Just published: Paul S. Chung, "The Cave and the Butterfly: An Intercultural Theory of Interpretation and Religion in the Public Sphere" (Wipf & Stock, January 2011):
http://wipfandstock.com/store/The_Cave_and_the_Butterfly_An_Intercultural_Theory_of_Interpretation_and_Religion_in_the_Public_Sphere
Publisher's description: "This study offers an intercultural theory of interpretation and religion. It does so by bringing Western and East Asian traditions into dialogue regarding the nature of interpretation. The result of this innovative study is a theory of interpretation which integrates the socially embodied dimension of human life with the study of hermeneutics and religion in post-foundational and cross-cultural perspective. Toward this end, Paul Chung offers a constructive theology of divine speech-acts in a manner more amenable to the social-public sphere than other proposals. In all of this he deeply considers intercultural horizon of interpretation between West and East [sic] and its implications for a theology of interpretation. The result is a truly theological theory of interpretation that takes seriously the issues of intercultural studies and their intersection with Christian doctrine."
Endorsements: "Public Theology has become an extraordinarily challenging task that few can attain today. Paul Chung, who already has demonstrated sensitive and comprehensive readings of theology and philosophy through a Barthian/Bonhoefferian proficiency contributes a compelling approach in this volume. The public of theology is no longer mono-centric but multi-centric and Chung masterfully links the Western and Asian polarities. The coherency of his account does the reader great dialogical benefit. This volume is indeed a real achievement of East/West theology as it masterfully maintains the centrality of revelation through Jesus Christ. Public culture is rife with conflict and as such is reflective of its all-too-human condition as the massa perditionis. Chung shows how this condition of the human can be redemptively transformed through taking the Word of God with utmost hermeneutical seriousness." (Kurt Anders Richardson, McMaster University)
"This book transcends hermeneutics in any conventional sense. In response to the crisis of modern technological existence and the contradictions of global capitalism, Chung guides the reader on an intercultural quest for authentic and responsible humanity. The wisdom of the East reorients us to our place in the natural world, and the truth of the incarnate Word sends us into the public sphere to encounter God in the face of the least (Minjung). We are invited to open ourselves to the way of embodied emancipatory praxis." (Craig L. Nessan, Wartburg Theological Seminary)
"Paul Chung [...] joins contemporaries of antiquity: Plato (the Greek from the Western world and his metaphor of the cave) and Laozi (the Chinese from the Eastern world and his metaphor of the butterfly), and interprets them through the eyes of each other." (H. Martin Rumscheidt, Atlantic School of Theology)
Paul S. Chung is Associate Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Luther Seminary.
Showing posts with label minjung theology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label minjung theology. Show all posts
31 January 2011
29 March 2010
Book: A Protestant Theology of Passion: Korean Minjung Theology Revisited
Just published: Volker Küster, "A Protestant Theology of Passion: Korean Minjung Theology Revisited" (Brill, March 2010):
www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=31210
Publisher's description: "Minjung Theology is introduced here through theological biographical sketches of its main representatives. They formulated a protestant liberation theology under the South Korean military dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s. Their strong emphasis on the suffering (han) of the people (minjung) led them to the formulation of a genuine theology of the cross in Asia. Volker Küster explores the reception of Minjung Theology and raises the question what happened to it during the democratization process and the rise of globalization in the 1990s. Interpretations of art works by Minjung artists provide deep insights into these transformation processes. Prologue and epilogue abstract from the Korean case and offer a concise theory of contextual theology in an intercultural framework."
Endorsements: "This important book provides the first thorough academic discussion of Korean Minjung theology in any Western language, introducing key Korean theologians in the movement, in relationship to one another and to contextual theological developments elsewhere. A unique feature of this study is Küster's use of visual art as an inculturated expression of Minjung theology in its own right. His contention that contextual theologies are 'open systems' suggests the continuing relevance of Minjung theology for our 'glocalized' future." (Philip L. Wickeri, San Francisco Theological Seminary/Graduate Theological Union)
"'A Protestant Theology of Passion' chronicles an important movement in Korean theology that has significance far beyond the borders of that country. True to Minjung method, Küster includes not only texts, but art and poetry as sources for this theology as well. In doing so, he makes an important contribution to the wider discussion of contextual theology today." (Robert Schreiter, Catholic Theological Union; here and above bold removed, here italics removed)
Volker Küster is Professor of Crosscultural Theology at the Protestant Theological University in Kampen, the Netherlands.
www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=31210
Publisher's description: "Minjung Theology is introduced here through theological biographical sketches of its main representatives. They formulated a protestant liberation theology under the South Korean military dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s. Their strong emphasis on the suffering (han) of the people (minjung) led them to the formulation of a genuine theology of the cross in Asia. Volker Küster explores the reception of Minjung Theology and raises the question what happened to it during the democratization process and the rise of globalization in the 1990s. Interpretations of art works by Minjung artists provide deep insights into these transformation processes. Prologue and epilogue abstract from the Korean case and offer a concise theory of contextual theology in an intercultural framework."
