Yung Suk Kim's Scholarly Journey: About Me

Yung Suk Kim, PhD
Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity
Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology
Virginia Union University
ykim@vuu.edu

As a scholar and professor, I am interested in knowledge not merely of the past but today's world.

I must tackle issues in the present and help people today. That is why I study and teach history, religion, and culture.

[Personal Version]

I am a seasoned professional with a background in humanities and business, specializing in New Testament studies and early Christianity. With a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and experience as a Full Professor at Virginia Union University, I am happy to serve here and now. Proficient in Korean, English, and Spanish, I excel in writing, teaching, meditation, and exercise, with a keen interest in the intersection of the Bible and mental well-being. My career goals include contributing to higher education, research, curriculum design, and community outreach within the humanities and education sectors.

I am a scholar of humanities who takes all humanities matters seriously and a humanist who loves God and nature. I love new ideas and writing books about the Bible, culture, theology, and wisdom. In my first career, I worked for LG for about ten years in Seoul, Panama, and Miami. Then, I quit my job and started a second-career academic journey. Thus far I have published nearly 20 books and edited four volumes.

[Academic Version] *Long bio

Yung Suk Kim is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Virginia Union University. He has written nearly twenty books, including How to Read the Gospels (Rowman and Littlefield, 2024), Monotheism, Biblical Traditions, and Race Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2022), How to Read Paul (Fortress, 2021), and Toward Decentering the New Testament (Cascade 2018, co-authored with Mitzi J. Smith), and Christ’s Body in Corinth (Fortress, 2008). He also edited four volumes: At the Intersection of Hermeneutics and Homiletics: Transgressive Readings for Transformational Preaching (Pickwick 2025 forthcoming), Paul's Gospel, Empire, Race, and Ethnicity (Pickwick, 2023), 1-2 Corinthians (Fortress, 2013), and Reading Minjung Theology in the Twenty-First Century (Pickwick 2013, co-edited with Jin-ho Kim). His research interests include mental health and the Bible, parables and political philosophy, and comparative wisdom literature. He holds a PhD in New Testament studies from Vanderbilt University. He serves on the Bible Translation and Utilization Advisory Committee (BTU) of Friendship Press for the NCC.

김영석은 현재 버지니아 유니언대학교 신학대학원의 신약학 교수이며 그동안 20여권의 책을 저술하고 4권의 책을 기획하며 편저자로 참여하였다. 대표적 책으로는 Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor (Fortress, 2008)이며 최근의 책으로는 How to Read Paul (Fortress, 2021) 그리고 How to Read the Gospels (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024)이다. 그의 관심사는 성서해석학, 초기기독교 연구, 바울서신, 해석과 설교의 접목, 정신건강과 성서 등 다양하다. 경북대학교를 졸업하고 LG에서 근무하였고(파나마, 마이애미 지사), 그 후에 삶을 전향하여 맥코믹 신학대학원에서 M.Div, 밴더빌트대학에서 신약학 박사 PhD를 취득하였다. 현재 미국 버지니아 리치먼드에서 살고 있다.

Teaching Philosophy

Traveling to many Latin American countries during my business career, I learned much about cultural diversity and the need for human solidarity. What does it mean to live in this world with each other (i.e., the meaning of the Other — Emmanuel Levinas' "the face of the other," Paul Ricoeur's "inter-subjective narrative identity," or Jacques Derrida's "relationless relation")? How can we do theology in our thoughts and deeds, while moving pointedly away from individualism? And how can we read biblical stories with each other when we differ?

I foster and teach to engage in the knowledge of who we are in this world where we see our diversity and differences. In my teaching, diversity is not a given but a source for critical engagement with each other. I value a critical and self-critical stance toward any claim of knowledge, truth, and reality. I nourish diversity and transformative identity for students' transformation. I emphasize the following as pedagogical goals: learning from others, challenging one another, affirming who we are, and working for common humanity in differences.

Adjective

My adjective is "conscientious." I listen to my inner voice as often as possible. I am meticulous in my work. I am impatient and imperfect. However, I am always resilient and come back to do better and more.

What am I?

People get their impressions of me based on what they see from me. While my colleagues tell me I am a prolific writer, students think I am thoroughly prepared. But I see myself differently. I'm always conscientious and feel like walking a tightrope. Like a vapor, I am evanescent. Like a reed, I am wavering. Like dust, I am small. But I'm not vanity.

I am not a mere academician who is digging into the past only. I am a historian, theologian, humanist, realist, lover of wisdom, and advocate for justice and love.

View of Teacher, Student, and Author

A good teacher satisfies students, a wonderful teacher teaches what they need, and an ideal teacher teaches them with love, helping them to teach themselves.
A good student follows the teacher's instruction, a remarkable student asks critical and self-critical questions and a formidable student knows that learning is limitless.
A good author satisfies readers, an admirable author stimulates their interest, and an exceptional author creates new needs for readers.