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Donato Trovarelli doesn’t celebrate Christmas. 

The charismatic Christian author from Pescara, Italy, rejects the holiday and all its trappings. To him, the traditions and celebrations associated with the birth of Jesus are actually antithetical to his faith. They have nothing to do with Jesus. They’re just empty rituals. 

He’s not alone in hating the holiday. Many evangelicals in Italy are staunchly opposed to Christmas. 

“We drive out of our places of worship all the traditions of the tree, the Nativity scene, the figure of Santa Claus, Jesus as a child, and every other popular tradition,” Trovarelli said.

For the Italian Christians who identify as born again, rejecting Christmas is a way to distinguish them from Catholics. They assert their identity through opposition to the status quo. 

According to a 2023 survey by Ipsos, more than 60 percent of Italians say they are Catholic. Just 4 percent identify as Protestant, with another 3 percent identifying as “other Christian.” Some say the evangelical community in Italy is probably just 1 percent of the population. 

For that religious minority, their Christian identity has been largely defined not by who they are but by who they are not. They are not Roman Catholic, not theologically liberal, not culturally secular. 

“In such a situation, evangelicals feel a need to better assert their identity based on core gospel essentials rather than on cultural features,” J. D. Gilmore, a church planter in Palermo and coordinator of Impatto (Acts 29 in Italy), told CT. “Any kind of traditional religious festivity is usually abhorred by evangelicals in Italy.” 

Some younger evangelicals are not so opposed to the holiday, according to Gilmore. He celebrates it, personally, finding significant value in “its warmth, its focus on time with family, and the chance it gives Christians in Italy to celebrate with our neighbors.” But he knows older generations often view the acceptance of Christmas traditions as a betrayal.

“Any of us who give a hint of accepting the validity and value of Christmas are regarded as quite liberal,” Gilmore said, “and not evangelical.” 

For Vincenzo Russo, an evangelical in Naples, there are two big issues with Christmas celebrations. The first is that it invites hypocrisy. People pretend to be devoted Christians who care a lot about Christ’s birth, when they really don’t. 

“Many people use this period as a pretext to give a polish to their religiosity, to dust off their Christian uniform,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity to get on stage and act out, once a year, the good part.”

The second is that the traditions and celebrations are not biblical.

“Let’s ask ourselves, is this something that God likes?” Russo said. “Or is it maybe because they like to binge on panettone and swallow rivers of sparkling wine and get moved by hearing the bagpipe-playing shepherds (zampognari)?” 

Opposition to Christmas is enough of a hallmark among Italian evangelicalism that many websites for churches around the country address the question, Gli evangelici festeggiano il Natale e le Pasqua? (Do evangelicals celebrate Christmas and Easter?) The short answer is no.

The slightly longer answer on the website of the Chiesa Cristiana Evangelica Pentecostale ADI de Parma (Christian Evangelical Pentecostal Church of Parma), in northern Italy, takes a whole page. The church explains to potential visitors that it does not “recognize the liturgical feast of the nativity of Jesus.” It points out that the date of Jesus’ birth is not mentioned in the Bible and that modern traditions, including the Christmas tree and live Nativities, cannot be found in Scripture either. According to the website, the church’s rejection of the holiday is “objectively the result of our consistent adherence to the Gospel.”

Italian evangelicals are not the first Christians to oppose Christmas, according to historian Gerry Bowler, author of Christmas in the Crosshairs: Two Thousand Years of Denouncing and Defending the World’s Most Celebrated Holiday. In fact, a war on Christmas is itself a Christmas tradition. 

Christians in the first and second centuries debated whether the Nativity should be celebrated, Bowler said, and early Gnostics challenged the notion of the Incarnation, arguing that Jesus did not have a physical body. Since then, everyone from Catholics to Puritans to Jehovah’s Witnesses to Oneness Pentecostals have denounced the accretion of “non-Christian” elements, deeming the holiday idolatrous and unbiblical. 

“There have been all kinds of battles being fought around Christmas, both within and outside Christianity,” Bowler said. “And despite their particular objections, these Italians fit within a broad stream of believers who have objected to Christmas celebrations for one reason or another.” 

Evangelical expats in Italy are often surprised to discover their fellow believers’ antipathy toward Christmas. Jess Cowell, who serves with the Church Missionary Society in Bari along with her husband, Simon, said it took some time to adjust. 

“At first we found it really bizarre,” said Cowell, who is from Australia. 

Evangelicals invited her to something called a “Tuesday lunch” held on December 25, but with no references to Christmas at all. The gathering was completely “de-Christmasized,” she said. Cowell learned that some of her friends would pull their children out of school to keep them from participating in a pageant.

Slowly, Cowell has come to appreciate the Italian evangelical approach to the season.

“It is to clearly say, ‘We are not the same,’ to prompt a question and provoke a conversation,” she said. 

Cowell and her family still celebrate in their home, but they’ve also worked to “reinvent” the holiday and think about how it can be more intentionally evangelistic. She feels her Italian brothers and sisters have pointed out a “blind spot” that she and maybe many other evangelicals have had when it comes to Christmas.

“There’s a danger in not teaching the Good News, the gift, of Jesus coming as a baby,” she said.

For other evangelicals living in Italy, the evangelistic opportunities of Christmas outweigh any concerns about association with Catholicism and cultural practices not found in Scripture. 

René Breuel, a Brazilian missionary, decided to embrace Christmas when he planted Hopera church in Rome in 2012. Now, Breuel and his team dedicate two or three services to Christmas, have special performances and songs for the kids in their community, and host a special Christmas party with games and crafts. Church members make Christmas decorations to give to friends and neighbors. 

Breuel said he appreciates why other evangelicals in Italy might object to Christmas celebrations. But for him, the only real question is whether it’s an opportunity for more outreach. 

“For us, to celebrate Christmas is uncontroversial,” he said.

He has noticed, though, that the Christmas celebrations have been especially effective at bringing in Italian evangelicals who are committed to their faith but also want to join in the season’s festivities.

“They appreciate the permission we give them to celebrate,” Breuel said. “They discover a church that embraces it, and they don’t have to feel guilty if they like Christmas, because we do too.”

The post In Italy, Evangelicals Wage a Quiet War on Christmas appeared first on Christianity Today.

Long ago, Jacob confessed, “The Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it” (Gen. 28:16). Declarations like this haunt me, in the best of ways. It makes me wonder if the world is charged with far more spiritual activity than we notice. Borrowing a word from the philosopher Charles Taylor, what if the earth is enchanted with heaven? Like Jacob, perhaps once we die we will discover that many things—visible and invisible—were ever-present and we were unaware.

