오문환의 『도마스牧師傳』과 토마스의 ‘순교’ 문제 검토

Abstract

This paper presents an investigation into the last scene of R. J. Thomas, who was a missionary known as the first “martyr” in the Protestant history of Korea, with a focus on the content of Life of R. J. Thomas by Oh Moon-Hwan. The last scene of R. J. Thomas known to people today is all from Life of R. J. Thomas, in which the author saw Thomas and Choi Nan-heon as two different people, arguing that it was Thomas that tried to spread the Gospels till his last moment and that it was Choi that was tied and executed. There is, however, no doubt whatsoever that Thomas and Choi are the same figure, which shakes the foundation of Life of R. J. Thomas. Considering the situations involved, it is also difficult to believe that he threw the Bible to the mob by the riverside from the bow or handed the Bible to the soldier that was about to execute him. There is no one including the investigator that raises a doubt about his devoted passion and his faith to even risk his life for martyrdom for the evangelization of Joseon, but that does not suffice as a sufficient condition to regard him as a martyr. If one is victimized for his or her faith or missionary works, he or she can be called a martyr even though he or she did not intend to risk his or her life for martyrdom. If one is victimized for reasons other than his or her faith or missionary works, he or she can hardly be called martyr even though he or she intended to risk his or her life for martyrdom. R. J. Thomas seems to fall in the latter category.