Endorsements: "This important book provides the first thorough academic discussion of Korean Minjung theology in any Western language, introducing key Korean theologians in the movement, in relationship to one another and to contextual theological developments elsewhere. A unique feature of this study is Küster's use of visual art as an inculturated expression of Minjung theology in its own right. His contention that contextual theologies are 'open systems' suggests the continuing relevance of Minjung theology for our 'glocalized' future." (Philip L. Wickeri, San Francisco Theological Seminary/Graduate Theological Union)
"'A Protestant Theology of Passion' chronicles an important movement in Korean theology that has significance far beyond the borders of that country. True to Minjung method, Küster includes not only texts, but art and poetry as sources for this theology as well. In doing so, he makes an important contribution to the wider discussion of contextual theology today." (Robert Schreiter, Catholic Theological Union; here and above bold removed, here italics removed)
Volker Küster is Professor of Crosscultural Theology at the Protestant Theological University in Kampen, the Netherlands.
09 March 2010
Book: Constructing Irregular Theology: Bamboo and Minjung in East Asian Perspective
Quite pricey: Paul S. Chung, "Constructing Irregular Theology: Bamboo and Minjung in East Asian Perspective" (Brill, October 2009):
www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=31367
Publisher's description: "The project of constructing Asian irregular theology in East Asian perspective, based on life-word of Bamboo and social political reality of minjung, embraces Dr. Chung's cross-cultural existence as he develops his long-standing interest and expertise in Christian minjung theology in new ways with the image of bamboo as a symbol for the theological perspective of grass roots marginality. Using the ancient Chinese story 'The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove,' Dr. Chung engages with Christian eschatological discourse to support an aesthetical-utopian theological ethics that is opposed to an ethics concerned with legitimation of a socio-economic status quo. In addition, Dr. Chung's develops [sic] his deep commitment to the Lutheran theology of the cross and the suffering Christ through the Buddhist concept of dukkha (suffering) to create, in the end, a genuinely East Asian contextual theology".
Endorsements: "Paul Chung once described himself as having a Confucian mind, Taoist guts, Buddhist heart, and Christian body. This book embraces Chung's whole being as he appropriates and develops the ancient Chinese story [...] of scholars who fled the accommodation of Confucian ethics in support of the tyranny and political chaos of the third century. Asian irregular theology, built on the image of bamboo and minjung, marks a new model in constructing Asian contextual theology in light of the irregularity of God's speech event and from the perspective of grass roots marginality." (Elizabeth A. Leeper, Wartburg Theological Seminary)
"Chung constructs an interpretive and irregular theology provocatively in a global context. He is a creative, original, and thought-provoking pioneer [...], making a great contribution for a contemporary discussion of inculturation and emancipation." (Wang Zhicheng, Zhejiang University)
"One of the major issues facing the Christian Church today has to do with a right understanding of the relationship between Christ and Christian faith on the one hand, and the other great world religions on the other. The tired trilogy of exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist is woefully inadequate, but nothing has come along to replace it. In our multi-cultural and postmodern world of many religions and worldviews, the gospel itself calls us to imagine creative, new theological proposals. The Korean-American theologian Paul S. Chung has developed such a creative theological proposal which he calls 'irregular theology,' that is, a theology of God's irregular grace which moves beyond the walls of Christendom to speak a fresh word to us in the religious wisdom of other cultures (especially Asian). This book explores and develops his proposal in several important directions. The resulting synthesis of many voices and traditions is bracing, controversial, and rewarding. The careful reader will come away with new insights and new questions." (Alan G. Padgett, Luther Seminary; all endorsements originally in italics)
Paul S. Chung is Associate Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Luther Seminary.
www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=31367
Publisher's description: "The project of constructing Asian irregular theology in East Asian perspective, based on life-word of Bamboo and social political reality of minjung, embraces Dr. Chung's cross-cultural existence as he develops his long-standing interest and expertise in Christian minjung theology in new ways with the image of bamboo as a symbol for the theological perspective of grass roots marginality. Using the ancient Chinese story 'The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove,' Dr. Chung engages with Christian eschatological discourse to support an aesthetical-utopian theological ethics that is opposed to an ethics concerned with legitimation of a socio-economic status quo. In addition, Dr. Chung's develops [sic] his deep commitment to the Lutheran theology of the cross and the suffering Christ through the Buddhist concept of dukkha (suffering) to create, in the end, a genuinely East Asian contextual theology".