The inclusion of angels throughout the biblical narrative is evidence of this, and the season of Advent can help us to reclaim the place these enchanted beings hold in our faith. Angels saturate the Christmas story and are seen as extensions of God’s indwelling presence. Angels, not humans, were first to announce the good news of Christ’s birth. And their proclamation was made to poor shepherds, not the wealthy and powerful elite. In the Bible, angels were seen as help from heaven (Psalm 91:11-12).

If you’ve ever received insight into a problem, felt oddly protected from harm, or sensed a vague spiritual nudge toward a specific direction, maybe the Lord’s angelic emissaries were at work and you were unaware.

In her book Walking on Water, the great writer Madeleine L’Engle observed, “We lose our ability to see angels as we grow up.” By this, she meant we live in a culture that encourages us to suppress our imaginations as we age. We do this in the name of cultural sophistication. We think it is charming to believe in (and claim to see) angels as little children. But as we grow, we are encouraged to put this enchanted nonsense behind us.

For all the gifts of the Enlightenment, its greatest liability was limiting any possibilities beyond what we can see through a microscope. Jesus once said that adults would do well to become like children if they are to enter the kingdom (Matt. 18:3). Maybe Jesus wasn’t talking about a future kingdom that will one day manifest but the kingdom that is now in our midst, which most adults no longer have eyes to see.

No wonder God sent Gabriel to a young girl (Luke 1:26–38)—a virgin would believe and receive the angel’s good news. Notice that when Gabriel visited the religious old man named Zechariah, he had a more difficult time believing and receiving the good news (vv. 11–20). As we age, we can lose our ability to spiritually see. We can close our souls to everything that cannot be scientifically explained. For instance, if an angel visited you today (in a dream or in a stranger or in a vision), would you be open to believing? Or would you explain it away?

From Genesis to Revelation, angels saturate the biblical narrative. Gabriel’s angelic presence on earth was not an outlier but perhaps the unseen norm made manifest. According to the Scriptures, angels could be anywhere. And in the Bible, we see them everywhere.

In the story of Abraham, angels became his guests (Gen. 18:2). Jacob wrestled with an angel all night (32:24). Through an angel, Daniel was given political wisdom (Dan. 10:10–14). John the Revelator fell prostrate after an angel visited him on the island of Patmos (Rev. 1:1). Angels gave directions to lowly shepherds under the evening sky (Luke 2:8–9). Angels ministered to Jesus in the desert after he vanquished Satan, an angel of darkness (Matt. 4:11).

Jesus said he could have called more than twelve legions of angels to his aid on the cross if he so desired (Matt. 26:53). And, of course, there is the mysterious line in the Book of Hebrews that encourages all of us to practice hospitality because those we serve may, in fact, be angels (Heb. 13:2).

In Matthew’s gospel alone, angels appear through dreams at least six times (1:20; 2:12, 13, 19, 22; 27:19). How profound that angels spoke not only to Jewish men such as Joseph but also, perhaps, to pagan women such as Pilate’s wife! God is everywhere (including in our sleep) and is desirous to speak with anyone open to listening, even those who are outside the faith.

A plain reading of Scripture reveals that angels fill the whole earth. As L’Engle reflects,

All the angelic host as they are described in Scripture, have a wild and radiant power that often takes us by surprise. They are not always gentle. They bar the entrance to Eden so that we may never return home. They send plagues upon the Egyptians. They are messengers of God. They are winds. They are flames of fire. They are young men dressed in white.

Perhaps it’s God’s provision that we are not yet fully aware of his omnipresence. Maybe, like with Wi-Fi, the overall input would crush us in our current physical state. When Gabriel appeared to the prophet Daniel while he was in a deep sleep, Daniel was terrified and afterward was “worn out [and] lay exhausted for several days” (8:27). It is no wonder that a glimpse of Gabriel sent shivers up Mary’s spine!

Not only do angels speak to humans, but also what their listeners choose to do with their instruction bears tremendous impact on our lives.

Consider the similarities and differences between Gabriel’s visits with Zechariah and his ones with Mary, for instance. After Gabriel spoke, both Zechariah and Mary asked follow-up questions. We should never interpret from Scripture that God is opposed to our questions. He knows we are finite beings. He is, however, opposed to a posture of narrow-mindedness. When we limit the possibilities of God’s revelation, our hearts close in.

Recall how Zechariah was silenced after he responded in unbelief to Gabriel’s prophesy about his aging wife Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist. Yet we might not see this as a punishment so much as an invitation for him to be still and open to new possibilities—his nine-month silencing was meant to expand his capacity for spiritual imagination. Mary, in stark contrast, immediately replied to Gabriel in a posture of openness: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38, ESV).

In short, to believe the Bible is to believe in angels. Sorry, secular humanism, but the world is enchanted with divine presence, chock-full of God stuff. Just as Jacob’s ladder found angels ascending and descending (Gen. 28:12), the realms of the heavens and of earth intricately overlap.

Do we live as if this is true? I don’t. I could rightfully be accused of living as if the world were devoid of divine presence and angelic activity. We occasionally hear testimonies of spiritual visitations, God moments, or the Holy Spirit moving in a worship gathering. But experiencing God’s presence occasionally on earth is not the biblical worldview.

The writer of Hebrews means to encourage us with the fact that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (that is, dead saints; see 12:1). So why not angels too? Maybe angels surround us every second of the day but exist in other frequencies or hidden dimensions just beyond our noticing. Angels are like ladders from God, connecting heaven and earth, and we should always live with the possibility of their presence in mind.

The possibility of enchantment might explain why fantasy authors like J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and J. K. Rowling grip us with their stories. Even some of the staunchest of atheists long to believe that there is more to the world than meets the eye. I think most people would like to believe that earth’s atmosphere is permeated with a presence greater than us.

The truth is, we inhabit a God-saturated earth. One of the divine names is Immanuel, meaning that God is with us. Despite the way we may feel at times, we have never been alone, we never are, and we never will be. God’s presence saturates the entire cosmos. Yet what Jacob said is true for us: The Lord is here, and we are often unaware. How might an increase of spiritual awareness to the presence of God—through angels or otherwise—affect our daily lives? Perhaps we, too, (like Mary) might become full of God’s empowering grace if our posture became that of surrendered servants.

