Summing up my trip to Oregon

I came back home 10 days after my wife and I have spent quality time with our daughter in Hillsboro, Oregon. Things that I saw and cherishable memories that I hold will stay with me for a long time. In particular, I cannot forget Columbia Hills Historical State Park—a result of the cataclysmic changes during the Ice Age floods that reshaped the surrounding regions of the Columbia River, a trip to Bend, Oregon where Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway thrilled us, and Cannon Beach that holds the time and history of millions of years. I also cannot forget numerous yet valuable pebbles at the beach, which were not made one time. Each pebble is unique and beautiful. It preserves its own time and history.

Cherishing those days

 

Two years ago, I was like this, speaking at the conference of the UMC Western PA Annual Conference held in Grove City College, with thousands of people gathered. I cherish those days when I met various people in person. Virtual meetings cannot replace real ones.

Jung Do-Jeon (1342-1398)

Jung Do-jeon (1342–1398) was a prominent scholar and politician of the late 14th-century Goryeo dynasty. He helped Yi Seong-gye found a new kingdom, Joseon, bringing an end to Goryeo, whose political-religious foundation was Buddhism. The Joseon dynasty lasted for about five hundred years, until the 19th century.

Jung’s political and scholarly vision was to establish a newly reformed state governed by commonsense principles rooted in the lives of ordinary people. He was highly critical of the Buddhism of his day, especially of hypocritical elites who amassed wealth while securing promises of future salvation. As temples and elites grew richer, the people became poorer.

He rejected “reincarnation,” a core Buddhist doctrine according to which a person continues life after death. In exchange for the hope of a better rebirth, people were urged to donate large sums to temples. This, he argued, bred religious corruption, as elites enriched themselves through this alliance with an elite religion.

Jung Do-jeon challenged the absurdities he saw in the idea of reincarnation in his book Bulssi japbyeon. He observed: “We look at the beautiful flowers and leaves in spring and see them fade and fall to the ground. They return to the place from which they came.” He rejects rebirth with the question: “How can we expect the same fallen flowers or leaves to come back to life the next spring?” An old life ends; a new life begins. What emerges from the ground in spring is new life, not a rebirth. Old leaves and flowers decay and become fertilizer for the new. In short, he argues that reincarnation is an absurd idea. 

He also writes: “How can we inhale the very breath we have exhaled? Each time we exhale, we inhale a new breath, not the same one.” Likewise, a spring issues ever-flowing water that is never the same; the original water evaporates and becomes clouds. Furthermore, in his view, “reincarnation” is a selfish desire to prolong one’s existence after death. Death is the end and should be accepted as natural.

I believe his critique is still compelling today, when many focus excessively on the next life while neglecting their responsibilities in the present world.

The following poem was written by Jung Do-jeon when he first met Yi Seong-gye.

蒼茫歲月一株松 / 아득한 세월에 한 그루 소나무
生長靑山幾萬重 / 푸른 산 몇 만겹 속에 자랐구나.
好在他年相見否 / 잘 있으시오. 훗날 서로 뵐 수 있으리까?
人間俯仰便陳蹤 / 인간 세상이란 잠깐 사이 묵은 자취인 것을.
— 정도전, 《제함영송수 (題咸營松樹)》

a pine tree standing alone for a long time;
It has grown so big now through millions of mountain trails.
Goodbye now to you; can we see each other in the future? The human world is passing like a fast-moving arrow.
[Trans. Yung Suk Kim]


The following poem was written by Jung DoJeon before he died (or was killed).

操存省察兩加功 / 조심하고 조심하여 공력을 다해 살면서
不負聖賢黃卷中 / 책 속에 담긴 성현의 말씀 저버리지 않았네.
三十年來勤苦業 / 삼십 년 긴 세월 고난 속에 쌓아 놓은 사업
松亭一醉竟成空 / 송현방 정자 한 잔 술에 그만 허사가 되었네.
— 정도전, 《자조》

With every effort and caution, I have lived a life very well.
I did not break the wisdom of the sages in their literature;
A 30-year achievement made through trials and errors
came to an end in vain because of a glass of wine at the Songhyunbang.
[A rough translation of mine]

Western Christianity's Biggest Problem: A Narrow Understanding of Faith

 

Knowing the dominant form of Western Christianity was influenced by Augustine and Luther, we must point out the weakness of these Christian theologians who failed to see the diverse aspects of faith in the New Testament. So much so their understanding of faith and salvation is very limited. It may be summarized as follows: 
1) Individual salvation or justification: imparted or imputed righteousness (forensic salvation); 

2) Introspective, inner faith out of guilt rather than public faith; 

3) Invading, exclusive gospel: colonialism and exclusivism. 

