The “Hidden Christians” or Kakure Kirishitan went underground in the 17th century when the Tokugawa shogunate repressed Christianity from 1638 until the ban was lifted in 1873. In response, many Christian believers modified their spiritual practices to resemble Buddhist ones on a surface level, but which held hidden Christian meaning.

Depictions of the Virgin Mary modeled on the Buddhist deity Kannon (Avalokiteśvara), goddess of mercy, were known as "Maria Kannon". The prayers were adapted to sound like Buddhist chant, yet retained many untranslated words from Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish. The Bible and other parts of the liturgy were passed down orally, because printed works could be confiscated by authorities.

Approximately 30,000 secret Christians came out of hiding in 1873 after the Meiji Restoration. The Kakure Kirishitan became known as Mukashi Kirishitan or 'ancient Christians.' Some Kakure Kirishitan did not rejoin the Catholic Church and became known as the Hanare Kirishitan or 'separated Christians' and live on the Gotō Islands. Today, there are less than 100 Hidden Christians left on the island of Ikitsuki in Nagasaki, down from 10,000 in the 1940s.

In this episode, Christine Leong interviewed me to explain what I discovered about these “Hidden Christians”.

I have heard of Malta but knew very little about this speck of rock between Europe and Africa. Until I visited this crossroads of Afro-Euro maritime civilization.

Western civilization is inextricably linked to Christianity. Although Jesus never left Israel and did not leave us any writings, Paul wrote half of the New Testament and traveled across the Roman Empire covering three sides of the Mediterranean Sea. Both Christianity and western civilization were shaped by Paul. It is impossible to understand Europe, the Americas, Australasia as well as much of Africa and Asia without a basic knowledge of Paul’s travels and thoughts.

In AD 60, Paul was shipwrecked and imprisoned in Malta. But his 3 month stay led to Malta becoming the first European community to embrace Christianity. Modern archaeology affirms this account. Today, Malta has 360 churches for a population of just 500,000 residents.

In October, I traced the Footsteps of Paul in Malta and visited St Paul’s Grotto, the cave where the Apostle was under arrest.

St. Augustine wrote that Christianity is FAITH SEEKING UNDERSTANDING.

With the benefit of the science and technology of archaeology, we can separate the facts from fictions of faith. This is how Thinking Things Through leads to a Faith that Seeks Understanding.

This episode features a tribute to one of Ron’s mentors, Samuel H. Moffett of Princeton. Moffett was born inPyongyang, Korea to a missionary family. He was a pioneer in documenting the story of Christianity east of Jerusalem, in Asia. Sam passed away in 2015 at the age of 99.

This 10-minute episode captures Sam Moffett’s influence on Ron’s thought.

This episode features a tribute to one of Ron's teachers, Lamin Sanneh of Yale. Prof. Sanneh was born into a Muslim family in West Africa, converted to Christianity and spent his entire academic life investigating Christian-Muslim relations.

Ron was among his students at Yale from 2000-2002. He died suddenly in 2019. This 10-minute episode recalls Sanneh’s deep influence of Ron's thinking.

In this podcast, Ron traced the history of Egypt alongside the biblical accounts of five men, all of whom spent some time living in Egypt. From Abraham to Jesus, the deep connections between Egypt and Christianity show us the God behind religions we are familiar with. The 1700-year interval between Abraham to Jesus shows why learning geohistorical contexts that span their lifetimes clarifies the different biblical writers’ intents and concerns.

Finally, his interdisciplinary reflections acknowledge the contributions of the modern sciences and technologies, with tools that detect, measure and reveal the geohistorical contexts of Christianity’s sacred scriptures.

Join Ron on this trip report to the land of pyramids and mummies, where he explored how ancient Egypt’s beliefs about Judgement Day, Resurrection, and being Born Again into the Afterlife, shaped their beliefs about God. The archaeological, historical, and scientific discoveries show that Egypt influenced the Hebrew, Greek and Roman cultures, forming the bedrock of modern Christianity. 

Thinking is based on Claims, Knowledge + Belief (CKB). Claims inform our knowledge, knowledge shapes our beliefs, and beliefs influence our what we think. What we think about God have real consequences for our lives.

In this episode, Dr. Ron Choong shares his reflections of a recent trip to the biblical land of Midian in Saudi Arabia. This is where, according to the Bible, Moses met his wife and his father-in-law, Jethro. Four key sites of significance to the story of Moses are mentioned: Al Bad (Midian), Wadi Tayyib al Islam (Moses’ Landing Spot), Magna (Springs of Moses), and Jabal Maqlah (Mount Sinai and the Golden Calf Site).

Why do interpretations of the Moses' Trail vary so greatly between Christianity and Islam? Interpretations are dynamic and shaped by new knowledge (science). His visit reminded him that:

Claims to truth must be scrutinized for veracity. It is okay to ask “How do you know?”

Knowledge as authority should always be checked for its truth.

Beliefs about God must be open to revision when the basis for such beliefs are untenable.

The Bible is often seen as a Jewish book from Israel. In fact, its origins have as much to do with the Ancient Near East. The Bible would not exist without the emergence of writing, a signal achievement of the Babylonians.

In this episode, Ron introduces his latest book, Ancient Near East in the Bible: Treasures from the Metropolitan Museum with Danny Lee and Christine Leong. In the book, he connects the dots to show the significance of ancient religious beliefs through biblically relevant artifacts from the Met Museum. Listen to the conversation.

The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu.com