In this spirit, perhaps Christians might add one additional verse to the iconic song of the late and great Louis Armstrong:

I see angels sing,
Miracles too.
The earth is imbued
And being renewed.
And I think to myself,
What a wonderful world.

What a wonderful, enchanted world, indeed!

Adapted from Rediscovering Christmas by AJ Sherrill. Copyright © 2024 by AJ Sherrill. Published by WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. Used by permission. ISBN: 9780593445532. Excerpted from pages 83-94.

AJ Sherrill is the pastor of Saint Peter’s Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and also teaches doctoral courses on preaching and the Enneagram at Fuller Theological Seminary.

The post Have Yourself an Enchanted Little Advent appeared first on Christianity Today.

On Sunday, the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad fell to a loose coalition of militant factions headed by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, once affiliated with al-Qaeda. Assad fled to Russia, and Syria’s prime minister welcomed the rebels. Golani promised that “Syria is for everyone” in a message directed to religious minorities.

Maybe—but rhetoric and reality may differ.

Joseph Kassab, general secretary of the Presbyterian Synod of Syria and Lebanon, told Christianity Today that some Christian leaders had defended the Assad regime as a bulwark of stability against jihadist rebels backed by regional governments.

Given rebel leader Golani’s past, Christians have reason for concern. Golani was affiliated with al-Qaeda in 2003 and has a $10 million bounty on his head as a US and United Nations designated terrorist. Though in 2013 he refused to integrate his militia into the caliphate-seeking Islamic State (ISIS), he said Syria must be ruled according to sharia law.

In 2016, Golani cut ties with al-Qaeda and the following year rebranded his group as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which in Arabic translates as “the organization for the liberation of Syria.” While Russia and Iran helped Assad stay in power and the US fought ISIS from its bases in the Kurdish northeast, affiliated rebel groups controlled only Idlib near the Syrian border with Turkey.

Golani violently consolidated power and then traded his military persona for a business suit. He told an American journalist in 2021 that his movement, if successful, posed no threat to the West. Golani has offered assurances to Christians in Syria, and yesterday churches were open. Many had decreased attendance.

Kassab said Syrian Christians focused on being productive citizens and promoting education, seeking to influence their nation slowly through ethical living and the demonstration of biblical values. Some joined the regime, he said, and benefited like all the others who supported it. “It is not the best way to live,” Kassab said, “but it was the best available.”

In Damascus, rebel leader Golani’s first public act was to enter the courtyard of the eighth-century Umayyad Mosque and declare his triumph a “victory for the Islamic nation.” In one neighborhood of winding alleys, The New York Times described Bab Sharqi as home to many Assad-supporting Christians, including how “Victor Dawli, 59, stood in his apartment’s entryway, a cigarette in hand. As a truck carrying Syrian rebels passed, Mr. Dawli waved. One fighter, clutching his rifle and hunched over in the bed of the truck, nodded in response.”  

Times reporters Christina Goldbaum and Hwaida Saad noted “a sense of unease in the neighborhood, as people here walked a tightrope. Some have kept their heads down and stayed inside their homes. Others like Mr. Dawli say they have secretly supported the rebels from the start of their offensive. … When one neighbor passed by, Mr. Dawli shouted to him: ‘Good morning, congratulations!’ The man gave him a blank stare, then hurried down a nearby alleyway.”

Harout Selimian, president of the Armenian Protestant Churches in Syria, is also uneasy. He told Christianity Today, “Any reduction in violence is a welcome step forward, but there is a lack of clarity over the opposition agenda.”

Yes, Syria’s 14-year-old civil war, which killed half a million people and displaced half of Syria’s population of 23 million, seems over. But who will emerge triumphant?

Presbyterian leader Kassab fears a Libya scenario, in which rival rebel factions fail in efforts to “share the cake” of their success and reignite an internal conflict. In 2011, Libya, like Syria, saw peaceful protests morph into a military struggle. But while Assad survived, Libyans killed Muammar Gaddafi and then turned on each other in civil war. Libya has been geographically divided in half ever since, with regional powers like Turkey and Egypt backing their favored parties.

The post After Assad: Jihad or Liberty? appeared first on Christianity Today.

For little Sam, it’s the perfect moment to play. Big, magical snowflakes are whirling outside, and she’s determined to build a snowman with her family.

But her mom is glued to a laptop. Her dad is distracted, too, talking on his phone. Sam’s older brother is absorbed in a video game.

Many parents can recognize this scene. But it isn’t just a slice of family life in the digital age—it’s the origin story behind the Legends of Evergreen Hills, Chick-fil-A’s kids’ show.

At the end of the short film, Sam’s family rediscovers quality time, and they build a snowman together. The message is simple: Spend meaningful time with the people you love, delighting in creation and each other, unmediated by screens or the digital shadow-world.

But it’s easy to imagine an alternate ending. What if, instead of trudging into the snow with their daughter, Sam’s parents had handed her a screen of her own—where she could, perhaps, explore cow-themed video games and wholesome TV shows on the couch next to her brother?

Chick-fil-A is telling more of Sam’s story, with a full series that aims to teach young viewers to be attentive and kind. But some Christian families and entertainment experts say how Chick-fil-A is sharing that story—with Chick-fil-A Play, a new streaming and gaming app for kids—undercuts its message. 

“The ways in which the app just adopts the existing business model of delivering content is not something that is particularly innovative or helpful to families,” said Felicia Wu Song, a cultural sociologist who studies how today’s families use technology.

Chick-fil-A states no fewer than five times in its press release that the app is intended to help families connect, suggesting that parents use it at home, in the car, during meals, and anywhere in between. 

A sampling: The app offers “new ways for families to have fun, connect and spend time together,” it is “designed for parents and kids to share and experience together,” it will feature “fun and unique content made to be shared both within the app and in-person,” and it will encourage families to “make the most of the moments they have with each other.”

The family-friendly messaging is familiar to Chick-fil-A loyalists (as is Evergreen Hills, whose animated clips have come up in Chick-fil-A’s commercials and restaurant app in recent years, especially around Christmas).

Founded by Christian businessman Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A has a long history of serving chicken alongside moral lessons. In the 1990s, kids’ meals came with Focus on the Family’s Adventures in Odyssey tapes. The chain has also offered VeggieTales CDs, a book series about Joseph, and books adapted from PBS’s Adventures from the Book of Virtues.

Evergreen Hills isn’t evangelizing viewers, though its episodes focus on virtues that overlap with Christianity. The app is also filled with wholesome content and plenty of reminders to be present with family members. It includes recipes, craft ideas, conversation starters, and prompts to play charades.

