Faith is not knowledge

My students learned things that they have never heard before. They also unlearned many things they held dear or comfortable with. One of them cited this: "Faith is not knowledge but loyalty to God and to Christ. It is vibrant living for God's righteousness through Jesus" (p. 89).

An Ideal Human from a Perspective of Creation Myth

I am thinking about ideal humanity. What is the best life we can live, given the reality of what we are? The conclusion is we need humility, confidence, and empathy. The gist of biblical anthropology may be looked at in Gen 2:7, according to which the human is made up of two elements: dust from the ground and the breath of life. The result is an interesting being, called nefesh in Hebrew. Let us see each element and the result of the combination of the two.

 

First, Gen 2:7 says the human (הָֽאָדָ֗ם) is formed from the dust (עָפָר֙) of the ground (הָֽאֲדָמָ֖ה). So humans are dust (הֶעָפָ֛ר), which returns to the earth (Eccl 12:7). I am weak, fragile, and nothing. "I am no-one." So, humility is what we need.

*C.f., Eccl 1:2: הֶבֶל (hebel); Buddhism: Annica (zhū háng wú cháng, 諸行無常)

Second, also in Gen 2:7, the human is also given "the breath of life" (נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים) by the Lord. So humans are also the spirit (רוּחַ), which returns to God (Eccl 12:7). We are more than the earthlings. We must live, looking up to heaven, never giving up easily, valuing and enjoying the time-bound life on the earth. We should be confident in ourselves. "I am some-one." 

*C.f., Buddhism: Anutpanna Aniruddha (bù shēng bú miè, 不生不滅)

Third, the human (Adam) becomes nefesh (a living being or soul, נֶ֫פֶשׁ) with the combination of the dust and the breath of life. This means our being (nefesh) is not perfect. We cannot live alone. We need empathy. We must embrace others as ourselves. "I am one-for-others." 

*C.f., Confucianism: rén zhě rén yě (仁者人也); cè yǐn zhī xīn (惻隱之心)

The above idea of human transformation has been explored in my biblical interpretation.

Study Today

"If you don't study today, don't say there is tomorrow. 

If you don't study this year, don't say there is next year." 

("The Precious Mirror of Bright Mind")

I wrote this piece more than 30 years ago. 

It reflects who I am now.

Messiah in Weakness

"I am very pleased to dedicate this book to the memories of my mother In-Soon Kim with love. She may have been weak as a woman, but very strong as a mother. I grew up seeing how much she gave up for her children and how strong she was through her life of weakness. She taught me what it means to live in weakness—not by word, but through tears and sweat. So I dedicate this book to honor my mother’s life."

Messiah in Weakness: 

A Portrait of Jesus from the Perspective of the Dispossessed

[published in 2016]

Learning

[photo courtesy of Dr. Jungsik Cha] 

The best part of learning is to read and read and read. Then think and reflect and talk with others. Your learning does not depend on someone's famous lecture. You can learn or unlearn something, all through your struggle and your decision. There is no shortcut to great learning. Test everything!

Matthean Jesus and Lukan Jesus

In Matthew, Jesus appears to be a very Jewish Messiah who came to fulfill the prophets or the laws. He sends out his disciples only to the Jews, saying: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10:5-6). Again in Matt 15:21-28, he says that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, refusing to hear the Canaanite woman's request. He even says it is not fair to throw children's food to the dogs, calling her dog. Even his disciples intervened in this and asked him to send her away. This view of Jesus represents Jewish exclusivism. But by her persistent, challenging faith, Jesus changed his mind accepted her request, and healed her daughter. He was transformed. Finally, he commissions his disciples to all nations after the resurrection (28:16-20). This is how the Gospel of Matthew ends. We see the very different Jesus here, different from his earlier view about the mission.

