Samuel Hugh Moffett (April 7, 1916 – February 9, 2015) ( ko, 마삼락(馬三樂) 또는 마포삼락(馬布三樂), zh, 莫菲特) was an American Christian missionary and academic who latterly served as professor emeritus at the

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

. He was regarded as a leading scholar on

Christianity in Asia Christianity in Asia has its roots in the very inception of Christianity, which originated from the life and teachings of Jesus in 1st-century Roman Judea. Christianity then spread through the missionary work of his apostles, first in the Leva ...

, and was the author of numerous publications, including the two-volume series of ''A History of Christianity in Asia''.

Biography

Born and raised on the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, Moffett's parents were missionaries in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

(now the capital of

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

) when he was born in 1916. His father,

Samuel Austin Moffett Rev. Samuel Austin Moffett (1864–1939, ko, 마포삼열, Hanja: ) was one of the early American Presbyterian missionaries to Korea. He studied at Hanover College, Indiana, and in 1888 at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. In 1889, he w ...

, lived and worked in Pyongyang from 1890 to 1936. Moffett followed in his parents footsteps, both in his spiritual life and his regional work. After graduating from Wheaton College and Princeton Theological Seminary in 1942, he completed a Ph.D. in history at Yale University. He began a career in the ministry, and later returned to Princeton as a faculty member at the Seminary from 1953–1955. In 1955, he and his new wife Eileen moved to South Korea to work as missionaries, beginning in the rural area of Andong. He remained a professor and dean of the graduate school with Princeton, and became the co-president of the Korean Presbyterian Seminary. While in Korea, he was appointed the director of the Asian Center for Theological Studies and Mission from 1974 to 1981. Following that, he returned to the campus of his alma mater, Princeton Theological Seminary, as Henry Winters Luce Professor of Ecumenics and Mission from 1981–1987. Moffett died at his home in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

on February 9, 2015 at the age of 98.

Works

* Moffett, Samuel H. (1998).
A History of Christianity in Asia: Vol. I: Beginnings to 1500
'. Orbis Books. * Moffett, Samuel H. (2005)
''A History of Christianity in Asia: Vol II: 1500-1900''
Orbis Books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffett, Samuel H. 1916 births 2015 deaths American historians of religion American male non-fiction writers American Presbyterian missionaries People from Pyongyang Presbyterian missionaries in South Korea