Toward a Christotao : Christ ad theanthropocosmic Tao

김흡영 강남대학교 2002 우원사상 논총 Vol.11 No.-

생명의 존엄성 : 인간배아 줄기세포 연구 논쟁에 관한 신학적 고찰

김흡영 연세대학교 신과대학 2006 신학논단 Vol.43 No.-

The human embryonic stem cell debates since the beginning have been rhetorical, full of gene-hype. However, these debates imply serious theological and political hermeneutics in the definition of human life, the dignity of life, respect, and women. It also demands a reassessment of the Western Christian anthropology of human personhood (person as innate, person as relational, and person as proleptic). From the East Asian theological perspective, however, the dignity of life implies the imperative for a life to realize itself to the fullest end of what it ought to be. This involves the diligent practice of sanctification and self-cultivation in mindfulness (or respect). A researcher in a laboratory is also a human person who needs to engage in this rigorous practice of mindfulness. This may be the prerequisite to exercise one’s freedom to help other forms of life accomplish their imperative for self-realization. But this denotes not so much a self-defined created co-creator self-consciously stretching and enabling to create techno-sapiens or the superhuman cyborg, as a humble cosmic co-sojourner participating in the great transformative movement of theanthropocosmic trajectory, i.e., the Tao (the Way). The sanctity of life from an East Asian Christian perspective means a fulfillment and embodiment of the proleptic Tao (道), in its own freedom of life (wu-wei 無爲). After all, both science and religion are taos for life, the great openness for cosmic vitality (saeng-myeong 生命).

Death and Immortality:

Heup Young Kim,Kyoon Huh 성공회대학교 신학연구소 2017 Madang: Journal of Contextual Theology Vol.28 No.-

The transhumanist notion of digital immortality (mind-uploading) is a misnomer and conceptually invalid, because it is based on a flawed presupposition of binary distinction between life and death. The multifaceted nature of death involving single cells, multicellular organisms, and human brains shows that the process of death plays a crucial role in sustaining life. Immortality without death pursued by transhumanists is an erroneous concept not supported by biological appraisal of death. East Asian religions and theology generally agree with this claim. Thus, we further postulate that death is not only an integral part of life but also a gracious gift that enables a life to grow into its higher domain; namely , mortality is the presupposition of an elevated life and so eventually immortality

The Study of Confucianism as a Theological Task

Heup Young Kim 한국신학교육연구원 1995 Korea Journal of Theology Vol.1 No.-

Embracing and Embodying God s Hospitality Today in Asia

Heup Young Kim 성공회대학교 신학연구소 2015 Madang: Journal of Contextual Theology Vol.23 No.-

Confucius said in the beginning of theAnalects: Isit not a pleasure, having learned something, to try it out at due intervals? Is it not a joy to have friends come from afar? Is it not gentlemanly (a way of profound person) not to take offence when others fail to appreciate your abilities? (The Analects 1)2 These famous statements fittingly express this great event of the 7th Congress of Asian Theologians. The Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS) is established precisely to giveChristian scholars and theologians in Asia the opportunity to enjoy these pleasures. Today, we have friends who have come from afar, from the East, the West, and the South. We are going to celebrate the pleasures of learning something together, trying it out at due intervals. With this genuine joy as a Confucian-Christian host, I express mydeepest welcome to you, friends from four corners.Furthermore, the theme of this congress is hospitality. When I was requested by the continuing committee to give this talk, I was puzzled as to whether I am the right person to do this. I was afraid that I would violate the attitude of a profound person dictated in the statements as the third condition, by pushing our dear friends to appreciate my abilities.Furthermore, so far, I have not been somuch hospitableas suspicious and critical of the so called “hospitality” ofexpansive Christianity.My preparation for this talk was not so enjoyable but rather painful. But itofferedme an opportunity to recall and reassess my Christian journey from the beginning. And it radically challenged my theology,still under construction, which I call a theology of Dao.