But parents may default to using this app not for connection but as a quick fix for restless children, who could be distracted by an animated show or a cow tractor-racing game long enough for parents to eat their waffle fries or send emails in peace.

Song told Christianity Today that the company’s goal of encouraging family time reminds her of other apps that are supposed to help with the most basic functions of life—such as apps to help people who feel overwhelmed by their digital devices to sleep or meditate. “There’s a strange way in which one looks to technology for deliverance from technology,” she said.

Song, author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age, said she hopes the app’s components like conversation starters can become natural enough for people to not need to rely on their devices at all. “It’s just going to get us past the friction point,” Song said. “And then hopefully we can have other resources, whether it’s from our community or a faith community.”

So far, the Chick-fil-A Play app has over 50,000 downloads (and mixed reviews) in Google Play and ranks 55th in the entertainment category the Apple App Store.

“Chick-fil-A is being really thoughtful about wanting to create a product that is about serving families rather than most everything else on the market, which is more escapist,” said Katelyn Walls Shelton—the most enthusiastic Chick-fil-A fan I know.

A mom of four young kids, Shelton hosted her twin sons’ birthday party at Chick-fil-A. During road trips, her family sometimes opts to do all three meals there. But she said she’s more likely to stick with the restaurant playgrounds rather than hand her kids the phone.

“That is what I think of as making the most of the moments with your family: sharing a meal together and playing together in the real world,” she said.

“The reality of the matter is that you’re using this app on a phone that is a personal device. As I found already with my children, it’s very difficult for them to play together because only one person gets to hold the phone.”

As screen time becomes more pervasive at meals, some Christians see it as distinctive for families to focus on each other rather than devices when they eat together.

“The church should be a space where that’s our norm,” said O. Alan Noble, professor at Oklahoma Baptist University and author of Disruptive Witness, which examines how to live faithfully in a distracted age. “We respect and love and recognize the dignity of each other so much, that when we eat meals, we are together, we are present, that we give each other attention, that we’re looking each other in the eyes, that we’re talking to one another.” 

As a parent, he said, he understands that’s not always possible—but it should be the goal. 

“There’s always going to be some excuse technology is going to offer to be away from the present moment, and it’s going to seem virtuous,” he said. “But the true virtuous thing to do is to be in the present moment with the people that you’re with.”

Still, some Christian parents have been looking for worry-free, wholesome entertainment for their kids to watch or their families to enjoy together, with Christian streamers coming up against free content on YouTube and media juggernauts like Disney.

Evergreen Hills on Chick-fil-A Play could be a start. Its first full episode states the show’s values outright: kindness, humility, compassion, perseverance, patience, sacrifice, and courage. 

The show’s “bespectacled, white-haired ‘Timekeeper’ character is a throwback to Whit in the brand’s first big success, Adventures in Odyssey,” Fast Company wrote in its preview of the app, “but whereas the action in the earlier series sometimes occurred in Sunday school class, and Whit’s ice cream store was located symbolically atop an old church, the new show contains all kinds of fantasy tropes … set to a dramatic score.”

One of Evergreen Hills’s executive producers is Aaron Johnston, a Mormon who serves as Chick-fil-A’s creative director for brand entertainment. Johnston was previously a showrunner for a sci-fi series on BYUtv, a family-friendly channel from Brigham Young University. 

“Nothing brings me greater happiness in this life than spending time with my wife and kids as we play and laugh and connect together,” he wrote on LinkedIn when the app launched last month. “I feel truly blessed to work for a company that recognizes that precious gift of time with loved ones and creates tools to help make it more meaningful.”

For VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer, there is value in presenting a show aligned with Christian values. If a fast-food company can create fun and meaningful moments for kids, he said he’s all for it.

Vischer remembered a conversation he had with philosopher Dallas Willard after VeggieTales:

“I wanted to take kids deeper into their faith than I ever did with VeggieTales. And I said, ‘I’m wondering how to teach kids Christianity, because I think all I did with VeggieTales was teach kids Christian values,’” he told CT. “And Dallas looked at me and said, ‘Well, isn’t that a part of Christianity?’”

The post Chick-fil-A Launches an App to Help Families Be Less Online appeared first on Christianity Today.

The Christmas story is not a story of peace and quiet but a tale of tumult and danger. 

It is the story of the Son sent of the Father into a harsh world, of a difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, of the magi travelling far from the East. It is a story of angelic visits; mass migration; murder; deceit; and finally, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fleeing for Egypt to save their lives. It is a story that barely lets us catch our breath. 

And it is within this peril that we find God working a surprising reversal that will be for the salvation of those “who were far away” as much as “those who were near” (Eph. 2:17)—the salvation of one of Israel’s oldest enemies alongside the holy family. God moves to Egypt to “say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people.’” And just as he promised, they come to respond, “You are my God” (Hos. 2:23; Rom. 9:23–25).

The story of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus running from the tyranny of King Herod appears in no one’s Nativity play. We leave it out of the front-lawn creche. It is found only in Matthew’s telling of Jesus’ birth (2:13–23), where it concludes an account of great violence: After learning of the impending birth of a new king in Bethlehem, Herod the Great flies into a fit of rage, ordering all the male infants in the area to be murdered (2:16–18). Wailing mothers add their voices to the songs of the angels, and the young family, having been warned by an angel of this impending disaster, flees south. They remain in Egypt until after Herod dies (2:13–15, 19–20). 

This is a curious story, for consider where Jesus and his family go: They escape the massacre by returning not to their hometown but to Egypt, where Israel’s national history began. It was in Egypt that the people of God were told the name of God (Ex. 3:14), that Moses came to them, that events began which culminated in God’s giving of the Law. 

Egypt was not, in the Old Testament, a place of respite, even if its leeks and onions were delightful and its food delicious (Num. 11:5). And yet, the one who fulfilled the Law leaves the land of promise and is carried into Egypt. It is a surprising turn of events that the land which oppressed Israel now becomes a haven for Israel’s Messiah. 

To be sure, Egypt was the place of refuge for Jacob’s family before it was the place of their enslavement. And it was often Egypt with whom early Israel traded and made alliances (1 Kings 3:1). But Egypt in the Old Testament was also symbolic of the empires of the world. It was a people destined for destruction, the nation that attacked Israel in the days of Rehoboam (2 Chron. 12:2). Both Isaiah (20:3–4) and Ezekiel (29:12) warn against trusting Egypt. 

