Our work with
the Korean church

A pharmacy student in the United States watched William Lane Craig debate Christopher Hitchens. Searching questions about faith met answers that took them seriously. He wanted people in Korea to encounter conversations like this, too.

With permission from Craig's team, he began adding Korean subtitles to lectures and debates. “On the road to Damascus” was the channel's first name—the beginning of what would become Damascus.

In 2017, the work moved to Damascus TV. Live conversations with atheists and viewers' questions became part of the channel. Even the word “apologetics” was unfamiliar to many. Explaining why faith should be discussed with reasons, questions and objections was itself part of the work.

In 2019, we visited Korean doctoral students at Harvard and MIT. We discussed God's existence, the origin of the universe, evolution, the historical Jesus and suffering. The two-part conversation showed what serious dialogue about faith could look like between people who think differently.

Lan Church began as an open group chat for Damascus TV subscribers—a place to share questions about faith, theology and everyday life. Conversations sparked by videos grew into in-person gatherings, and the community grew as more people came to ask questions and learn together.

As it expanded, Lan Church separated from Damascus and began operating independently, while maintaining a close relationship that continues today. Its members also support the work of Christian intellectual initiatives, including the Veritas Forum at Korea University, helping create places where faith and thought meet.

We brought New Testament scholar Nijay Gupta twenty-five questions about the historical Jesus and the Gospels. We asked Tom Holland, author of Dominion, what Christianity had left to Western civilization. Later, we spoke with Dale Allison about historical Jesus research, miracles, resurrection, and the tensions between scholarship and faith.

Questions from Korean readers reached the authors directly, and their answers returned in Korean. A new route into international theology and apologetics was opening.

Old Testament scholar Sungmin Chun and New Testament scholar Sung Kook Jung publicly debated how the Bible should be read. Viewers watched two scholars question and challenge one another's readings of the same text.

That May, we held two live debates with Sinjeon TV, a channel critical of Christianity. Is Christian salvation cruel? Is belief in the Christian God harmful? We addressed difficult questions before audiences from both channels. Lessons from the first debate shaped how we moderated the second.

Damascus became both a participant in debate and a venue for other thinkers to meet. In 2023, we hosted Emmaus and Yitzhak in a public debate with Yuho Lee and FTNER. They exchanged questions and objections on homosexuality, transgender issues, Christians' political choices, and the permanence of salvation.

Building a culture of debate meant holding real debates and learning from them.

The audience asked a question, two participants answered it, and the audience evaluated their responses. Together with the Emmaus Institute, we developed this format into a competitive debate series.

Across two seasons, Holy Combat introduced distinctive Christian thinkers to a wider audience. Participants found their own voices through demanding questions and scrutiny. Seminary professors faced the same rules. On subjects such as predestination, salvation, science and faith, viewers weighed the arguments and looked forward to the next encounter.

In Holy Combat: War of the Gods, made with Youiknam, Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist and Won Buddhist participants answered questions on the same stage. The conversation was widening.

In 2025, Holy Combat Agora brought together 350 paying attendees. People invested their time and money to watch debates about Protestantism and Catholicism, predestination and evolution.

Sharp objections were exchanged on stage. Afterward, participants thanked their counterparts for taking on difficult conversations. The event showed that people could share a stage and keep talking despite profound differences. Holy Combat also came to New York, where questions from immigrant churches and local audiences became a new starting point.