생명,생태,신학: 신,우주,인간(삼태극)의 묘합(도의 신학)

김흡영(Heup Young Kim) 한국기독교학회 2004 한국기독교신학논총 Vol.31 No.-

Rampant ecological crisis is threatening the whole life system on the globe. The extraordinary weather changes in the last Summer clearly manifested that this threat becomes accelerated. Life and ecology are indeed two great theological subjects in this century, also the themes for this 32nd Annual Meeting of the Korea Association of the Christian Studies. The signs of time urgently invoke us to construct a theology of life (or ecotheology) in a new key to properly deal with these subjects. To this end, this paper proposes three theological changes; (1) a theanthropocosmic vision, (2) a theotao with the Tao as a new alternative root-metaphor, and (3) a pneumatosociocosmic biography of the exploited life as a major theme for the theology of life. In the last 500 years, Western Christian theologies have lost the concern for the creation world by the influences of the Protestant overemphasis on personal salvation and anthropocentric mentality of the Enlightenment.("a turn to the subject") Western theologians have been trying to correct this mistake by "a turn to the earth" and formulate earth - or cosmo -centric ecotheologies. However, this simple shift of the center of the fundamental vision from humanity to the earth is an insufficient solution for the complex ecological problems. For it is not only a continuation of Greek dualism and either-or thinking, recognized as a primary metaphysical reason to bring this ecological disaster, but also betrays a reductionism and essentialism, recognized as another reason for the crisis. The reality of universe is rather dynamic and relational, consisting of the Triads of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, closer to the traditional East Asian cosmology. Hence, I argue for a major theological paradigm change toward a theanthropocosmic vision that believes that God, humanity, and cosmos are mutually interrelated but irreducible three axes of universe. The logos that has flourished and dominated as the root-metaphor for Westem Christian theology for almost two millennia now has reached its limit, as postmodernism vehemently criticizes. As feminist theologies have proved, the logos theology is problematic and defective for ecotheology.(eg., the ontology of the hierarchy of being) I argue both for the adoption of the Tao, a cardinal East Asian metaphor, an alternative root - metaphor for Christian theology and for a construction of `theo - tao`(God as the Tao), a new paradigm of theology of lie that embraces and explicates properly the theanthropocosmic vision. Finally, I argue that a pneumatosociocosmic biography of the exploited life should be a major theme for the theology of life. In this serious ecological crisis, a theology of life need to be based on a strong Christian spirituality to enable to resist against human selfish mischiefs in the merciless process of genocide, biocide, and ecocide. It should give a preferential option to the exploited lie that include not only minjung and women but also the wounded ecosystem and endangered life species. It need to hear and tell pneumatosociocosmic biographies of the exploited life, the ecological stories of suffering, oppression, and exploitation. These narratives should be a good point of departure for a theology of life to explore wisdom with the Christian spirituality of hope and resurrection to execute a sociocosmic transformative praxis to healing the wounded mother earth.

그리스도교의 중심 이동과 도(道)의 신학

김흡영(Heup Young Kim) 서울대학교 아시아연구소 2012 아시아리뷰 Vol.2 No.2

아직까지도 현대문명을 주도하고 있는 서구사상의 기조는 서구 그리스도교에 있다고 해도 과언이 아니다. 마찬가지로 한국을 비롯하여 중국, 일본, 싱가포르, 베트남 등 전통적으로 유교문화권에 속한 동아시아 국가들을 주도하는 동아시아 문화의 사상적 배경은 유교라고 할 수 있다. 동아시아가 서구가 주도한 현대문명의 만남을 이해하기 위해서는 그리스도교 사상(신학)과 유교 사상(유학)의 비교와 대화가 선행되어야 할 것이다. 더욱이 세계 그리스도교의 중심은 이미 전통적 그리스도교 문화권이던 유럽과 북미주로부터 이탈하여 남미, 아프리카, 아시아로 이동하고 있다. 이러한 새로운 글로벌 그리스도교의 지형에서 특히 유교는 그리스도교가 역사적으로 조우한 종교문화 전통들 중 마지막 변경이라고 할 수 있어, 동아시아의 그리스도교 신학의 중요성이 부각되고 있다. 이 글에서는 서구 문명의 주체라고 할 수 있는 서구 그리스도교 신학과 동아시아 문화의 기조라고 할 수 있는 유교(신유학)와의 만남을 유교-그리스도교 대화의 두 실례(왕양명과 칼 바르트, 이황과 요한 칼뱅)를 통하여 고찰하고, ‘도의 신학’을 이러한 세계 그리스도교의 중심이 이동하는 맥락에서 새로운 글로벌 그리스도교 신학의 한 대안적 패러다임으로 제안하고자 한다. One cannot deny that Western Christianity provided the foundation for the Western thought, and that it continues to influence the contemporary Western civilization. Likewise, Confucianism provided the traditional basis for the East Asian cultures, such as that of Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam. Therefore, a comparative study through the examination of interreligious dialogue between the Confucian thought and the Christian theology is necessary for our understanding of the situation of East Asia vis-a-vis the contemporary Western civilization built upon the Western thought. Furthermore, the center of Christianity is no longer Europe―the home of Christendom―and North America, but rather, it has shifted to Africa, Latin America, and Asia. In this new map of the globalizing Christianity, the East Asian theology becomes significant for its bond with Confucianism, the last of the religio-cultural traditions historically encountered by Christianity. This paper examines the encounter between the Western Christian theology (the basis of Western civilization) and the Confucian thought (the basis of the East Asian cultures), by drawing on two examples of a Confucian-Christian dialogue (between Wang Yang-ming and Karl Barth, and between Yi Hwang and John Calvin). By doing so, this paper argues for the “theology of Tao” as the alternative paradigm in the new context of the center-shifting, globalizing Christianity.