The holy family’s flight to Egypt inaugurated a change in Egypt’s relationship to God and his people. In the first few centuries after Christ, Egypt became one of the most important centers of early Christianity. 

Legend has it that Saint Mark came to Alexandria, Egypt, as early as AD 41, inaugurating the church there. In the decades that followed, Alexandria was the center of debate over Christ’s divinity, a conversation that led to the first great churchwide council in Nicaea in AD 325. Egypt was also the epicenter of early Christian desert monasticism. The early diocese of Egypt helped support Christianity across North Africa, and it was the home of Athanasius, Origen, Anthony, and Cyril—titans of early Christianity. Today, Egypt remains home to one of the oldest Christian traditions, the Coptic church.

The moment when the holy family flees as refugees into Egypt turns a page in God’s story. No longer is Egypt only the land where Israel was enslaved and false gods trounced. It is now the land that has sheltered the infant Christ, honored as the first among the Gentiles to welcome the Messiah. 

This part of the Christmas story gives us a new perspective on how God works: across millennia, not minutes or days or even years. For the arc of history is long and bends toward the redemption not only of Israel but also of Egypt and of all who call upon the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:13). God is not slow in keeping his promises as some count slowness (2 Pet. 3:9). In Christmas, we see the promises of history coming to pass, including the promise that Israel would be a blessing to all the nations (Gen. 12:4).

That the villain of the Old Testament would become a hero in the New Testament is emblematic of the Christian hope. We hope for just this kind of surprise, that stories moving in one direction might yet have a different, better ending. We hope without ceasing that God’s great patience will provide time for the Holy Spirit to bring forth the church in all places. We hope that broken relationships will not always be broken, that by God’s mercy our political despair might contain the seeds of renewal. We hope for Esau to reconcile with Jacob, for the Prodigal Son to return home, for the cedars of Lebanon and the Temple Mount to be at peace again. 

Christian hope does not mean setting aside good judgment or being dishonest about the past but trusting that our enemies too will enjoy being part of God’s good story. It does not mean setting aside reckoning of wrongs or forgetting the Exodus. It means telling a fuller and better story in which Egypt is also the cradle of Christian monasticism, hermeneutics, and preaching. It means telling the full truth of our enemies: that they too are beloved of God, that God has plans for them of which we do not know, that he is moving among them in ways which we cannot always see in full. 

As we approach Christmas, let this kind of biblical hope work itself into our imagination. Let us remember that Egypt rescues the Lord, that Assyria repents at Jonah’s preaching, that the Gentiles lay down their idols and come to the church. There will be many opportunities in the New Year to tell a partial truth about our enemies. But the good news we see in Matthew 2 is that the ones who enslaved Israel have become the first among the Gentiles to welcome the incarnate Son. 

Myles Werntz is author of From Isolation to Community: A Renewed Vision for Christian Life Together. He writes at Christian Ethics in the Wild and teaches at Abilene Christian University.

The post Egypt’s Redemption—and Ours appeared first on Christianity Today.

Only 1 percent of the people in Serbia are Protestant, and only a small portion of them are evangelical. But social anthropologist Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović believes they have had an outsize impact in the country through effective social support and by bridging ethnic divisions.

Milovanović, a principal research fellow of the Institute for Balkan Studies at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, has studied minority religious groups in Serbia and Romania for more than 15 years. Her internationally known work has included explorations of the migration of persecuted religious minorities, as well as renewal movements in the Orthodox church and interreligious dialogue.

The Balkans, a region in Southeast Europe, faced significant changes after the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991. That country divided into six independent republics: Serbia (including the now-disputed region of Kosovo), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Slovenia, and Montenegro. The Balkans also include Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Albania. Catholics, Orthodox, and Muslims are the predominant religious groups.

Milovanović’s research interests were shaped by her upbringing in the region of Banat, which straddles the Serbian-Romanian border and has a very multiethnic and multireligious composition. She noticed that religious minority groups were often stigmatized, especially in public discourse.

“In my research in the Balkans, I have noticed that fear of evangelicals is a dominant discourse,” she said. “It is less prevalent than in the previous century, but there is still lack of knowledge about who evangelicals are, what they believe, and how they contribute to society.”

In her view, sources of this fear include the intertwining of religious and national identity in Serbia, the perception of evangelicalism as an imported faith from outside the Serbian tradition, and the tendency to brand groups of evangelicals as sects or cults due to their efforts to attract converts from dominant faith traditions.

Milovanović believes that scholarly work and friendly dialogue can allay those fears. She pursues practical application of her scholarship as a fellow and project coordinator of the Network for Dialogue in KAICIID, an international, multifaith dialogue center based in Europe, where she is engaged in projects that tackle social inclusion, hate speech, and discrimination.

CT spoke with Milovanović about how evangelicalism developed in Serbia and how evangelicals can grow their influence in the region.

What is the history of evangelicals in Serbia?

Protestants have been permitted in what is now the northern part of Serbia since 1781, but the first evangelicals were Nazarenes [an Anabaptist group, not connected to the Nazarene denomination that arose later in the US] who came from Switzerland around the 1860s. Their growth was related to the British Bible Society’s translation of the Bible into the languages of different ethnic groups in northern Serbia. The society had Bible distributors who traveled by horse to areas where the Baptists and Nazarenes were active.

At this time, the Serbian Orthodox church still used the Old Slavonic language in worship, and the people couldn’t understand the liturgy or what the priest was saying. In contrast, evangelical churches held services in each community’s local language, enabling even illiterate people to hear the Bible.

Evangelicals brought a small revolution to Serbia in terms of literacy and Bible knowledge. They introduced hymn singing and community participation in worship. The first Nazarene hymnbook, containing mostly Lutheran songs, was translated from German into Serbian by a famous national poet Jovan Jovanović Zmaj. When the Orthodox criticized him for doing so, he responded that it would not harm anyone because the songs were all about Christian love and respect.

Evangelicals were revolutionary in another important respect: They were multiethnic and multilingual. Back then, not only was religion closely tied to ethnicity, but interethnic marriages were uncommon. Evangelicals faced many challenges during the Communist period in Yugoslavia, which significantly influenced their decisions to emigrate in search of religious freedom. In my recent book, I focus on the Nazarenes, who were severely persecuted under communism due to their pacifism. Their story is an example of resilience and preservation of evangelical identity in a minority religious community.

How did evangelical relief efforts make an impact during the Bosnian War of 1992 to 1995 and since then?

When Serbia was receiving refugees coming from Bosnia and Croatia during the war, many evangelical humanitarian organizations, with support from the West, provided aid. People remember how they received support from evangelical churches.

