My writing philosophy is to write clearly, concisely, and coherently. I avoid long, complex sentences that are only clear as mud. Writing is a reflection of the mind and heart. We need to be careful about the choice of a word, grammar, and structure of a sentence or the whole piece of writing. We must also express ideas concisely yet vividly. Lastly, we have to communicate ideas persuasively, maintaining consistency throughout the writing.
A good abstract must include the following: (1) what your paper is about (topic); (2) what is the point (thesis)?; (3) how your thesis is argued (methods or evidence); (4) what are the implications? Or why do you write? Below are the abstracts from my works.
Traditionally, “the body of Christ” has been read through an organism metaphor that emphasizes unity of the community in Christ. The weakness of this reading is that there is no clear articulation of how members of the community are united with Christ. The body language in Paul’s letters can be best understood when read through a metaphor for a way of living that emphasizes Christ’s embodiment of God’s gospel. The body of Christ in Paul’s letters is, first of all, his physical body that represents his life and death. Then, derivatively, it is also associated with Christian living—for example, “You are Christ-like body” (1 Cor 12:27).Yung Suk Kim, Monotheism, Biblical Traditions, and Race Relations. Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2021.
In the Hebrew Bible, various aspects of theism exist though monotheistic faith stands out, and the New Testament largely continues with Jewish monotheism. This book examines diverse aspects of monotheism in the Hebrew Bible and their implications to others or race relations. Also, it investigates monotheistic faith in the New Testament writings and its impact on race relations, including the work of Jesus and Paul’s apostolic mission. While inclusive monotheism fosters race relations, exclusive monotheism harms race relations. This book also engages contemporary biblical interpretations about the Bible, monotheistic faith, and race/ethnicity.
Yung Suk Kim, “Imitators” (Mimetai) in 1 Cor. 4:16 and 11:1: A New Reading of Threefold Embodiment,” Horizons in Biblical Theology 33.2 (2011): 147-170.
Abstract
When it comes to the language of “imitation” (mimesis) in Paul’s letters (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; Phil. 3:17; 1 Thess. 1:6-7; 2:14), divisions among scholars are most clearly manifest. At one end of the scholarly spectrum, Paul follows a Stoic model of imitation, according to which the teacher exhorts pupils to follow him, based upon his authority established (demonstrated) by good conduct. Accordingly, Paul is viewed as an advocate of the Hellenistic ideal of unity at the expense of diversity. At the other end of the spectrum, Paul is seen as a social conservative and an obstacle to true liberation. Here the idea of imitation serves as a means of control and domination of others, as post-colonial and feminist scholars have pointed out. So Paul’s exhortation to “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1) is understood as a demand for sameness, an appeal to copy Paul. However, the language of imitation can be read through the eyes of “embodiment”—a way of life, as an alternate meaning of imitation in 1 Corinthians, which will lead to the involvement of three aspects of God, Christ and the believer. I argue that imitation in 1 Corinthians is neither a copy or sameness nor a type or model to be emulated by the Corinthians. Rather, it should be understood as a way of life rooted in the image of Christ crucified, which plays a central role in the letter, deconstructing abusive, destructive powers in a community and society and reconstructing a beloved community for all.
Leticia A. Guardiola-Saenz, “Borderless Women and Borderless Texts: A Cultural Reading of Matthew 15:21-28,” Semeia 78 (1997): 69-81.
Abstract
As an exercise in cultural studies, this reading focuses not just on the written story and its socio-historical conditions of production, but also on the story as a site where the socio-historical conditions of consumption and the social location of the reader merge with the text to produce a borderless or hybrid "cultural" text. Such a hybrid text is the inception of the story in the cultural space of the reader, where it intermingles with the values, ideologies, and interpretations of the reader who has consumed and experienced the consequences of the interpretation of the story. The Canaanite woman's story is then read through the experience of a Mexican-American reader who crosses the ideological borders of the text to contend that the ideology of chosenness cannot be the final border up to which a reading of this story can go. This alternative reading of the story emerges as the suppressed voice of the Other strives to be heard in the re-casting of the story from the Canaanite woman's point of view. This interpretation comes as a reading strategy of liberation from the imperialistic readings that have been used to oppress and suppress the emergence of the Other.