아시아 기독교적 시각에서 본 종교와 과학 간의 대화 : 신학, 동양종교, 자연과학의 삼중적 대화에 대한 제안

김흡영(Kim Heup-Young) 한신대학교 신학사상연구소 2006 신학사상 Vol.0 No.135

  현대과학의 눈부신 발전과 함께 종교와 과학 간의 대화는 지난 30년 동안 엄청난 발전을 가져왔으나, 아직도 대부분의 담론이 서구 기독교적 패러다임을 벗어나지 못하고 있다. 이 글은 아시아 신학의 입장에서 지금까지 종교와 과학의 대화를 주도했던 이러한 서구 중심적 모형을 비판하며, 그 대안으로 새로운 검허의 삼중적 대화 방법론을 제안한다. 먼저 종교와 과학 간의 대화라는 미명 아래 도사리고 있는 유럽 중심적 낭만주의와 선교 팽창주의를 경계하기 위해 서구 패권주의에 대한 의심의 해석학이 필요하다. 아시아뿐만 아니라 세계적으로 다원적 종교 상황에 있는 오늘날 종교와 과학의 대화에 있어서 종교 간의 대화를 포함하는 것은 필수적이다. 그러므로 그 대화는 자연과학, 기독교 신학, 그리고 동양종교가 아우르는 삼중적 대화가 되어야 하며, 패권주의적 태도가 아닌 겸허와 겸손의 자세를 가지고 시행되어야 한다. 종교와 과학의 대화가 유신론을 변호하는 변증학이나 과학의 언어로 교리를 선포하는 교의학이 되어서는 안 된다. 또한 대화의 자리는 형이상학적 관념이나 지식보다는 공동의 참된 인간성을 실현하기 위한 삶의 길, 곧 도(道)를 체현하는 실천적 지혜가 되어야 한다. 더욱이 신과학과 많은 면에서 공명하고 있는 무(無), 허(虛), 공(空), 무위(無爲), 자연(自然) 등과 같은 동양적 개념들이 종교와 과학의 대화에 큰 도움을 줄 수 있다. 또한 동시성(synchronicity)과 같은 역(易)사상은 오늘날 문제가 되고 있는 근대적 서구사상의 시간 중심주의와 인과율적 속박을 극복하는 단초를 제공할 수 있다.   Although the dialogue between religion and science has greatly progressed in last three decades, it still remain within the prevailing paradigm of Western theology From an Asian theological perspective, this paper criticizes this dominant western model of religion and science dialogue, and proposed a trilogue of humility as a new, alternate paradigm. It advocates to employ the hermeneutics of suspicion to resist against Western imperialism, along with the revival of an Eurocentric romanticism and a missiological Crusade under the beautiful name of religion and science dialogue. Also, since the plurality of religions and interfaith encounter is a concrete reality not only in Asia but also in the global world including the hearts of Western Christian cities, interreligious dialogue is essential and imperative for the religion and science dialogue. Including interreligious dialogue, the dialogue should be expanded to a trilogue among natural sciences, Christian theology, and Asian religions through a methodology of humility rather than an evangelical triumphalism. The dialogue between religion and science should be neither an apologetics to defend theism nor to a dogmatics to proclaim a dogma in the language of science. Further, the primary locus for the dialogue between religion and science should not be concerned with theoretical metaphysics (knowledge) but about the way (tao) of life (wisdom) in the common quest for a new cosmic humanity through mutual self-transformation. Furthermore, the East Asian notions of nothingness(無), vacuity(虛), emptiness (空), wu-wei(無爲) would be great resources to advance, upgrade, and globalize the religion and science dialogue. as they become plausible in the new physics and Christian theology. Also, the notions in the book of Change such as synchronicity seem to have a great future to overcome the problematic Western captivity of temporality and causality.

