In this article, we examine the evangelical movement during the 12th and 13th centuries. In the Middle Age, during these centuries, the evangelical movement, which tried to obey the teachings of the Gospel, saw its most powerful expression.
Among various forms of evangelical movements from peoples of diverse classes, we focus on two kinds of people: Waldensians, “heretics” of the medieval church, who separated themselves from the church by criticizing and resisting the institutional church, and the mendicant friars, who aimed at returning to the apostolic tradition within the church.
All these evangelical movements show that they placed an evangelical value to poverty. In other words, for those who wanted to live according to the teachings of the gospel, poverty was the first practice and the effective symbol of evangelical awakening. Thomas Aquinas, representative theologian who showed theological reflection on this evangelical poverty, says that the voluntary poverty is the first basis on the way to the perfection of Christian life. This is because the perfection of human life is the union with God, which is the ultimate goal of the humanity and because the love of wealth decreases the love of God.
We find that the medieval evangelical movement challenges the evangelicals today, especially those in the Korean church. The essence of the evangelical spirit shown through the evangelical movement is the unlimited obedience to the words and the acceptance of the voluntary poverty as the condition of apostolic life. This can be summarized as discipleship(sequela Christi). We believe that we can take significant lessons and insights from the emphasis on the discipleship which is a characteristic of the medieval evangelicalism. We think so in view of the context of the Korean church, where she emphasizes on sola gratia but where the sequela Christi can hardly be found. If anyone truly believes in the forgiveness of sins through the redemption of Christ and the gospel that means the eternal grace of salvation, he or she cannot but follow Christ; the Gospel can’t be separated from the discipleship.

• 손은실(장로회신학대학교) | Son, Eunsil