My signature articles in biblical studies

There were times I could put all energy and effort to write something. If I still feel great about what I wrote and think they represent my scholarship very well, that may be called signature articles. I have a few of these (2 from OT; 2 from NT). I don't know whether I can write more than these signature ones.

1) Lex Talionis in Exod 21:22-25 (Journal of Hebrew Scriptures)
2) The Story of Hannah from a Perspective of Han (The Bible and Critical Theory)
3) ““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. (ATLA accessible)
4) “Reclaiming Christ’s Body (soma christou): Embodiment of God’s Gospel in Paul’s Letters,” Interpretation 67.1 (2013): 20-29. (ATLA accessible)

Evaluation of Biblical Studies course

Mid-term Evaluation (BS500): Intro to Biblical Studies

Virginia Union University 

Dr. Yung Suk Kim 

9/2/2020 

Below is my mid-term evaluation of this course. After the last four weeks’ class, with many communications with you, I thought I need to clarify the course purpose, my expectations about your work, and your assignments.

This course has a focus on “biblical interpretation” in that you are learning various interpretive methods ranging from the historical-critical approach to the literary and reader-oriented approach. So, I laid out the overview of biblical interpretation in the very first class. Read my book, Biblical Interpretation, or the introduction chapter in my co-authored book with Mitzi Smith. I told you that biblical interpretation involves three layers of difficulty: text, translation, and interpretation. The first two things relate to textual criticism, which we do not cover in this course. For that matter, you need to study biblical language courses or related courses. However, I alerted you already that biblical texts you read are not based on the copy of the original text and that translation is also a hard task. While no translation is perfect, I recommended you use the NRSV for study because it focuses on a literal translation.

With these caveats in mind, our course focuses on the third layer of difficulty in biblical interpretation: “interpretation,” which means explaining a text. Even with a good secure text (Greek or Hebrew), and a good translation of a text, your job is not done because you must explain the text you are reading. This act of explaining is called “interpretation,” which involves three choices (again, read my book, Biblical Interpretation): the textual choice (how to read); the contextual choice (why do I read?); and the hermeneutical choice (what to read?). The textual choice concerns approaching methods of the text: Traditionally, we classify them variously, such as the historical-critical methods (seeking meaning behind the text), as the literary approach as in the structural criticism and narrative criticism (seeking meaning within the text), or as the reader-oriented, critical approach as in the reader-response criticism (seeking meaning in front of the text). Thus far, we have covered the first two textual approaches. For the next two weeks, we will cover the reader-oriented approach and post-modern approach. The contextual choice is seen by all interpreters; some are explicit about it while others are not. No matter what, all interpreters have ideology and interest in the text. The matter is not about whether you are objective. Regardless, even a historian may discover his or her interesting thing from the past, sometimes with biases, and most of the time from his or her perspectives. The bottom line is whichever method or approach you to employ you are contextually embedded and interested in the text. Your interest may be historical knowledge or seeking moral guidance. The hermeneutical choice has to do with the possibility of diverse lenses on a given text or theological topic. For more about this, read my book, Biblical Interpretation.

Re. Exegesis, Eisegesis, and Interpretation: Sometimes people think that exegesis is science and that trained students may get the same meaning of the text. That is an illusion. Exegesis is not science; it is an act of human interpretation, which involves various decisions, as I hinted above. In general, in biblical study, exegesis has been understood as the historical approach to the text. But nowadays, it may be understood broadly as “interpretation” whose task is to pull meaning out of the text. So, exegesis needs all methods. In my class, therefore, exegesis and interpretation are interchangeable. I would say exegesis paper or interpretation paper. On the other hand, “eisegesis” is understood in opposition to exegesis. The former occurs when the reader reads something, not in the text. While the reader’s role is important, as I stressed above, he or she cannot go beyond the text or manipulate it. In this sense, eisegesis is a thing of the past and it must be a problem. But do not be confused that I am not saying the dispassionate reading is possible. Strictly speaking, every reading is reader-engaged or interested. That does not mean his or her reading is eisegesis. Otherwise, the generally accepted good term for the reader’s act of reading a text is “interpretation.”

I expect that you will take and learn all the above seriously. In your group discussion or in your response paper or in your reading journal, and in your Group Project, finally, in your Interpretation Paper, I will love to see whether you learned all the above and applied them to your work in one or another.

It's time for you to start thinking about your group project. Read all required, assigned readings on Week 7 and prepare your individual worksheets and share them with your group members by uploading them online at “Files” on the Teams group. If you are ready and want to check with me about your paper, send me the following information via email: paper title, abstract, and outline. Your final paper must be yours, containing your words, thoughts, thesis, and arguments. Make sure about citation if you use others’ work; plagiarism of any sort is a crime in the academic world. Document your paper properly according to the guideline (Turabian manual). I need a quality paper that considers all the above matters in biblical interpretation. Also, refer to my document titled “Tips for Final Paper,” waiting for you at “Files” on the Team. I shared this with you already via email too. I am here to help you grow and learn new things or unlearn things you already know.

You may have a taste of an academic paper that I wrote in 2008. This is about Hannah. This paper represents my critical study of the text, reflecting my issues and hermeneutical lens. 

