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Christian liberal arts scholar Professor Kim Hak-cheol's socio-political and cultural interpretation of the Bible
Reading the Bible to renew our faith and existence!

What does the Bible say? How do we read it today? Professor Kim Hak-cheol of Yonsei University, a New Testament scholar and Christian liberal arts scholar, proposes "reading the Bible with your hands."
“Let’s put aside our existing prejudices and preconceptions and listen seriously, word by word, to what the Bible says.”
From the tyranny of Herod and Archelaus, to the oracle of the Jewish leader's prophecy about the end of Rome, to the bloody horrors of the Jewish-Roman War, to Paul's fierce rhetorical arguments in the Athenian Agora, this book broadens the horizons of biblical understanding by introducing key events and scenes from the time when the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds clashed.
This is a gesture that seeks to bridge the gap between 'academic theology' and 'faith,' and it is also an invitation to move beyond rigid faith and romantic faith and enter into a relationship of 'communion and lingering together.'

If a promising young scholar studying geology were to lecture in a graduate seminar, every student would listen, understand, and try to write down what he said.
But the case of theologians is quite different.
When a veteran scholar who has studied theology for decades begins lecturing to first-year college students, some students immediately raise their hands.
They recite a few Bible verses on the spot and then criticize the old professor's views, saying that they are 'biblically wrong.'
Examining instances where the academic nature of theology is suppressed by popular stereotypes allows us to understand why academic authority, which extends beyond the confines of academia, tends to limit its social commentary to confirming existing "biblical views."
--- p.14

Paul was a “believer who seeks understanding” who valued discussion, argument, and persuasion.
He not only appealed to the souls of the people, but was also not lazy in seeking their rational consent.
--- p.29

The authority of the Bible is an event that occurs when the confession that the Bible was written by the inspiration of God arises from an inner spontaneity, when the words of the Bible discern right from wrong in my life as the word of God, and when I feel joy in living according to the word.
--- p.46

At the time the New Testament was written, the Mediterranean world was in a political system different from our democracy.
Rome built a vast empire from a single small city-state, and to maintain this empire, they refined their own unique model of governance.
Soon, the Roman Empire sought to establish a specific relationship that could be understood as the so-called "patronage" model, allowing one emperor to easily rule over the people of a vast empire, and for a small city-state like Rome to effectively govern a vast territory.
--- p.76

The words, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s,” which have been interpreted as a key text in relation to tax issues and worldly government, always serve to call a new-age audience to confess their faith rather than to provide any doctrinal details.
Believers in this new situation must answer before the people through their faith and religious wisdom what is ‘Caesar’s’ and what is ‘God’s.’
--- p.88

Not only did he kill his wife, whom he loved dearly, but he also murdered his own sons.
The reason was very simple: Herod's own life and position were threatened.
A Roman who knew Herod sneered, “It would be better to be born a pig of Herod than a son of Herod.”
Herod died in extreme fear, and he even devised a plan to make sure that no one would cry for him when he died.
Soon after his death, he arrested all the influential people of Judea.
And he commanded that they should be killed with him when he died, so that Jerusalem would be filled with weeping.
--- p.109

Of course, Christianity is not like Judaism.
Christianity's successful mission to the Gentiles laid the historical foundation for thinking of itself as something different from Judaism, and the traditions and stories of Jesus encouraged believers to interpret and practice God and the world in ways different from those of rabbinic Judaism.
However, the way early Christianity sought to break away from Judaism was not through unconditional hatred and opposition.
Christianity did not grow into an anti-thesis religion established by hating someone or opposing something.
--- p.121~122

Through this genealogy, Matthew ultimately focuses his readers' attention on God, who is at work behind Jesus' ministry.
Readers discover a God who bestows the grace of the covenant upon humanity and who faithfully drives history toward the goals of that covenant despite human sin and failure.
The genealogy says:
Do not boast about King David.
He is just a weak human being, and it is God who raises him up and takes him down.
Don't be arrogant when you look at the history of men.
Your lives have been continued through the women God uses.
Don't be proud of your superior lineage.
You are descendants of the prostitutes of Jericho, the foreign women whom God used.
Don't advertise that you are elite.
If it had not been for that wandering widow who found mercy, you would not be alive today.
Don't talk about purity.
You are the ones who borrowed 'Uriyah's wife'.
Don't talk about etiquette between people.
God accomplishes his will through the daughter-in-law who seduces her father-in-law.
The genealogy of Jesus is a clear illustration of the kingdom of heaven invading this earth, shaking the world's order and preconceptions.
--- p.151~152

Matthew saw the propaganda of the emperor's justice, victory, and hope on coins, in inscriptions, in imperial ceremonies, and in various official gatherings.
And then he must have shook his head.
The Emperor's justice was founded on injustice, and his victory was a victory made possible only by the miserable defeat of others.
His hope is built on the despair of others.
Matthew proclaims the justice, victory, and hope of Jesus instead of the emperor.
That justice is a justice that drives out injustice by targeting the weak, and its victory is God's eschatological reversal.
Therefore, Jesus' rule is a hope even for the 'Gentiles' who reject the rule of other nations.
--- p.166~167

When Jesus called his people, he must have felt sorry for those who were content to obtain historical information about him.
Jesus wanted to give us not only his blood, but also his eyes, ears, and skin.
Jesus with his own eyes, his own ears, his own soul, then Jesus.
--- p.191

Returning to the early church? The New Testament encourages us to envision a new heaven and a new earth, but ignores the instinct to return to Eden, the original homeland.
Let's go back to the early church? The church God desires is rushing forward from the far reaches of history.
--- p.205~206

This passage is usually misunderstood as indicating that God is pleased with even a small group of two or three people.
However, in the Gospel of Matthew, this passage can be said to be a passage that reveals the reality of the Matthew community, where even just two people desperately needed to come together and unite in His name.
Even at a time when faith and miracles were raging like wildfire, it was not easy for believers to unite in His name.
As mentioned earlier, these texts reflect the situation in the Matthean community, where mutual criticism and condemnation were intense.

--- p.219