Unity or Union?

Unity is the language of an empire. I provoked many evangelicals when this book came out in 2008 because I said Paul's body metaphor is not about unity.

In 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, Paul uses a body metaphor to talk about our union with Christ and solidarity with fellow members in a beloved community. The metaphor is not about unity or concord (homonoia) borrowed from Stoicism but about creating a diverse and united community through a sense of union anchored to Christ's way of life. In other words, the gist of the body metaphor is about diversity and solidarity rather than unity, which is the language of an empire. "The body of Christ" can also be translated as "the Christic body," which refers to Christlike living and community. This understanding of the body of Christ results from an attributive genitive interpretation.

*See books I wrote about the above point of the body of Christ:

• Christ's Body in Corinth: The Politics of a Metaphor
• A Theological Introduction to Paul's Letters: Exploring a Threefold Theology of Paul
• How to Read Paul: A Brief Introduction to His Theology, Writings, and World
• Reimagining the Body of Christ

Advocating for the threefold gospel

I find myself a roaring prophet in my class when I discuss Jesus's teaching and Paul's gospel. They are Jews committed to the common teaching rooted in God's righteousness in their context. Paul, in particular, brought a God-centered theology through the teachings of Jesus, emphasizing the participation of believers anchored in the faith of Jesus. I refer to this understanding of Paul as a threefold gospel/faith/theology, where we see God's righteousness, Jesus's faithfulness, and Christians' participation. This threefold gospel/faith/theology is the cornerstone of my understanding of Paul's teachings, and I have long advocated for it. The more I read Paul's work, the more convinced I become of the significance of this theology and its potential to change lives.

For more about this kind of theology, read my book, How to Read Paul.

Pre-orders are possible

You can pre-order the book through the publisher's website or online retailers like Amazon or Barnes and Noble. One of the most appealing aspects of this book is that the publisher has kept the affordable price in mind for readers because it is a textbook. The book costs only $24 for approximately 300 pages in paperback.

HOW TO READ THE GOSPELS

Yung Suk Kim

Rowman & Littlefield, 2024

 

The Gist of the Book
This book provides a two-fold introduction to the Gospels: a historical, literary introduction and a lens into the diversity of interpretation. The former includes features such as distinctive theological themes, the portrayal of Jesus, parables, notable interpretation issues, and close reading. The latter showcases a wide array of interpretive methods with an illustration.

Key Features

• This book covers both the critical contents and comprehensive methods of the Gospels.
• This book includes the most up-to-date perspectives on the Gospels, including womanist interpretation, queer criticism, minoritized criticism, disability studies, and ecological criticism.

Takeaways

• Readers will gain insight into the historical and literary aspects of the Gospels.
• Readers will understand distinctive theological themes interlocked with the portrayal of Jesus.
• Readers will explore each Gospel carefully by reading it closely.
• Readers will engage with the text and contemporary issues through the “Consider-and-Discuss” boxes.
• Readers will learn different ways of reading the Gospels (16 perspectives covered).

Award surprises me

To my surprise, I received the 2024 President's Lifetime Achievement Award, given to those who have devoted their energy and time to community service broadly conceived. It recognized my teaching, scholarship, publications, and public/community engagement for almost 20 years. Well, I am not done yet. My journey continues. Bless me.

Bible Study on Luke 5:1-11

Finally, I made it. The following article will be available in the fall 2024 issue of Currents in Theology and Mission: "The Call Story of Peter in Luke 5:1–11: New Vocation through Transformation," which is the revised short version of my Bible Study Presentations at the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2019. I appreciate the conference team, hundreds of attendees, and especially Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi. Thanks to Dr. Troy Troftgruben, the editor of the said issue.  

Words from the Dao De Jing

I write not to forget. I wrote precious words from the Dao De Jing, which I consider the gist of the book (translation is mine). 

Knowing oneself is wisdom.

Seeing small is wisdom.

Overcoming oneself is strength.

Keeping softness is strength.