Study questions about John's Gospel

Key Scriptures

If you remain faithful to my teaching, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free (John 8:31-32)

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6)

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world (John 17:17-18)

I was born and came into the world for this reason: to testify to the truth. Whoever accepts the truth listens to my voice (John 18:37)

STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Is John's Gospel close to the historical Jesus? How can we compare with the Synoptics?

2. Who are the Johannine Christians? Why was this Gospel written?

3. How is Jesus portrayed in the Gospel? What is his primary work to do?
For example, Jesus never claims that he is God. The opposite is obvious. What does he say that his work is? Look what he says: “If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. But if I do them, and you don’t believe me, believe the works so that you can know and recognize that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:37–38, Common English Bible).

4. What is Jesus' relationship to the Father?
He seems like a new Moses! In what sense?

5. What relation is there between Jesus and the Logos in the Prologue and in the entire Gospel?
The prologue does not say that Jesus is the Logos. Then, what does he have to do with the Logos? What is the Logos? Can we say the Logos is God's?

6. How can we understand incarnation theology in 1:14: “The Logos became flesh”?
John 1:14 must be understood in a metaphoric sense. What does flesh represent?

7. How can we understand the “I am” sayings of Jesus?
There are seven "I am" sayings of Jesus with the predicate.

8. Does John 14:6 exclude other religions?

9. In what sense is Jesus the way, the truth, and the life?

10. How is spiritual birth different from physical birth?


*Refer to my book, Truth, Testimony, and Transformation.

The Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:27

Why does the dominant scholarship about "the body of Christ" in 1 Corinthians emphasize unity, which is the rhetoric of Stoicism? Whose unity? I am very much concerned about such a hegemonic interpretation.

"The body of Christ" was my dissertation topic long ago. I wrote a book about this, "Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor" (Fortress, 2008). Since then, I have delved into Paul's letters and sharpened my understanding of Paul's theology. I am still convinced that my alternative view of this metaphor makes sense. I am against the traditional reading that emphasizes unity (homonoia). There are different views of the body of Christ between Paul’s authentic letters and the disputed letters. While the latter clearly underscores the metaphorical organism, the former does not. But still, the traditional reading of the body of Christ even in 1 Cor 12 and Rom 12 is an organism. According to a metaphorical organism, “You are the body of Christ” (1 Cor 12 and Rom 12) is understood as “You are the community of Christ.” The emphasis of the traditional reading is unity; "You are one." But in an alternative reading, the body of Christ can be understood as a way of living; that is, it is a Christic body: Christlike body or living. This use of the genitive case is an attributive genitive and we see this kind of the attributive genitive in "the body of sin” (Rom 6:6), which we understand as "the sinful body." The alternative interpretation underscores the union with Christ and diversity. Here union, unlike unity in Stoicism, means the ethical one that Christians (Corinthians) have to embody Christ. So, "you are a Christic body, individually and communally." The Corinthians must follow the way of Christ and then they are united with Christ.

Galatians and Circumcision: Matters of Scriptural Interpretation

Eventually, what matters is how to interpret scripture. Jewish Christians argue that circumcision is a must. Their scriptural basis is Gen 21 in which God orders all descendants of Abraham to be circumcised. But Paul’s scriptural interpretation begins with Gen 12 in which God calls Abraham out of nowhere and Abraham trusts him. Faith comes before circumcision (law). Faith comes before the law. Faith is the starting point for a new relationship with God. Faith can lead to keeping the law. For gentile Christians, works of the law such as circumcision or purity laws are not essential. For Jews, they can keep these laws along with faith.

The Old and New Perspectives on Paul

Did Paul reject the law or Israel for the sake of faith? But he says that the law is holy and that faith cannot overthrow the law. Christ fulfilled the law, and the law and faith can go hand in hand with a focus on the love of God and the love of neighbor. Jesus is a paragon of faithfulness. Christian means to follow him and his faithfulness.

Rom 3:22 as a Snapshot of Paul's Gospel

[Courtesy of FreeBibleImages.org]

"God's righteousness through Jesus Christ's faithfulness for all who believe" (Rom 3:22).

Rom 3:22 may be considered a snapshot of Paul's gospel: “The righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.” There are three elements in his proclamation: God’s righteousness; Christ’s faithfulness; and Christian participation in Christ. God’s righteousness means that God is righteous and steadfast. Christ’s faithfulness demonstrates God’s righteousness: Christ’s grace, love, and sacrifice for God and humanity. But nothing will happen unless there is a response from people. God’s righteousness comes through Christ’s faithfulness for all who participate in Christ.

Conclusion:
You are under God’s righteousness. That is, you are in the domain of God’s love and care. God is like the sun. Come out to God through Jesus’s faithfulness and his grace. This means you share in his faithfulness, dying to sin, living to God.

Paul and the Good News

Paul's gospel involves a threefold (tripartite) relationship between God, Christ, and people. God is the good news, which is about the rule of God. Christ exemplified it through faithfulness. People have to proclaim the good news of God that came through Christ.

Jesus and the good news of God

What did Jesus proclaim after John was arrested? Mark 1:14 says that he proclaimed "the good news of God." God is the ruler; God rules with justice and mercy.

What is the essential thing that Paul shares with Jesus?

Jesus and Paul must be understood within Judaism. Both of them share the following: 1) God-centered good news! The good news is about God and comes from God; 2) The importance of change/renewal of a mind. Metanoia (Jesus); Metamorphosis (Paul).