The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    INTERVIEWKorean adoptee in Germany reunites with birth family after 42 years

  • 3

    Korea to start mass production of KF-21 in 2024

  • 5

    Will exempting foreign nannies from minimum wage boost Korea's birth rate?

  • 7

    Kim Min-gyu, Go Bo-gyeol bid farewell to 'The Heavenly Idol'

  • 9

    Daughter of North Korean dictator seen wearing $1,900 Dior jacket

  • 11

    Will Apple Pay launch boost local iPhone sales?

  • 13

    INTERVIEW'Welcome to world of art therapy'

  • 15

    Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series

  • 17

    Indonesian students advise Korean bank on entering Indonesian market

  • 19

    Long viewed as an outsider, conceptual artist grabs global spotlight in his twilight years

  • 2

    Zebra captured after escaping from Seoul zoo

  • 4

    Zoo shares sad story of what caused Sero the zebra to escape

  • 6

    Yoo Yeon-seok threatens to sue people spreading accusations about him

  • 8

    Sandstorm from China forecast to push up fine dust levels in Korea

  • 10

    Retailers rush to adopt Apple Pay system

  • 12

    Kim Nam-gil to embark on Asia fan-meeting tour

  • 14

    INTERVIEWExpert pitches Laotian rural reform to solve NK's chronic food shortages

  • 16

    INTERVIEWForbes-listed entrepreneur pursues partnerships with Samsung, LG, SK to help Ukraine

  • 18

    US Fed lifts key interest rate amid banking sector fears

  • 20

    Samsung, SK chiefs prepare for trips to China amid intensifying 'chip war'

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
Sat, March 25, 2023 | 10:03
Ravi Zacharias, defender of Christian faith, dies at 74
Posted : 2020-05-20 16:58
Updated : 2020-05-22 10:22
Jung Min-ho
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
In this March 30, 2016, photo, Christian apologist and author Ravi Zacharias talks with Associate Professor Lenny Luchetti during the Society of World Changers induction ceremony at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. Zacharias, who built an international ministry that strives to defend Christianity on intellectual grounds, has died at his home in Atlanta. AP
In this March 30, 2016, photo, Christian apologist and author Ravi Zacharias talks with Associate Professor Lenny Luchetti during the Society of World Changers induction ceremony at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. Zacharias, who built an international ministry that strives to defend Christianity on intellectual grounds, has died at his home in Atlanta. AP

By Jung Min-ho

Ravi Zacharias, a skeptic turned Christian evangelist who spent his life defending the faith on intellectual grounds, died Tuesday. He was 74.

The cause was complications from a rare form of bone cancer called sarcoma, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM), the evangelical organization he established in 1984, said.

Zacharias was one of the most prominent and sought-after figures in apologetics ― a branch of theology that defends Christianity against objections ― who challenged various skeptics by using his razor-sharp logic and the voices of scientists, philosophers and even atheists.

He also published and edited more than 25 books, which have inspired many Christians and non-Christians around the world, including Korea.

Zacharias, who was born in Madras (now Chennai), India, discovered his calling in a hospital at 17, after trying to take his own life by swallowing poison over the fear of academic failure. He survived and found the meaning and purpose of his life in the Bible, which he was given by a medical worker.

"Inside me there was something new ― a new vibrancy, a new meaning, a new hope and a new Ravi Zacharias … Purpose and transformation were now writ large in my heart," he said in the book, "Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows."

"I also marvel at how God was in the shadows then, for I could have done permanent damage to my body … What if there had been some neurological debilitation? That did not happen. In the shadows was the One, who made me select the 'right' poison, just enough to awaken me from my stupidity and steady my feet in the right direction."

A few years after committing himself to Jesus Christ, Zacharias' family migrated to Canada, where he studied theology. Soon, he found himself spreading the gospel in the United States, Vietnam and Cambodia, where he preached before the country fell to the Khmer Rouge.

In this March 30, 2016, photo, Christian apologist and author Ravi Zacharias talks with Associate Professor Lenny Luchetti during the Society of World Changers induction ceremony at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind. Zacharias, who built an international ministry that strives to defend Christianity on intellectual grounds, has died at his home in Atlanta. AP
Ravi Zacharias / Courtesy of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

Zacharias was convinced that it was "harder to find logic in life if there is no God" and "Jesus Christ alone uniquely answers the deepest questions of our hearts and minds."

Zacharias actively engaged in the question-and-answer format with the staunchest atheists who did not share his views. But winning the argument was never his goal: he was always more interested in questioners than the questions themselves.

"(Ravi) saw the objections and questions of others not as something to be rebuffed, but as a cry of the heart that had to be answered," said Michael Ramsden, president of RZIM.

In 1992, Zacharias expanded into academia, launching the Veritas Forum on the campus of Harvard University. In 2004, he established the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics at Oxford University, where he was an honorary senior research fellow between 2007 and 2015.

Meanwhile, under the mission of "helping the thinker believe and the believer think," RZIM grew into a global organization with offices in 16 legal entities, including Romania, Singapore, Peru, Turkey and India.

All this was unfathomable when he made a commitment to Christ. But God mysteriously led his life.

The same Bible verse that led Zacharias to Christianity will be etched on his gravestone, said Sarah Zacharias Davis, his eldest daughter and CEO of RZIM.

"The Gospel of John records these words of Jesus: 'Because I live, you also will live' (14:19) ― seven words that changed the trajectory of Ravi Zacharias' life some 57 years ago," she said. "It is a verse etched on his grandmother's gravestone and will be etched on his too."

Two years ago at the funeral service of Billy Graham, a prominent evangelical Christian figure, Zacharias said: "A great voice has been lost, but the message goes on."

Christians around the world have now lost another great voice. But the message goes on.


Emailmj6c2@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
Top 10 Stories
1Zoo shares sad story of what caused Sero the zebra to escapeZoo shares sad story of what caused Sero the zebra to escape
2Burnout: Cardiothoracic surgery residents work 102 hours a week Burnout: Cardiothoracic surgery residents work 102 hours a week
3North Korea will pay price for reckless provocations, warns Yoon North Korea will pay price for reckless provocations, warns Yoon
4Churches, Seoul gov't unite to fight low birthrate Churches, Seoul gov't unite to fight low birthrate
5Second daughter of Daesang chairman promoted to vice president Second daughter of Daesang chairman promoted to vice president
6More companies adopt electronic voting amid increase in shareholder activism More companies adopt electronic voting amid increase in shareholder activism
7What's next for Do Kwon? What's next for Do Kwon?
8FTC criticized for delaying approval for Hanwha's acquisition of DSME FTC criticized for delaying approval for Hanwha's acquisition of DSME
9Samsung Display strike looms due to deadlocked wage negotiationsSamsung Display strike looms due to deadlocked wage negotiations
10Over 70% of firms unwilling to embrace longer workweek Over 70% of firms unwilling to embrace longer workweek
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Yoo Yeon-seok threatens to sue people spreading accusations about him Yoo Yeon-seok threatens to sue people spreading accusations about him
2Kim Min-gyu, Go Bo-gyeol bid farewell to 'The Heavenly Idol' Kim Min-gyu, Go Bo-gyeol bid farewell to 'The Heavenly Idol'
3Kim Nam-gil to embark on Asia fan-meeting tour Kim Nam-gil to embark on Asia fan-meeting tour
4Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series Lee Som, Ahn Jae-hong to play married couple in Tving's new series
5Long viewed as an outsider, conceptual artist grabs global spotlight in his twilight years Long viewed as an outsider, conceptual artist grabs global spotlight in his twilight years
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group