Shalom

I finished reading The Bible and Mental Health: Towards a Biblical Theology of Mental Health (SCM, 2020). I have a lot to digest. It is an excellent sourcebook to further engage in the intersection of the Bible and mental health issues.

While there are many good ideas, one thing that captures my mind most is shalom (שָׁל֑וֹם), which is not the absence of illness or disorder. It denotes the right relationship with God. John Swinton observes:

Shalomic mental health care has to do with helping people to hold on to God's presence at all times, even in the midst of symptoms and difficult experiences that may be interminable. The ultimate goal of mental health care is not simply the eradication of symptoms, but the facilitation of God's presence (p. 163).

This observation rings true as long as we live in this world, experiencing dark moments of life without resolutions. Job's final realization must be like this too. With his life's burdens and pains ongoing, his peace/shalom can come through the presence of God, not because anything was resolved but because there were no other options but to depend on God's presence.

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The Bible and God

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Can the Bible contain all things about God? The answer might be easily "no" because human language is imperfect. God cannot be put in a box. Moreover, some representations of God in the Bible are tendentious. Therefore, we must interpret it carefully and discern what is good. We must avoid biblicism in all our efforts. The Bible is neither a weapon that attacks innocent people nor a knowledge book that subsumes all other books.

Currents in Theology and Mission (October issue, 2023)

I am glad to be part of the current issue of the journal Currents in Theology and Mission: Vol. 50 No. 4 (2023): "Jesus, Materialism, and the Women Who Teach and Preach Mark's Gospel"

My contribution:
Yung Suk Kim, Currents Focus: “The Gospel as the Power of God for Salvation (Rom 1:16)”

Do the ends justify the means?

 

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Do the ends justify the means? What do you think about Naomi's plan to seduce Boaz through Ruth? Is it her faith that God provides security and the future through Ruth and Boaz? Ruth was obedient to her mother-in-law. The other day, I read a sad, weird episode about a teenage girl in the Philippines. She lived with prostitution and supported her family. She said she was a Christian. A Western journalist interviewed her: "Why do you live with prostitution while you are a Christian?" She said that Ruth also supported her family through sex. So, I support my family just like Ruth.