The Missionary Book

Today's feast of the Korean Martyrs always reminds me of the story of the evangelization of Korea, the mission without a missionary. The Church in Korea was founded by a book. Or, rather, by a group of philosophers (in the truest sense of the word, "lovers of wisdom"). Looking to China for that wisdom, they came upon a book about Christianity, written in Chinese. In that book, they heard the word of God, and they acted on it, sending one of their number to China to learn more. Within a generation, Korean Christians were being martyred for that.