But the prevailing aspects of Christian faith have to do with “participatory faith,” as in the four Gospels and Paul’s 7 undisputed letters. There are also other minor aspects of faith: faith as knowledge, faith as works, and faith as a conviction.

"Race, Ethnicity and the Gospels"

 Finally, my article "Race, Ethnicity and the Gospels" was accepted for publication.

Atonement theology and Paul

Jesus's death is not required for atonement; it is unwanted yet unavoidable because of his testimony to God's righteousness. Not his death as such but his life and death together prove that he was faithful to God. God considers Jesus to be the place of reconciliation because of his faithfulness. Jesus--not his sacrifice--is the locus of reconciliation that humans must come to participate in his faithfulness. The radical concept of atonement requires human participation in Jesus's life and death.


For more about this idea of atonement theology, see my book:

Jesus as the Locus of Reconciliation: Paul's Theology of Atonement

Body metaphor

Are those who insist that Paul's body metaphor is about unity/concord (homonoia) different from white supremacists? Does Paul talk about unity at all? Or does he talk about the status of a union that embraces solidarity and diversity?

   

Faculty Spotlight Interview

 

Yung Suk Kim is Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University. Dr. Kim received a Ph.D. in New Testament study from Vanderbilt University and an M.Div from McCormick Theological Seminary. He was a recipient of the Lilly Theological Scholars Grant for research on John's Gospel in the context of pluralism (2011) and also received a research fellowship from Wabash Center and researched transformation and the Bible. In 2013, he also received a presidential citation for outstanding service and unselfish commitment from the VUU (2013). He also received the Scott & Stringfellow Outstanding Professor Award from Virginia Union University (2019). Dr. Kim is the author of 15 books and edited two volumes. His most recent book is How to Read Paul: A Brief Introduction to His Theology, Writings, and World (Fortress, 2021). He also co-authored Toward Decentering the New Testament with Mitzi Smith (Cascade, 2018). This is the first introductory text to the New Testament written by an African American woman biblical scholar (Mitzi J. Smith) and an Asian-American male biblical scholar.

QUOTES from Yung Suk Kim

"A good teacher satisfies students, a wonderful teacher teaches what they need, and an ideal teacher teaches them with love, helping them to teach themselves" (Yung Suk Kim, 4/8/2021).

"A good student follows the teacher's instruction, a remarkable student asks critical and self-critical questions, and a formidable student knows that learning is limitless" (Yung Suk Kim, 4/8/2021).

"A good author satisfies readers, an admirable author stimulates their interest, and an exceptional author creates new needs for them" (Yung Suk Kim, 4/7/2021).

"I am not a pure academician who is merely digging in the past as if I have the truth about it. Even history is not obvious; it must be interpreted carefully. I am a bit of everything: historian, theologian, humanist, realist, lover of wisdom, and advocate of justice and love." --from my YouTube video: https://youtu.be/VRF4zmee5uE

"I don't admire an ivory tower thinker, let alone a shallow thinker with a big mouth" (Yung Suk Kim, 4/15/2021).

“Truth is more than trustable knowledge; it is deeply experiential, confessional, and contextual. It should be engaged in a community that he or she lives, embodied in a world ... requires a life that engages the way.” --Yung Suk Kim, Truth, Testimony, and Transformation (Cascade Books, 2013).

What is New Testament Theology?

 

“New Testament theology involves both what the New Testament says about God, the Messiah, and the world, and how the reader evaluates, engages, or interprets diverse yet divergent texts of the New Testament, including difficult, sexist, and oppressive texts. The reader’s task is not merely to discern what is good and acceptable in the New Testament, but also to surface its limitations by examining early Christians’ disparate positions about God, the Messiah, and the world.” --Yung Suk Kim, Resurrecting Jesus: The Renewal of New Testament Theology

"I am not a pure academician who is merely digging in the past as if I have the truth about it. Even history is not obvious; it must be interpreted carefully. I am a bit of everything: historian, theologian, humanist, realist, lover of wisdom, and advocate of justice and love." --from the video