Black Seminary and Experience

Yung Suk Kim

Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity

Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology

Virginia Union University

I am an Asian American scholar with Korean heritage—a member of the Diaspora living in America as a citizen. With my hybrid identity, I enjoy teaching at a predominantly African-American school in Richmond, once the capital of the Confederacy and now the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

As a minority scholar within a minority culture, I often hear about the importance of the Black seminary and experience, prompting me to ask the following questions: Is the Black experience shareable with other cultures and people? Does Blackness stem from a collective or personal experience? Is it a human condition or a unique hermeneutical lens? African American seminaries play an unparalleled role for Black people and churches. They provide support within a sustainable culture and community. They can serve as safe spaces for identity formation or reformation, deeply rooted in African American heritage, culture, and experience. By remaining authentic to the Black spirit and experience, a Black seminary can foster critical spirituality and solidarity with others.

However, critical questions remain to be addressed in the future. In my view, the greatest challenge will be how HBCUs position themselves amidst changing contexts. How much can they adapt to rapidly evolving trends and conditions while maintaining their traditions? What models of transformation or success can they establish?

Redaction criticism (the water baptism of Jesus)

Redaction criticism asks why an evangelist altered his sources. To answer this, readers first identify the changes. For example, in the baptism of Jesus, Matthew and Luke both use Mark but edit it differently. The differences between Matthew and Luke reveal the concerns of their respective communities and their theological perspectives. In other words, Matthew and Luke are not mere compilers of earlier material but redactors — theologians shaping the tradition for their communities.

Why does Matthew insist on explaining the need for Jesus’ baptism by water? What was happening in Matthew’s community, and what theology is he promoting?

Two plausible concerns in the Matthean community are:

1) Why would Jesus submit to John’s baptism if John’s baptism is for the forgiveness of sins?  

2) Does Jesus’ authority appear inferior to John’s because Jesus was baptized by him?

Matthew’s answer is succinct: Jesus’ baptism is required “to fulfill all righteousness,” a recurrent Matthean theme rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures. In Matthew’s presentation, baptism signifies surrender to God, the inauguration of Jesus’ public ministry, and a commitment to enact God’s justice. Thus, Jesus’ baptism is not about repentance and forgiveness in the ordinary sense, nor does it imply that his authority is subordinate to John’s.

The conversational, explanatory style of Matthew’s baptism narrative fits the Gospel’s broader didactic character; Matthew frequently supplies interpretive material (e.g., the Sermon on the Mount, extensive teaching cycles) to clarify theological and ethical points for his community.

Why does Luke emphasize the crowd’s presence at the baptism and Jesus’ prayer? This reflects Luke’s pastoral, “down-to-earth” concern with the public and social dimensions of Jesus’ ministry, and his consistent interest in prayer. As for why Luke omits some of Mark’s baptismal details, we cannot be certain. One reasonable possibility is that Luke, writing for a largely Gentile audience and with particular theological aims, judged some Markan details unnecessary for his purposes.

Definition of Research in Humanities

 Research means digging into subjects deep and wide, connecting them with today's world, and thinking together about the future that is yet to unfold. Good or bad, all research projects involve certain levels of ideology. What we need is not so much objectivity as responsibility. (Yung Suk Kim, PhD)

Jesus and Confucius: "Human-centered thinking"

I am amazed at the great thinkers' concise, easy-to-understand expressions of truth. I find the examples in Jesus and Confucius, who lived at different times and in different cultural contexts. Both expressed the importance of human-centeredness with chiasmus.

Jesus: "The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27).

Τὸ σάββατον διὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐγένετο, καὶ οὐχ ὁ ἄνθρωπος διὰ τὸ σάββατον·

Confucius: "The person widens the way; it is not the way that widens the person" (Analects 14:35).

人能弘道、非道弘人

Confucius and Francis Bacon: Inductive reasoning

Analects 14:35

下學而上達。知我者、其天乎。
"Study from below and reach the top. Who knows me except for Heaven?" (trans. by Yung Suk Kim).

See also Analects 15:29

人能弘道、非道弘人
"The person widens the way; it is not the way that widens the person" (trans. by Yung Suk Kim).

Confucius's point is each person must begin with oneself, studying and reasoning from everyday life. This idea evokes Francis Bacon's empiricism and inductive reasoning.

Confucius's practical approach to justice

Analects 14:34

或曰。以德報怨、何如。子曰。何以報德 以直報怨、以德報德。

Someone said: "How is repaying resentment with virtue possible?" Confucius said: "What then will you repay virtue? Repay resentment (or harm) with justice (lit. 'straightforwardness'). Repay virtue with virtue" (trans. by Yung Suk Kim).

My comments:

Repaying harm (resentment) with justice (straightforwardness) sounds contrary to Jesus's teaching that one must love one's enemy. But Confucius's teaching is practical and necessary because wrongs must be dealt with rather than condoned. Injustices cannot go unpunished or unchecked. So, we must consider the enemy situation and the nature of love. Otherwise, we cannot use Jesus's love command of the enemy apart from the context. Some might even ask: Is loving an enemy psychologically or morally salutary? Is it possible at all?

Summary of Confucius's Thought

I found a plausible room for a new interpretation of Confucius' thoughts against the traditional one, which begins with ren (love) and yi (righteousness), followed by zhi (knowledge or wisdom) and li (propriety). This tradition derives from Mencius (4th century BCE), a great interpreter of Confucius. In my critical reading of the Analects, however, I see a different key to interpreting Confucius. That is, Confucius begins with zhi and ren at the same time (for example, see Analects 4:1, 6:23, 15:33, 17:6, and 19:6), and his point is these two elements must be balanced in human behavior, just as the mind and heart go together. Otherwise, yi (righteousness) and li (propriety) are part of zhi and ren. In Analects 6:23, knowledge is compared to water while love is to the mountain. Knowing involves dynamic flow like water, and love is calm like the mountain. Knowledge must be flexible, nourishing, and reflexive. Love must be big and enduring. Below is Ana. 6:23.

The Master said, "The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills. The wise are active; the virtuous are tranquil. The wise are joyful; the virtuous are long-lived." (trans).