Preaching on Social Suffering: Formulating a Homiletical Theology for the Contemporary Korean Context
Ebook
In this book, Jeremy Kim criticizes current Korean and Asian American homiletical strategies for their lack of a theological point of view on social suffering. He argues that preachers must develop an alternative theological-homiletical viewpoint on social suffering, one that has pastoral and prophetic approaches. These two approaches offer people a refuge and a voice, not only in the church community but also in the larger social community. Thus, the author suggests that preachers adopt the biblical lament, highlighting its dual tasks of compassion (the pastoral dimension) and resistance (the prophetic dimension). The author, who is a non-Western Asian American preacher, also incorporates East Asian philosophical and hermeneutical research on ren, a positive element of Confucianism, into his argument. He applies this core concept of Confucianism to the preacher's homiletical strategy toward social suffering. Thus, the author proposes that Korean preachers should recover ren, which contains sincere compassion for others as well as a voice of resistance that reveals unjust social structures as the cause of social suffering and expresses both within Uri (we), the community.
“Jeremy Kim offers deep insight into an issue that is timely not only for the Korean church but also for churches all over the world: social suffering. Kim suggests a theologically insightful, constructive, homiletical, and pastoral response, urging the church to lament with those who suffer, and as such, to engage in a response of compassion and resistance. This book is a must-read for any preacher who wants to mourn with those who mourn and raise their voice against injustice.”
—Armand Léon van Ommen, senior lecturer in practical theology, University of Aberdeen
“This book is a theological and homiletical response to social suffering in South Korea through an intercultural dialogue between the Christian practice of lament and the Confucian virtue of ren. It is a valuable resource for scholars and preachers, not only in Korea, but also in other parts of the globe when they critically engage the issue of social suffering in their particular sociocultural contexts.”
—Eunjoo Mary Kim, professor of homiletics, Vanderbilt Divinity School
“Preaching on Social Suffering helps deepen the work of preaching the gospel in times of shared crisis. By detailing the historical nature of suffering in the Korean context, Jeremy Kim helps preachers to see, in a more profound way, the role memory plays in the way social suffering is both understood and addressed contextually in the pulpit. Kim’s book embodies real homiletical-theological depth and a deep, abiding love for suffering hearers.”
—David Schnasa Jacobsen, Boston University; director, Homiletical Theology Project
- Title: Preaching on Social Suffering: Formulating a Homiletical Theology for the Contemporary Korean Context
- Authors: Sally A. Brown, Jeremy Kangsan Kim
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666743159, 9781666743142, 9781666743135, 1666743151, 1666743143, 1666743135
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666743159
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-03-15T22:33:49Z
Jeremy Kangsan Kim received a PhD degree in practical theology (homiletics) at the University of Aberdeen. His academic interests center on homiletical theology based on Western/East Asian philosophy and hermeneutics, sociology, and psychology, especially in the socio-political and socio-cultural issues in both North American and Korean context, hoping to reshape contemporary Asian-American and Korean preaching.