Questions you cannot avoid
Participants present their views on faith and theology within a limited time.
A DAMASCUS ORIGINAL SERIES
HOLY
COMBAT.
Holy Combat
Questions of faith
take the debate stage.
WATCH THE SERIES
Four stages. Questions that continue.
Watch each series through its playlist.
01 / DAMASCUS ORIGINAL SERIES
Holy Combat 1
Answer the QuestionThe beginning of a debate competition where participants answer questions about faith and challenge one another's responses.
Watch playlist ↗
02 / DAMASCUS ORIGINAL SERIES
Holy Combat 2
The Questions ContinueNew participants, new answers and the Holy Counter round continue the questions of faith raised in season one.
Watch playlist ↗
03 / DAMASCUS ORIGINAL SERIES
Holy Combat: War of the Gods
Where religions meetA series co-produced by Damascus TV and Youiknam, bringing representatives of four major religions in Korea together for debate.
Watch playlist ↗
04 / DAMASCUS ORIGINAL SERIES
Holy Combat Agora
The conversation beyond the screenHoly Combat's first in-person conference. Explore the conversations from the event through its playlist.
Watch playlist ↗WHY HOLY COMBAT
Bringing unspoken questions
onto a public stage.
Holy Combat brings questions that churches have struggled to discuss into open debate. Launched jointly by Damascus TV and the Emmaus Institute in 2022, its first season put the work of answering questions about faith into the format of a competitive reality show.
Participants present their answers and respond to objections. Judges and viewers follow the exchange and reconsider their own views. The pressure of competition encourages more precise ways of speaking about faith.
The Christian debates of seasons 1 and 2 expanded into interreligious dialogue in Holy Combat: War of the Gods, and into face-to-face encounters with audiences at Agora.
Read about the program's beginnings and purpose ↓
HOLY COMBAT 3 / COMING IN 2027
Scheduled for release in 2027 Holy Combat 3:
The Advance of Atheism
People who believe in God
meet those who do not.
Seasons 1 and 2 explored questions within Christianity, and Holy Combat: War of the Gods brought different religions together. Season 3 welcomes atheist and agnostic participants, exploring where faith and skepticism meet in contemporary Korean society.
By day, participants debate their convictions. By night, they share the stories behind their belief—or their inability to believe. After learning more about one another's lives and worldviews, they return to the debate stage the following day.
Alongside the competition is a commitment to hearing why people came to hold their beliefs. The conversations and encounters that begin here are planned to continue at Holy Combat Agora 2.
Sponsorship & volunteering inquiries
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INSIDE THE DEBATE
Ask, challenge, and think again.
Open discussion
Participants question one another's perspectives and exchange ideas freely, listening and responding to take the discussion deeper.
Toward the next round
Judging, competition and participants' stories turn debate into a survival-show experience.
IN THE PRESS
Holy Combat in the press
Doctrine, tradition and honest questions: a forum for open debate Opens in a new tab
A report from Holy Combat Agora covering Protestant–Catholic doctrinal debates, a lecture on worship culture, and participants reflecting on their faith through questions.
Breaking taboos: bringing unspoken questions into public debate Opens in a new tab
An introduction to Agora's talks, debates and audience participation, where questions about faith and the church are discussed openly.
My testimony: confessing doubts about Scripture and discovering a greater God through apologetics Opens in a new tab
Wonbeom Kim shares his journey of faith, from voicing doubts to joining the production of Holy Combat through a media apologetics ministry.
Online apologetics opens up—with a 16-year-old among the participants Opens in a new tab
A look at the launch of Holy Combat 2 and its diverse participants, exploring how apologetics and debate are reaching a wider lay audience.
“I hope theological dialogue and debate take root in the church” Opens in a new tab
The second part of an interview with the winner, discussing the program's strengths and limitations, its use in churches, and hopes for the next season.
Debate winner: “Many Christians are wrestling with questions and seeking answers” Opens in a new tab
Season 1 winner Pastor Yohwan Kim shares why he entered and how conversations across denominational boundaries changed him.
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Holy Combat concludes: “The church must answer people's questions” Opens in a new tab
A look at the first season's format and its use of competition to practice answering questions about faith.
Between finding it hard to believe and not wanting to believe Opens in a new tab
A review of Can We Trust the Gospels? that discusses Holy Combat and the need for apologetics among believers within the church.
Holy Combat: Answer the Question Opens in a new tab
A reflection on learning through questions and answers, the lack of opportunities to ask in church, and the program's origins.
Apologetics: offering good reasons to believe in Christianity Opens in a new tab
An interview about how the author began his apologetics ministry, wrote the book, and approaches doubt and questions.
The first “apologetics survival show”: bringing the gospel into entertainment Opens in a new tab
An introduction to the questions behind the author's first book and Holy Combat, and the effort to build a church culture of asking and answering.