Endorsements: "Paul Chung once described himself as having a Confucian mind, Taoist guts, Buddhist heart, and Christian body. This book embraces Chung's whole being as he appropriates and develops the ancient Chinese story [...] of scholars who fled the accommodation of Confucian ethics in support of the tyranny and political chaos of the third century. Asian irregular theology, built on the image of bamboo and minjung, marks a new model in constructing Asian contextual theology in light of the irregularity of God's speech event and from the perspective of grass roots marginality." (Elizabeth A. Leeper, Wartburg Theological Seminary)
"Chung constructs an interpretive and irregular theology provocatively in a global context. He is a creative, original, and thought-provoking pioneer [...], making a great contribution for a contemporary discussion of inculturation and emancipation." (Wang Zhicheng, Zhejiang University)
"One of the major issues facing the Christian Church today has to do with a right understanding of the relationship between Christ and Christian faith on the one hand, and the other great world religions on the other. The tired trilogy of exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist is woefully inadequate, but nothing has come along to replace it. In our multi-cultural and postmodern world of many religions and worldviews, the gospel itself calls us to imagine creative, new theological proposals. The Korean-American theologian Paul S. Chung has developed such a creative theological proposal which he calls 'irregular theology,' that is, a theology of God's irregular grace which moves beyond the walls of Christendom to speak a fresh word to us in the religious wisdom of other cultures (especially Asian). This book explores and develops his proposal in several important directions. The resulting synthesis of many voices and traditions is bracing, controversial, and rewarding. The careful reader will come away with new insights and new questions." (Alan G. Padgett, Luther Seminary; all endorsements originally in italics)
Paul S. Chung is Associate Professor of Mission and World Christianity at Luther Seminary.
31 January 2010
Book: Minjung and Process: Minjung Theology in a Dialogue with Process Thought
Minjung theology is Korean political/liberation theology. Books (in English) about it are rather rare. In 2009, Hiheon Kim's "Minjung and Process: Minjung Theology in a Dialogue with Process Thought" was published by Peter Lang:
www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?vID=11735
Publisher's description: "This book reconstructs the legacy of Korean minjung theology by reformulating its essential ideas in a dialogue with process thought. In a minimal sense, this study is a theological reinterpretation of the doctrine of the minjung messiah, an idea which historically suffered from a misunderstanding that minjung theology created a 'messianic confusion' while replacing christology and soteriology by a radical anthropology. This erroneous conception occurred when the idea was placed within the philosophically dualistic framework of traditional doctrines in which the work of minjung is totally separated from the work of Christ. In order to avoid such a dualistic understanding, the author critically adopts process panentheism and makes minjung ideas more communicable and more comprehensive in current theological, religious, and philosophical debates. Beyond defending the idea of the minjung messiah, he also argues for an inclusive minjung hermeneutics that promotes the fundamental insight of minjung theology, in philosophical clarity. Through minjung hermeneutics, minjung theology expands its practical concern and overcomes the theoretical nihilism in postmodern studies."
Hiheon Kim received his PhD in 2007 from Claremont Graduate University (Philosophy of Religion and Theology programme). He served as a local pastor over ten years in Korea and the US and is now teaching at Hanshin University, Osan, Korea.
www.peterlang.com/index.cfm?vID=11735
Publisher's description: "This book reconstructs the legacy of Korean minjung theology by reformulating its essential ideas in a dialogue with process thought. In a minimal sense, this study is a theological reinterpretation of the doctrine of the minjung messiah, an idea which historically suffered from a misunderstanding that minjung theology created a 'messianic confusion' while replacing christology and soteriology by a radical anthropology. This erroneous conception occurred when the idea was placed within the philosophically dualistic framework of traditional doctrines in which the work of minjung is totally separated from the work of Christ. In order to avoid such a dualistic understanding, the author critically adopts process panentheism and makes minjung ideas more communicable and more comprehensive in current theological, religious, and philosophical debates. Beyond defending the idea of the minjung messiah, he also argues for an inclusive minjung hermeneutics that promotes the fundamental insight of minjung theology, in philosophical clarity. Through minjung hermeneutics, minjung theology expands its practical concern and overcomes the theoretical nihilism in postmodern studies."
