very Political Book | Why Did James I Translate the Bible Again?"

Can theology be considered a subject of freedom? Does theology fall within the scope of academic freedom? Judging by the ideological scrutiny that takes place at the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church every late fall, it becomes clear that theology does not fall within the scope of academic freedom.
If so, we cannot help but ask a more fundamental question.
Is theology an academic discipline? I once lamented why there was no academic freedom in seminaries.
But now I have to admit it frankly.
Theology is not an academic discipline.
Therefore, it is not possible to grant academic freedom to theologians in the Korean culture.
This is because the vast majority of the Korean theological world is based on denominational theology.
Theology as a discipline pursuing methodological secularism, even if it exists, is not very influential.
Loyalty to the Prophet and loyalty to the Church requires intellectual sacrifice.
It is an unavoidable reality that many people face before it becomes an attribute of theology.
Regardless of where and how those teaching in seminaries today received their education, the Korean theological world is not, strictly speaking, a temple of academia.
In this situation, it is meaningless to question whether theology is an academic discipline.
Today, theology is nothing more than the impeached and deposed queen of learning.
This is a sad result of the attempt to impeach the teaching authority that does not recognize the academic freedom guaranteed by the Constitution.
--- From "06 'Theology' and Academic Freedom | The Impeached Queen of Academics"

In the 21st century, no social group, including religion and the state, can lead a single culture like the church did in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Among them, religion is one of several competing cultural forces.
Even in the postmodern era, religion can still spread through symbols such as unique identities, value systems, and rituals.
In that sense, Christianity still has room to carve out its own destiny rather than being under uncontrollable forces.
The secular society that Christianity fears is a reality, and no one can escape its norms.
While most agree that traditional Christianity is nearing its end of life, it is difficult to agree that Christian traditions are worthless.
If so, in the postmodern era characterized by consumerism and nomadism, we must be able to create a new religiousness from diverse traditions and doctrines without experiencing cultural and cognitive dissonance.
Despite the undeniable trend of secularization, religion has long attempted to interact meaningfully with social, economic, and political structures through its reflexive approach to social change, and has achieved certain results.
--- From "Rethinking the 15 Secularization Theses | The Decline of Christendom Is Not a Failure of Christianity"

The Second Vatican Council demonstrates the wisdom with which the Catholic Church navigated the crisis.
Rather than excluding others through doctrine, labeling them heretics, or taking refuge behind heavenly mysteries, the Catholic Church has embraced the spirit of "Azornamento" in its attempt to adapt more humbly and positively to the modern society in which we live.
The path the church must take in times of crisis lies not in the scholastic obsession with judging and defining society through doctrine and biblical interpretation.
In a changing world, the church must look after marginalized women, minorities, immigrants, and the underprivileged and pursue the common good within society as a measure of its integrity.
Even under the neoliberal dominance of limitless competition, the church becomes a space of liberation and freedom where people can breathe.
From the very beginning of Christianity, the church was able to enter the masses because it practiced it.

--- From "20 Modernizations of Tradition | Azornamento, Adaptation to Modern Society"