In Luke, Jesus appears to be the Messiah for the world, especially for the Gentiles. In his early ministry at Luke 4:16-30, he proclaimed the good news to the Gentiles, saying that Elijah and Elisha were sent only to the Gentiles (a widow at Zarephath and Namaan of Syria) even though there were many widows and lepers in Israel. Obviously, Jesus's hometown people at Nazareth were very furious about Jesus's sermon. He got almost killed but escaped that scene. Here we see the opposite character of the Matthean Jesus. The Lukan Jesus has a preferential option for the Gentiles. This is because Luke tries to reach the Gentile audience.

Naive religion

Jesus did not come simply to die for sinners but to testify to the truth of God (John 18:37). His death is the result of what he said and did, proclaiming God's rule, not Caesar's or any human master's. In other words, his "dangerous" teaching and act cost him a life.

In 2 Cor 13:4, Paul also admits the fact that Jesus was crucified "by or from weakness" (eks astheneias). That is, he insinuates that Jesus could not overcome Roman violence because he had to continue preaching God's kingdom against Rome. But the crucifixion is not the end of the story about Jesus. Paul says without a stop in the same verse: "But [Jesus] lives by the power of God."

Given the above view of Jesus, Paul's central message is that Christians have to imitate Christ in his faith and spirit. They must be led by the Spirit, submitting to the law of God. They must die with Christ and live to God. Christians (followers of Messiah Jesus) are not mere believers of Jesus or beneficiaries of him but followers of his life and faith. This implies that they are not welcomed by the enemies of God's justice, running the risk of losing their lives because of their testimony to God. But they should not give up on the work of God because God is their true hope.

TRUTH

As for me, truth is deeply experiential, confessional, and contextual. It should be engaged in a community that he or she lives, embodied in a world beyond his or her immediate community, and testified at all costs because of the love of God for all people. According to John's Gospel, Jesus was born to testify to the truth (John 18:37).

Reimagining the body of Christ

This book questions all familiar readings of “the body of Christ” in Paul’s letters and helps readers rethink the context and the purpose of this phrase. Against the view that Paul’s body of Christ metaphor mainly has to do with a metaphorical organism that emphasizes unity, Kim argues that the body of Christ metaphor has more to do with the embodiment of God’s gospel through Christ. While Deutero-Pauline Letters and Pastoral Letters use this body metaphor mainly as an organism, Paul’s undisputed letters, in particular, 1 Corinthians and Romans, treat it differently with a focus on Christic embodiment. Reexamining the diverse use of “the body of Christ” in Paul’s undisputed letters, this book argues that Paul’s body of Christ metaphor has to do with the proclamation of God’s gospel.

“Concisely describing how ‘the body of Christ’ must be reimagined as ‘the Christic body,’ Kim’s argumentation has wide-reaching implications for those of us who fight for liberation and justice within church and society. Providing a launching point that will allow scholars and pastors to teach and model ‘soft-union’ in Christ while uplifting particularity in communion, Kim’s interpretation of Pauline theology and ethics will enliven conversations in the classroom and the church for years to come.
—Angela Parker, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology

“Yung Suk Kim offers fresh insight into the heart of Paul’s theology: the body of Christ. Interestingly, Kim challenges the reader by reconstructing Christ’s body as a union in solidarity with those on the margins, especially in the hierarchical systems prevalent in the Roman imperial society and culture. No doubt, his theological reimagination can empower today’s Christians to resist unity without diversity in the so-called post-truth era of Trump. This little but powerful book thus holds onto hope for embodying Paul’s teaching in a more responsible manner.”
—Sung Uk Lim, Assistant Professor of New Testament, College of Theology & United Graduate School of Theology, Yonsei University

"With illuminating analysis of key texts, Kim offers a concise and timely understanding of the body of Christ in Paul's letters that challenges hegemonic models and reminds us that care for the poor and pursuing justice for the weak of society are at the heart of the gospel and Christian living."

—Timothy Milinovich, Associate Professor & Chair of Theology, Director of Catholic Studies, Dominican University

Link to Amazon

The Intersection of Religion and Politics

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.