In ancient times or today, explicitly or implicitly, religion and politics are inseparable since humans are religious and political in certain ways. But the question is how to understand religion and politics and how to live humanely in the world of religion and politics. Our vision must be the one that makes a vibrant, just community or society through critical, self-critical scholarship about political theology. There must be diverse participants among scholars, activists, and religious leaders. They may hear each other and learn from others. I wonder if we may seek actively non-Christian scholars or activists such as Buddhist monks or Confucian scholars. In this way, interdisciplinary rigor and conversation will be deepened as we include those who have different views of religion or politics.
We also need to explore more about human transformation as it relates to religion and politics. Oftentimes transformation is understood narrowly as a change of system or society only. But it also has to do with human transformation, which is broadly defined as follows, as I wrote elsewhere. It includes “all aspects of change in relation to self or human life, including a change in self-knowledge; a change or renewal of self-critical examination; a change of personal attitude toward others, community, or society; or different ways of experiencing the self, especially in difficult times.”
No love is possible without justice. But it is not easy to answer what true justice is. For example, Jesus deals with many different aspects of justice in his parables, including attributive justice, distributive justice, retributive justice, restorative justice, and social justice. Since society is so complex, people can benefit from the diversity of justice, depending on their life situation.
In retrospect, I see myself as more than a biblical or New Testament scholar. I am a scholar of humanities who seeks to explore the issues addressed in the humanities. Though my primary text is the New Testament, I include other texts such as our living texts of politics and other classical literary texts. In all of these, I try to find the intersection of religion and politics. This intersection again leads to the transformation of individuals in particular and society in general.
Diversity must be a key to understanding the world where all kinds of people and cultures coexist. This means no one race, one culture, one tradition, or one religion dominates all others. The truth may be revealed in varying spheres of human life and in variegated ways that cannot even be named. Otherwise, mere differences with other cultures do not automatically or necessarily constitute diversity.
We need to engage in how to think together, how to respect one another, and what to do to create a just society and a better world. Differences with cultures or religions are not the sources of danger or taboo but should become occasions for mutual engagement and shared learning experiences. Otherwise, cultural or religious arrogance will dominate our religious space and political world. In the end, we need critically engaged diversity, which can foster global solidarity. We are different and yet share a common humanity, which is our honor and duty to live and bequeath to posterity.
No love is possible without justice. But it is not easy to answer what true justice is. For example, Jesus deals with many different aspects of justice in his parables, including attributive justice, distributive justice, retributive justice, restorative justice, and social justice. Since society is so complex, people can benefit from the diversity of justice, depending on their life situation.
In retrospect, I see myself as more than a biblical or New Testament scholar. I am a scholar of humanities who seeks to explore the issues addressed in the humanities. Though my primary text is the New Testament, I include other texts such as our living texts of politics and other classical literary texts. In all of these, I try to find the intersection of religion and politics. This intersection again leads to the transformation of individuals in particular and society in general.
Diversity must be a key to understanding the world where all kinds of people and cultures coexist. This means no one race, one culture, one tradition, or one religion dominates all others. The truth may be revealed in varying spheres of human life and in variegated ways that cannot even be named. Otherwise, mere differences with other cultures do not automatically or necessarily constitute diversity.
We need to engage in how to think together, how to respect one another, and what to do to create a just society and a better world. Differences with cultures or religions are not the sources of danger or taboo but should become occasions for mutual engagement and shared learning experiences. Otherwise, cultural or religious arrogance will dominate our religious space and political world. In the end, we need critically engaged diversity, which can foster global solidarity. We are different and yet share a common humanity, which is our honor and duty to live and bequeath to posterity.
