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

구글 전자책 출판

  

• 다시 시작하는 성경공부: 예수의 비유 편 Paperback through Lulu.com, E-book from Google Play
• 태초와 나, 그리고 삶과 죽음 (시집) Paperback through Lulu.com, E-book from Google Play
• 도덕경 명상집: 살아있는 고전을 성서학자의 시선으로 Google e-book

Memories back to 1980s

An AI-generated image representing my college years in 1980s. I like the long-hair style with a serious look.

Ask Their Husbands at Home? The Absurdity of 1 Corinthians 14:35

It is fascinating to find such impractical advice in the biblical text. In 1 Corinthians 14:35, we find this instruction: "If there is something they want to learn, let them ask their husbands at home." This verse, along with the broader passage of 1 Cor 14:33b–36, is widely considered by scholars to be a post-Pauline interpolation, meaning Paul himself likely did not write it. Whether written by a later editor or an early scribe, the advice is simply logically untenable, and I cannot help but smile at its absurdity every time I read it. First, the instruction completely ignores social reality: not all women in the community had husbands, as many were widows or unmarried. Second, even for those who did, it assumes an impossible epistemic authority: how could every husband inherently know the answers to whatever theological questions their wives might ask? 

The Body of Christ and the Body of Empire: Historical and Philosophical Contexts of Oneness in 1 Corinthians

When we state that we are one, it does not necessarily imply absolute ideological uniformity or an organic unity that reinforces hegemonic structures, such as a traditional head-to-body relationship. Instead, oneness can signify a mutually beneficial relationship that sustains diversity and individual differences. When Paul speaks of being united with Christ, he does not mean that believers are merely structural components of a conventional social body; rather, they are ethically and spiritually aligned with Jesus, embodying his spirit and faith. Thus, when Paul tells the Corinthians, "you are the body of Christ and individually members of it," he rejects the contemporary "social body" model found in Stoicism and Roman imperial ideology. Instead, he conceptualizes Christ's body as a "real body" or a living site—a somatic metaphor for an active way of life, echoing his appeals to "Glorify God in your body" and recognizing that "you are the temple of the Spirit" (1 Cor 6:12–20). Ultimately, it is this shared Christic lifestyle and common faith that constitutes the true oneness of the community.

For more about the Christic body, see my books: (1) Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor (Fortress, 2008); (2) How to Read Paul: A Brief Introduction to His Theology, Writings, and World (Fortress, 2021).

"The Danger of a Singular Order"

Check out the new issue of Currents in Theology and Mission: Vol. 53, No. 4 (2026), titled "Telling Messiah Stories in Times Like These." My article is featured in this issue: Yung Suk Kim, "The Danger of a Singular Order: Engaging with Controversial Texts," Currents in Theology and Mission 53, no. 4 (2026): 35–38. 

Abstract
Some biblical narratives involve challenges and controversies because of their complexities about ethnic conflict and oppression. The movement of Christian nationalism is a growing threat not only to democracy but also to critical, transformative biblical interpretation. Their ideology represents some aspects of ideology met in Joshua’s conquest narrative and Jesus’ conversation with a Canaanite woman. Oppressors are external and also found internally within the community, often masquerading with a cause of liberation. Revealing their ideology is essential to biblical interpretation. True liberation and transformation may happen when one faces opacities of enemies all around oneself—from outside, within, and even within oneself—not by defeating others or feeling superior to them, but through accepting human weakness and embracing God’s impartial grace.