Feedback from my favorite author

I received feedback from Dr. Jaime Pineda, a neuroscientist, cognitive scientist, and the author of Controlling Mental Chaos. I am very much uplifted because of his positive feedback.

I think your TAB model for mental health and its attempt to bridge our responses to self, God, and neighbors with aspects of mind care is a fascinating idea. I’m glad to see that my ideas inspired some of those connections. I am confident that the equilibrium you speak of can provide the worldview of insights and approaches to strengthen mental health and address the crisis we are currently experiencing. I look forward to hearing more about your development of this theme vis-à-vis psychotheology, moral agency, and political theology in the lives of Jesus and Paul.

For now, I wish you the very best and ongoing success in your creative efforts.

A spacious mind

The meditation topic for today is a spacious mind. How can we cultivate such a mind? I am a bowl of water that shakes effortlessly. How can I be like the sea? I will develop theories and practices about this quality of the mind through interdisciplinary study. I take all humanities subjects seriously and embrace cross-cultural literature and philosophy. See East Asian Philosophy.

Translation of 2 Cor 13:4

2 Cor 13:4 (NA27 Greek Edition)

καὶ γὰρ ἐσταυρώθη ἐξ ἀσθενείας, ἀλλὰ ζῇ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ. καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἀσθενοῦμεν ἐν αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ ζήσομεν σὺν αὐτῷ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ εἰς ὑμᾶς.

Translation matters. What about "eks astheneias" in 2 Cor 13:4? "In weakness" or "by or because of weakness"? In 2 Cor 13:4, usually, you would see the translation with "Jesus's crucifixion in weakness." For example, NIB and NRSVue have the following:

NIV
"4 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you."

NRSVue
"4 For he was crucified in weakness but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God."

But the plain sense of the Greek phrase "eks astheneias" must be "out of weakness" or "because of weakness." The preposition en, which means "in," was not used there. So CEB translates the phrase as "because of weakness."

CEB
"4 Certainly he was crucified because of weakness, but he lives by the power of God. Certainly we also are weak in him, but we will live together with him, because of God’s power that is directed toward you."

While CEB makes explicit that Jesus could not defeat the cross because he was weak, the NIV and NRSVue imply that Jesus suffered the cross as if he were weak. The traditional translation prefers "in weakness," which hints at his voluntary posture of taking the cross---the idea of redemptive sacrifice. He was capable of defeating the cross with his power but he took the form of weakness. Which translation do you think is close to Paul's meaning in context? 

But the CEB emphasizes Jesus's humanity. In fact, we must see the parallels in the verse between "because of weakness" and "because of God's power," as the NASB translates. Both phrases contain the Greek preposition ek or eks, which means "out of, by, because of." So, we can say that Paul juxtaposes Jesus's weakness with God's power. Paul's theology is God-centered. God vindicates Jesus. For Paul, the good news (gospel) is "God-centered, Christ-exemplified, and Christian-proclaimed," as I argued in my book How to Read Paul. We see here the threefold aspects of the gospel. This idea of the threefold gospel is the hallmark of my scholarship. 

NASB

4 For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we too are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.

Some of my books deal with this issue.

• Messiah in Weakness: A Portrait of Jesus from the Perspective of the Dispossessed
• Resurrecting Jesus: The Renewal of New Testament Theology
• How to Read Paul: A Brief Introduction to His Theology, Writings, and World

Contacting the author

I contacted Jaime Pineda, the author of Controlling Mental Chaos: Harnessing the Power of the Creative Mind (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023), which I loved so much. He is a neuroscientist who wrote about mental health. He responded to me kindly and agreed to read my book proposal about mental health. Furthermore, he expressed interest in my new book "How to Read the Gospels." He said he may get some insights as he prepares his future book project about mental health, neuroscience, and spirituality. He also expects to collaborate with me in the future. I feel great because of this connection with him and future collaboration. I am curious about what the future holds for me. I love what I do. I enjoy living in the present.

I'd like to recommend the other book I have read, which was written by Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist: Afraid: Understand the Purpose of Fear and Harnessing the Power of Anxiety (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023).