Dr. Yung Suk Kim's Scholarly Journey: About Me

Yung Suk Kim, PhD

Full Professor of New Testament & Early Christianity
Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology
Virginia Union University
ykim@vuu.edu

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As a professor, I am interested not only in the past but in today's world. I am dedicated to addressing contemporary issues and helping people in the present, which is why I study and teach history, religion, and culture.

Yung Suk Kim, M.Div. (McCormick), Ph.D. (Vanderbilt), is Full Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Virginia Union University. He has authored nearly twenty books, including How to Read the Gospels (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024), Monotheism, Biblical Traditions, and Race Relations (Cambridge University Press, 2022), How to Read Paul (Fortress, 2021), Toward Decentering the New Testament (Cascade, 2018, co-authored with Mitzi J. Smith), and Christ’s Body in Corinth (Fortress, 2008). He has also edited four volumes, including At the Intersection of Hermeneutics and Homiletics and Paul's Gospel, Empire, Race, and Ethnicity. The forthcoming book's title is Justice and Parables (T&T Clark, 2026, forthcoming). Kim's research interests encompass Paul's letters and his theology, parables, political philosophy, and comparative wisdom literature.

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.

KOREAN:

김영석 박사는 현재 미국 버지니아주의 리치먼드에 소재한 "버지니아 유니언" 대학교 신학대학원의 신약 성서학 정교수이며 그동안 20여 권의 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 약 10년 근무하였고(파나마, 마이애미 지사), 그 후에 삶을 전향하여 맥코믹 신학대학원에서 M.Div, 밴더빌트대학에서 신약학 박사(PhD)를 취득하였다. 여기 리치먼드에서 산지가 벌써 20년이다 (2025년 기준).

Yorktown, Virginia (2025)

2024 Visit Korea Lecture Events

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 form their impressions of me based on what they see. 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 vapor, I am evanescent,
Like a reed, I am wavering.
Small as dust, yet not vanity,
There’s more within my being.

I am not a mere academic 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 prepare themselves.
A good student follows the teacher's instructions, 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.

Philosophy of life

"Change is inherent in being human. The key is to understand and embrace it. A creative life comes through a vortex of change." (Yung Suk Kim)

Short Bio and Confession

I worked for LG in the 1990s. I lived in Panama with my family. I traveled frequently throughout Latin America. I liked the food, people, and culture of Latin America. I also enjoyed traveling to the Caribbean. My daughters were young from the age of 3 to 5. I lived there for three years and moved to Miami, Florida, USA. Then, I worked there for almost two years and quit my job to pursue theological education. So our family went to Chicago, and I studied at McCormick Theological Seminary. Then, I went to Vanderbilt University for a PhD program in New Testament studies.

After completing my PhD program at Vanderbilt, I got a new job as an Assistant Professor of New Testament at Virginia Union University. Since then, I have been teaching for almost 20 years. I was promoted to Full Professor in 2021. I am still here, Lord. Thanks.

God is love. If you ask where God is, I can say he is not in heaven alone but here and everywhere. Indeed, God is the source of our life. Wherever you go, whatever you do, God is always with you. We must be mindful of God's presence in our lives. We must feel it at every moment. God is not an idea but the power that enables us to live abundantly.

-Spanish Version-

Trabajé para una empresa llamada LG en los años 1990. Viví en Panamá con mi familia. Viajé mucho a América Latina. Me gustaba la comida, la gente y la cultura de América Latina. También disfruté viajar al Caribe. Mis hijas eran pequeñas desde los 3 a los 5 años. Viví allí durante tres años y me mudé a Miami Florida, Estados Unidos. Luego trabajé allí durante casi dos años y dejé mi trabajo para seguir una educación teológica. Entonces nuestra familia se fue a Chicago y yo estudié en el Seminario Teológico McCormick. Luego, fui a la Universidad de Vanderbilt para realizar un programa de doctorado en estudios del Nuevo Testamento.

Tras completar mi doctorado en Vanderbilt, conseguí un nuevo trabajo como profesor adjunto de Nuevo Testamento en la Universidad Virginia Union. Desde entonces, he impartido clases durante casi 20 años. Me ascendieron a profesor titular en 2021. Sigo aquí, Señor. Gracias.

Dios es amor. Si preguntas dónde está Dios, puedo decir que no está sólo en el cielo sino aquí y en todas partes. De hecho, Dios es la fuente de nuestra vida. Donde quiera que vayas, hagas lo que hagas, Dios siempre está contigo. Debemos ser conscientes de la presencia de Dios en nuestras vidas. Debemos sentirlo en cada momento. Dios no es una idea sino el poder que nos permite vivir en abundancia.