Autobiographical Interpretation

--Yung Suk Kim

As I reflect on biblical hermeneutics, I believe autobiographical interpretation represents the culmination of the field. It encompasses all interpretive elements—the multidimensionality of texts, various analytical angles, and the reader's specific context—while maintaining a clear focus on the self's subjectivity in dialogue with these elements. Ultimately, no interpretation is possible without the reader, whose agency is grounded in the self.

Throughout my career, I have employed diverse methods, ranging from historical-critical to literary to reader-driven approaches. Yet, autobiographical interpretation remains the most engaging and comprehensive form of reading. Increasingly, I realize that critical autobiographical interpretation can be profoundly transformative, allowing people to genuinely engage with the text, themselves, and the world. This kind of reading serves as a powerful exercise in strengthening renewed identities and fostering mental well-being.

This does not mean reading the text out of context or arbitrarily. Rather, autobiographical interpretation takes all dimensions of the text seriously, whether historical, literary, or reader-engaged. Therefore, here is my working definition:

"Autobiographical biblical interpretation is a hermeneutical approach that examines scripture through the lens of the reader's lived experience and social location. It is a dialogical process in which the interpreter critically engages their own subjectivity to read the text, while simultaneously allowing the text to read, challenge, and transform their relationship to themselves, others, and the world."

My lecture series idea

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Public image of my scholarship

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At the Intersection of Hermeneutics and Homiletics: Transgressive Readings for Transformational Preaching

A profound book always leaves a lasting impact on its readers—not merely because it is well written, but because its substantive depth touches them deeply. I encouraged my students to engage with a volume I edited: At the Intersection of Hermeneutics and Homiletics: Transgressive Readings for Transformational Preaching. This edited collection brings ten scholarly voices into conversation with the assigned scriptures: the book of Ruth and Matthew 15:21–28. The result is extraordinary. I am deeply moved by their narratives and the implications they draw for these texts, especially as they speak to the unresolved, thorny issues of our day. Ultimately, how we interpret scripture is inextricably linked to how we read our times.

Ten Important Lessons from the Parables of Jesus

Unlock the subversive power of Jesus’s parables. Jesus was a master storyteller whose parables did more than comfort—they challenged the status quo and disrupted the wisdom of the first-century world. In this insightful volume, Dr. Yung Suk Kim explores ten transformative lessons buried within these ancient, radical stories, offering a fresh lens for contemporary faith and action. Ideal for serious Bible study in any setting—whether personal reflection, small groups, or academic classrooms—this book unpacks a decade of profound wisdom:

• Sow Abundantly: Scatter seed on the ground evenly and widely.
• Embrace Grace: Acknowledge God’s absolute sovereignty and unmerited grace.
• Navigate Complexity: Recognize and live with the coexistence of good and evil.
• Nurture the Hidden: See the immense importance of hidden potential.
• Value the Minor: Do not ignore or underestimate smallness.
• Practice Empathy: Learn to think deeply from the other person’s perspective.
• Resist Rivalry: Reject the cultural pressure to compete with others.
• Pursue the Ultimate: Search relentlessly for what is most valuable.
• Trust the Outcome: Boldly use your talent and leave the rest to God.
• Cultivate Stillness: Empty your ego and do not overfill your mind.

Rediscover the parables not as passive moral fables, but as urgent calls to a deeper, more faithful way of living.

The Sense of Something

-Yung Suk Kim

Something happens—be it good or bad, a changing mix of both.
It unfolds right now, and it will happen again tomorrow.
My purpose is not to prevent it, though I may tend to what is preventable.
Opportunities bloom everywhere, just as misfortune remains ubiquitous.
In all of this happening, what really matters is now.

We must perceive this now inside, outside, and far beyond us.
Always, remain mindful of that presence there and respond to it,
or simply watch it with a quiet, calm eye.
To feel the true sense of being alive means keeping this awareness of something.

Yung Suk Kim's Strategic Signature Courses

I will develop new courses:

1. Paul's Letters and His Theology

2. Justice and the Parables of Jesus
3. Biblical Interpretation and Mental Health
4. The Intersection of Hermeneutics and Homiletics
5. The Fourth Gospel and Ecology

6. Wisdom for an Uncertain World from Biblical and East Asian Perspectives

A Personal Motto

The Two Enduring Realities: The Body and The Work

When we strip away life's fleeting distractions and look toward the days ahead, we find that we are ultimately left with only two things that truly matter.

The Two Enduring Realities: The Body and The Work

• The Body as the Lifelong Vessel: Our body is our one inevitable, lifelong companion, and no one else can maintain it for us. The quality of the old age waiting for us is directly dictated by our habits today. By committing to daily exercise, meditation, and care, we actively protect our future selves from the suffering of present negligence.
• The Work as a Living Legacy: What truly lasts is not what we accumulate, but what we set into motion. As I tell my students: "You are the fruits of my scholarship, not the books that I published." True work transcends static artifacts or accolades; it is found in the people we influence. When our experience and teachings are carried forward by others, our work becomes a living, breathing force that outlasts us.

MINDCEVAAAEFA

The core principle of mind