Hiheon Kim received his PhD in 2007 from Claremont Graduate University (Philosophy of Religion and Theology programme). He served as a local pastor over ten years in Korea and the US and is now teaching at Hanshin University, Osan, Korea.
09 November 2009
Recent books on German "new political theology"
Volume 5 of the German "Jahrbuch Politische Theologie" (literally, "Yearbook" Political Theology, but only really published four times since 1995) was released in 2008 under the title "Politische Theologie – gegengelesen" (hard to translate, as "gegenlesen" can mean anything from proof-reading to cross-examination; the book's intention seems to lie in corrections, criticism, expansion, even a re-focusing).
The volume's co-editor – with Bernd Wacker –, Jürgen Manemann (Professor of Christian Weltanschauung, Religious and Cultural Theory at the University of Erfurt), is a former student of Johann Baptist Metz, who introduced the concept of "new political theology" in the 1960s (without obvious reference to Carl Schmitt's prior "old" political theology). Manemann and Wacker are also involved in the running of the "Ahauser Forum Politische Theologie", a series of events that have been organized sporadically in the German town of Ahaus since 1998.
This book has now become available for perusal on Google Book Search:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XCAxxyXHtOYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false
There you will also find a list of contents and contributors.
On occasion of Metz' 80th birthday last year, the LIT Verlag (publishers of the "Jahrbuch" series) also released, in 2009, an edited collection, "Theologisch-politische Vergewisserungen: Ein Arbeitsbuch aus dem Schüler- und Freundeskreis von Johann Baptist Metz" (Theological-political [self-]re-assurances/verifications: a workbook from the circle of students and friends of Johann Baptist Metz), edited by Thomas Polednitschek, Michael J. Rainer, and José Antonio Zamora:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=a4GcbbBQCbQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Like the "Jahrbuch", this collection seeks to re-assess and further develop Metz' concept of a political theology "after Auschwitz", influenced by Marxism, defined by the "dangerous memory" of the suffering of humans and Christ alike, confronting both the past and the future.
Two more monographs on political theology have already been announced by the LIT Verlag and will be published shortly: Thomas Polednitschek's "Der politische Sokrates: Erfahrungen eines Philosophischen Praktikers an der Grenze zu Psychotherapie und Politischer Theologie" (The political Socrates: Experiences of a philosophical practitioner on the border to psychotherapy and political theology); and Seok-Guy Lee's "'Leidenserinnerung' in der Politischen Theologie von J.B. Metz und 'Leiderfahrung' in der Minjung-Theologie Südkoreas" ("Memory of suffering" in the political theology of J.B. Metz and "experience of suffering" in the Minjung theology of South Korea).
The volume's co-editor – with Bernd Wacker –, Jürgen Manemann (Professor of Christian Weltanschauung, Religious and Cultural Theory at the University of Erfurt), is a former student of Johann Baptist Metz, who introduced the concept of "new political theology" in the 1960s (without obvious reference to Carl Schmitt's prior "old" political theology). Manemann and Wacker are also involved in the running of the "Ahauser Forum Politische Theologie", a series of events that have been organized sporadically in the German town of Ahaus since 1998.
This book has now become available for perusal on Google Book Search:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XCAxxyXHtOYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false
There you will also find a list of contents and contributors.
On occasion of Metz' 80th birthday last year, the LIT Verlag (publishers of the "Jahrbuch" series) also released, in 2009, an edited collection, "Theologisch-politische Vergewisserungen: Ein Arbeitsbuch aus dem Schüler- und Freundeskreis von Johann Baptist Metz" (Theological-political [self-]re-assurances/verifications: a workbook from the circle of students and friends of Johann Baptist Metz), edited by Thomas Polednitschek, Michael J. Rainer, and José Antonio Zamora:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=a4GcbbBQCbQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Like the "Jahrbuch", this collection seeks to re-assess and further develop Metz' concept of a political theology "after Auschwitz", influenced by Marxism, defined by the "dangerous memory" of the suffering of humans and Christ alike, confronting both the past and the future.
Two more monographs on political theology have already been announced by the LIT Verlag and will be published shortly: Thomas Polednitschek's "Der politische Sokrates: Erfahrungen eines Philosophischen Praktikers an der Grenze zu Psychotherapie und Politischer Theologie" (The political Socrates: Experiences of a philosophical practitioner on the border to psychotherapy and political theology); and Seok-Guy Lee's "'Leidenserinnerung' in der Politischen Theologie von J.B. Metz und 'Leiderfahrung' in der Minjung-Theologie Südkoreas" ("Memory of suffering" in the political theology of J.B. Metz and "experience of suffering" in the Minjung theology of South Korea).
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