Most famous were the efforts of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). During the siege of Sarajevo, ADRA was the only faith-based organization that could deliver aid, because it was perceived as not divided along ethnic lines. ADRA representatives were very important messengers in this tragic time because they delivered letters between Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia for families divided by war. It was the only way family members could tell each other that they were alive. Even today, people say that “ADRA saved our lives.”

In recent years, evangelicals have assisted refugees from the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as homeless people, especially Roma communities in Serbia. Many evangelical relief agencies are part of larger transnational networks, which enables members of the evangelical diaspora from Serbia to be involved in various forms of humanitarian aid and assistance. Evangelicals also organize values-based activities for both evangelical and nonevangelical youth, and many of them make economic contributions as small business operators.

Do you see this humanitarian work attracting people to evangelical churches?

In some contexts, evangelical humanitarian work does lead to increased participation, especially among marginalized minority groups such as the Roma. It is remarkable how many Roma have become Pentecostals. Pentecostal churches actively welcome Roma, offering a sense of community and acceptance, which is different from the Roma’s general experience as a socially excluded group. There is a large Roma Pentecostal church in the city of Leskovac, with gifted musicians and livestreamed services.

Evangelicals are also playing a significant role with older people in smaller villages, bringing them together to provide a sense of belonging and support. Relative to the Orthodox churches, evangelicals have a more personal approach that goes beyond holding weekend services, with a greater set of activities during the week.

We are, unfortunately, witnessing many conflicts in the world nowadays, and people live in fear of another war and with tension and anxiety about tomorrow. Post-conflict societies have a special atmosphere. Evangelical communities often offer community support and a sense of solidarity. In my research, faith-based organizations have played a key role in addressing urgent humanitarian needs, such as the large number of refugees coming to the Balkans from the Middle East in 2015. Their specific approach and transnational networks facilitated a much more immediate response to those in need.

How do you believe evangelical minorities in other countries could contribute more positively to and gain greater respect in their societies?

Evangelicals can become more active in intra-Christian dialogue. I am very pleased when I see collaboration between evangelical pastors and Orthodox priests in the interfaith gatherings I organize. Prejudices toward the religious “other” are overcome through dialogue.

Evangelicals sometimes avoid interfaith dialogue because they do not understand its value or how they could contribute to such dialogues from a minority perspective. Scholars like me can help to provide an educational space where people can come together and learn about each other.

Evangelicals can also contribute to raising public awareness about the stigmatization of minority groups. They can talk about religious freedom and resilience because they have navigated difficult years of state oppression or nonacceptance by the dominant faith groups.

One important methodology is to visit different religious communities. I am developing various interfaith programs where we visit faith-group locations and talk with religious leaders. Without that personal experience, dialogue sounds very abstract. If you have a good facilitator who can engage members of the religious community in this way, you can create dialogue in such a way that they don’t even realize that is what they are doing.

Evangelical groups here are not active politically, or if they are, we do not see them speaking openly as evangelicals. But in recent years, many evangelical pastors have been trying to speak a more universal language, especially among youth, and to address broader societal issues. For example, they may address human trafficking or the rise of hate speech. In these ways, their visibility is seen as having more purpose.

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One evangelical who effectively speaks a universal language is Nick Vujicic, an Australian American inspirational speaker of Serbian descent and Nazarene background. People all over the world admire his faith and how he overcame obstacles despite being born without limbs.  

Many evangelicals are hesitant about interfaith dialogue because they do not want to endorse non-Christian religious views.

The purpose of dialogue is to move you out from your comfort zone into a space of growth and understanding where you learn about the other. Interaction with the other brings a change to you. That doesn’t mean that you convert to their view but that you understand and respect it. To be able to understand and respect others, you need to know them. And you can’t know them if you don’t actively listen to them.

What other patterns have you seen in evangelical influence in Serbia?

One of my students is writing his thesis on the development of entrepreneurship in the Seventh-day Adventist church. Many Adventists have become entrepreneurs because, as they are not supposed to work on Saturdays, it is difficult for them to find jobs. We are seeing a link between evangelical membership, willingness to work hard, and success in business. Max Weber’s Protestant work ethic is very much alive in Serbia!

Evangelicals as religious minorities carry stories of resilience that defy centuries of erasure. These stories have often been silenced beneath layers of prejudice. Their journey is not just about survival; it’s about the right to exist authentically. The experiences of evangelicals as religious minorities challenge mainstream narratives and encourage a rethinking of minority communities as active contributors to society rather than as marginal. The patterns of evangelical influence in Serbia reveal their [evangelicals’] resilient nature and their ability to adapt to societal changes.

Evangelicals in Serbia are showing how minority groups can be a driving force in any society. It doesn’t matter how big you are; what matters is the positive change you are bringing in the lives of people.

The post In the Divided Balkans, Evangelicals Are Tiny in Number, but Mighty appeared first on Christianity Today.

I grew up in a Christian family in Da Nang, Vietnam, and was not exposed to shamanistic practices. But my Hmong students have experienced this. One student shared that her father, a new believer, once fell ill and sought a shaman for help.

The shaman talked to a spirit that only he could see. He told her father that three evil spirits were possessing his body and that he could only be freed if he offered three boiled animals—a chicken, pig, and cow—to that spirit. Her father did so and recovered in a few days. Later, my student asked me, “Did the power of God or that of the shaman heal my father?”

Shamanism in Vietnam is rooted in the worship of nature and the spirit world. The origin of shamanism in the country is not documented. Scholars assume that it arose from Daoism (Taoism) over the course of thousands of years and then became part of folk beliefs.

Today, shamanism is most commonly practiced in worshiping the Mother Goddess (Mẫu), an agricultural folk religion that imbues natural elements with divine power, such as protection from disasters. During the lên đồng ritual, a female medium dressed in bright clothing, or a male shaman who puts on makeup and wears women’s clothes, is often possessed by a spirit and performs sacred dances. The worship ceremony is occasionally conducted in the Mẫu temple for a group of 20 to 40 people, providing a space for devotees to connect with the spirit and pray for protection and good fortune.

Other forms of shamanism also vary among ethnic minorities, like the Sán Dìu in Quảng Ninh province or the Lô Lô in Cao Bằng province, where a shaman is a powerful person in the village who performs ritual acts to heal the sick, rebuke evil spirits, and assure protection.

In 2016, UNESCO recognized worship of the Mother Goddess as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Vietnam’s government has taken some measures to promote this religion, as it is perceived as an important part of Vietnamese folk culture because it involves a combination of music, dance, art, and history telling. It helps to maintain and transfer traditional values, such as cultural integration and living in harmony, ​​from generation to generation.

Vietnamese people continue to hold to a shamanistic ideology. They believe in a spirit world that simultaneously exists with the real world. To connect with and discover the unknown, people believe they need a shaman. Their gods and ancestors can help them solve difficult problems and protect them from negative forces, such as evil spirits and restless souls.

This can be helpful in evangelism, as the exorcisms that evangelicals, especially Pentecostals, perform in Vietnam are often perceived as shamanistic acts by people who go to pastors to seek special healing or deliverance from demons.

However, the way that believers conceptualize their theology may also reflect their folk beliefs. For example, some Christians have an idea of God as an omnipresent and omniscient judge. They also may view God as a genie in a lamp who will grant people what they want, and they may get frustrated if that does not happen.

To some extent, church has become a place where people ask for healing, wealth, and luck. While Christians don’t participate in worshiping the Mother Goddess, as it is considered idolatrous, they often favor listening to powerful preachers who possess the gift of healing.

The idea of inner healing has also become popular recently, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Young people, including believers, are increasingly interested in mindfulness therapy, soul care, and yoga as a means of dealing with depression, anxiety, and other stressors—similar to shamanism’s emphasis on connecting with nature. 

These practices are neutral exercises for mental and physical health if they are not attached to worshiping a particular divine entity or forging a connection with a spirit. Christians, however, should know that God is their only source of healing. Church leaders and pastors can generate more dialogue and discussion on biblical perspectives of healing and examine these practices in light of the Bible.

Vietnamese Christians can also relate to the story of Saul asking a medium to call Samuel’s spirit from the dead in 1 Samuel 28. In Vietnamese culture, such summoning rituals often occur during the New Year or on death anniversaries as people seek to discern what their family member’s last will or unfinished wishes are. Some pastors explain that God allowed the conversation between Saul and Samuel to happen because they speak directly to each other, not through a medium.

Saralen Tran is a Christian education lecturer at Hanoi Bible College. Read more in our series’ lead article, Shamans, Sorcerers, and Spirits: How Christians in Asia Grapple with the Supernatural.

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Shamanism in Thailand has roots in ancient animism, predating Buddhism and Hinduism. Animism involves belief in supernatural beings and forces that influence lives and the natural order. In this context, shamanism centers on interactions with spirits to affect people’s well-being.

Today, shamanism exists within Thailand’s unique blend of Buddhism, Hinduism, and animistic traditions. Buddhist monks and Hindu priests can interact with spirits but do not invite possession. Shamans, by contrast, actively participate in possession, making their role distinct in Thai spirituality.

Thai society respects shamans, known as mo phi, because their work addresses life’s practical and spiritual concerns. They are valued community figures and respected spiritual guides who influence spirits to prevent harm and promote health, prosperity, and peace.

These practices endure in modern Thailand because they fulfill deep-rooted needs for health, safety, prosperity, and well-being. By addressing challenges that modern medicine cannot resolve, shamanism remains relevant. Such practices are especially prevalent in rural areas where rituals are held to influence spirits, meeting community needs and maintaining the role of shamanism in daily life.

Shamanism’s influence has an interesting overlap with the growth of Christianity in Thailand, especially within Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. These Christian groups address needs like health and security, which align with shamanistic goals. By offering assurance and a sense of peace through prayer and healing, these movements resonate with Thai cultural values. The shared focus on meeting practical life needs has allowed Christianity to attract individuals who are practicing shamanism or who might otherwise turn to shamanism.

Shamanistic beliefs have also subtly shaped Thai evangelical theology, particularly in the understanding of God and healing. Shamanism preserves the idea of a relational supernatural being, making the Christian concept of a personal, approachable God accessible to Thai Christians. Furthermore, the emphasis on healing within shamanistic practices aligns with Thai Christians’ belief in divine restoration for health and well-being, enhancing the appeal of Christian healing ministries.

The Thai church formally rejects spirit-based practices, like tying thread around one’s wrist to bring a wandering soul back to one’s body, but recognizes the spiritual orientation in Thai culture. Consequently, Pentecostal and charismatic churches emphasize experiences like healing and exorcism, aligning with the cultural expectations of Thai Christians. Although these practices aren’t directly influenced by shamanism, they reflect an awareness of the spiritual framework of Thai society, making the church’s message accessible and relevant.

Thai people like using symbols to denote their beliefs, and this can also be helpful in evangelism. While most churches in Thailand refrain from using candles due to their association with shamanistic rituals, lighting candles during a funeral can symbolize the light of God and provide Thais with a more concrete understanding of the gospel.

In my ministry, I’ve encountered the challenges of engaging with shamanistic practices. In one experience, a woman named Noi faced serious consequences for converting to Christianity. Her family, adherents of the Tiet spirit, blamed her faith for sicknesses in the family and pressured her to perform rituals to appease the spirit. She was later expelled from the clan.

In another case, during a baptism by the Mekong River, a shaman claimed that the guardian spirit of the area opposed the Christian baptism ritual and planned to kill the new believer about to be baptized. When a snake appeared at the planned baptism site, the shaman claimed that the guardian spirit had caused it to show up to chase the believers away to another location. Later, a villager drowned at the first baptism site, which the shaman attributed to the spirit’s anger.

These incidents underscore the need for deep discipleship for Thai Christians, who often face spiritual and social pressures. Bible passages like Deuteronomy 18:9–13, where God forbids occult practices, and Ephesians 6:10–20, which talks about putting on the full armor of God, discourage shamanistic rituals and advise reliance solely on God for guidance and protection. For Thai believers, these verses reinforce that security is found in God, helping them navigate a context rich in spirit-based traditions.

Chansamone Saiyasak is the president of Mekong Evangelical Mission. Read more in our series’ lead article, Shamans, Sorcerers, and Spirits: How Christians in Asia Grapple with the Supernatural.

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Shamanism in Taiwan is thriving because folk religion is thriving. Folk religion is not just a religion in Taiwan; it is part of an accepted worldview. Participating in shamanistic rituals is quite popular in both rural areas and urban centers.

I grew up in downtown Taipei and visited temples several times a week before I became a Christian. I never sought physical healing or experienced possession, but I watched my cousins and friends experience these things.

For example, long lines are normal at Xingtian Temple, located near the heart of Taipei. On one visit four years ago, I saw 50 to 100 people lining up to receive healing, a blessing, or some other ritual from two shamans. A young adult who looked to be around 20 years old appeared to be having a demon driven out by a female shaman. He shook profusely as she chanted. Most of the chant sounded like gibberish to me, but there were a few other shamans reciting what looked like Laozi’s Daodejing behind them.

Seeing a shaman is generally accepted in Taiwan because it is done out of practicality. If a person is believed to be tormented by a ghost, shamanistic rituals are seen as the fastest and most common way to get rid of it. In a land that accepts ghosts, spirits, and demons as part of normal living, shamanism is also a regular part of life. It’s not strange for someone to say that they went to a shaman to deal with an unwelcome spirit.

Taiwanese people who seek help from a shaman are not morally depraved. Neither are they desperate people who are willing to go to any lengths to attain something. Their attitude toward shamanism is no different than someone choosing a hammer from Home Depot: “The hammer works, it’s a reputable store, and it offers a fair price, so it’s good enough for me.”

Many shamanistic practices in Taiwan enlist the help of demons in the spirit world. In this sense, I highly discourage any participation in such rituals. Yet when we ignore shamanism’s real presence and strong impact in Taiwan, we risk losing both Christians and non-Christians. This is because shamanism answers daily concerns that the church does not address, particularly in the “middle realm” of ghosts, spirits, and dead ancestors according to American missiologist Paul Hiebert.

Taiwanese Christians can promote James 5 healing specifically as an alternative to shamanistic rituals for both healing and spirit possession. As Scripture says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (James 5:14–15).

In Taipei, a large and growing Christian community is Bread of Life Christian Church. The Pentecostal congregation regularly holds prayer and healing services. When people are healed in those church services, it is celebrated and adds to God’s renown, as he is seen to work efficaciously through these church ministers.

When Taiwanese people believe they are possessed by ghosts, they now have an alternative to the shamans at Xingtian Temple. They can visit Christian ministers, who can cast out ghosts or bring healing just as effectively. To the average Taiwanese person, it doesn’t matter whether the ritual is done in the name of Jesus or the name of Holy Emperor Guan; the most important thing is that it works.

Shamanistic ideas or practices have shaped the contours of Taiwanese theology in evangelical circles and beyond. When shamans down the street are driving out ghosts and speaking to spirits, churches are compelled to develop a richer angelology and demonology that could answer questions about these entities. Likewise, when people turn to folk-religion rituals for physical and spiritual healing, churches theologize more fully on what healing looks like in a Christian context.

Tony Chuang is the author of Religiosity and Gospel Transmission: Insights from Folk Religion in Taipei. Read more in our series’ lead article, Shamans, Sorcerers, and Spirits: How Christians in Asia Grapple with the Supernatural.

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In the last decade, shamanism has undergone a revival in South Korea, particularly among younger generations, which are moving away from institutional religions. While not entirely supplanting traditional institutional religions, shamans offer personalized, one-on-one counseling that appeals to younger Koreans.

This resurgence is evident in popular culture, as seen in the highly successful 2024 film Exhuma and reality TV like Possessed Love, a dating show featuring good-looking shamans. Such shows offer a modernized and sophisticated portrayal of young shamans. Unlike traditional institutional religions, shamans have become accessible spiritual consultants, equipped with an approachable and nonauthoritarian image.

Shamanism represents one of the most ancient forms of religion in Korea. Its date of origin is unclear, but it was around the Three Kingdoms Period and before Buddhism arrived in the sixth century.

Shamanistic rituals, like communicating with dead souls, were regarded as obscene and vulgar in the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910) and continued to face stigmatization during the postcolonial era. Despite this public stigma, shamanism has maintained its significance in private spheres and is increasingly recognized as a distinctive Korean cultural heritage. Notably, shamanism exists outside official religious statistics in Korea. Many nominally nonreligious Koreans acknowledge spiritual entities and engage in Buddhist or shamanistic practices.

The relationship between shamanism and Korean Christianity reflects traditional gender roles in the Korean religious landscape. Since the establishment of the Chosŏn dynasty, shamanism and Buddhism were relegated to the private female sphere of the household and pushed out of public life. Despite persecution, both traditions persisted privately, largely practiced by women fulfilling customary spiritual duties. This pattern continues in Korean Christianity, where women’s religious roles center on practices for family success and health.

This traditional female engagement with spiritual entities has shaped, whether consciously or unconsciously, Korean evangelicals’ understanding and sensitivity toward spiritual beings. Among Korean evangelicals, the concept of spiritual warfare is not merely abstract but representative of the tangible interference of evil spirits in their daily lives. This awareness of these evil spirits is supplemented by the contemporary revival of shamanism.

One example of this spiritual sensitivity is found in revival meetings called simnyŏng puhŭnghoe. Since the 1970s, these gatherings have emphasized healing practices reminiscent of traditional shamanistic rituals, as noted by James Huntley Grayson in Korea: A Religious History. The healing prayer, where revivalists known as puhŭngsa lay hands on believers, demonstrates a clear connection to shamanism’s strong tradition of therapeutic rituals. In addition, there is a prevalent belief that the spiritual authority of the person performing such a prayer can lead to more powerful divine responses.

An extension of this practice can be found in a hall of prayer, or kidowŏn. Some churches have built large prayer facilities on mountains, which are traditionally recognized by shamans as a spiritually rich environment. Shamans often bring their clients to the mountains to perform rituals there, because this location is viewed as more efficacious than the shaman’s own shrine. This also influenced the development of sangkido (“mountain prayer”) culture among Korean Christians, which involves praying outdoors or praying while holding onto trees as a sign of strong devotion to God.

Korean shamanism fundamentally conflicts with Christian theology, particularly as articulated in Deuteronomy 18:9–18, which explicitly warns against mediums, spiritists, and those who consult the dead. These practices are central to the role of Korean shamans, who, as spirit mediums, communicate with the dead and resolve spiritual issues by invoking the power of strong deities. 

While shamanism has helped to grow an awareness of spiritual beings in Korean society and has become trendy among young Koreans, it is ultimately opposed to God’s commands. Churches can address the allure of shamanism in their congregations by showing young people who Jesus is and what he has done. Most churches talk about Jesus as God, but they do not emphasize his humanity as much or his actions on earth, like pursuing justice and helping the poor.

Yohong Roh is an instructor of religious studies at Louisiana State University. Read more in our series’ lead article, Shamans, Sorcerers, and Spirits: How Christians in Asia Grapple with the Supernatural.

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