陽明學을 통해 본 神學

김흡영(Kim Heup-young) 한국양명학회 2009 陽明學 Vol.0 No.22

왕양명의 유학과 칼 바르트의 신학은, 그들이 유교와 그리스도교라는 근본적으로 상이한 전통들에 속해 있음에도 불구하고, 놀랍게도 두터운 유사성을 가지고 있다(異中同). 그들의 핵심사상인 수신론과 성화(sanctification)론은 참된 사람이 되는 길, 곧 철저한 인간화(radical humanization)의 도(道)를 추구하는 공동의 기제라는 점에서 서로 공명한다. 양명에 따르면 수신의 목표는 근원적으로 인간 본성 속에 내재되어있는 잠재적 참자기(良知)를 실현하는 것이고, 마찬가지로 바르트에 의하면 성화의 목표도 본래 창조된 인간의 참된 본성(imago Dei, 하느님의 형상)을 실현하는 것이다. 일반적으로 유교는 내재적 측면이 강하고, 그리스도교는 역사성이 강하다. 이러한 차이는 그들이 서로 다른 사유양식, 즉 인간-우주적 비전(天人合一)과 신(神)-역사적 비전(구속사)을 가지고 있기 때문이다. 이러한 근본적 차이에도 불구하고, 양명 유학과 바르트 신학은 다음과 같은 경이적인 유사성을 보여준다: 1) 결정적 패러다임 전환 실행, 2) 철저한 인간화의 구체보편적 방법 제안, 3) 존재론적 실재에 대한 역기능으로서 악의 정의, 그리고 4) 공존적 존재로서 인간이해. 유교의 인간-우주적 비전과 그리스도교의 신-역사적 비전은 동아시아 그리스도교에서 서로 만나서 새로운 신(神)-인간-우주적 비전으로 승화된다. 그리고 인(仁), 성(誠), 도(道)라는 유학적 개념들은 현대 서구신학의 딜레마를 극복하는 사유양식들을 제공할 큰 잠재력을 보여주고 있다. 첫째, 인(仁)의 관계적이고 공동체적 사유양식은 현대인의 개인주의에 대한 적절한 교정책으로서 다른 인종ㆍ성(姓)ㆍ계급ㆍ문화와의 연대와 자연과 생태계와의 결속을 포함한다(에코페미니즘). 둘째, 성(誠)의 사유양식은 철저한 인간화를 위한 자기변화에 대한 구체-보편적 양식(수신, 성화)이 존재론적 지식과 윤리적 실천의 일치(知行合一)에 뿌리를 둔 공동체적 행위라고 제안한다. 이것은 극도로 분화되어 첨예하게 대립되고 있는 오늘날의 난제들, 특수성과 보편성, 다양성과 통일성, 이론과 실천, 정론(orthodoxy)과 정행(orthopraxis)과 같은 양극성을 통전적으로 극복하는데 도움을 줄 수 있다. 셋째, 도(道)의 사유양식은 공동체적 관계성 안에서 변화하는 삶의 길로서의 도(禮, 正行), 곧 혁신적 프락시스(transformative praxis)를 주장한다(해방신학). 더욱이 이러한 유학적 사유양식들은 예수 그리스도를 인간의 근본모형으로 믿는 그리스도인들에게 다음과 같이 새로운 이해들을 제공해준다: (1) 철저한 인간화의 도(道), (2) 궁극적 성인(聖人), (3) 성(誠)의 극치, (4) 인(仁)과 아가페의 합일을 이룬 인간성 패러다임, 그리고 (5) 양지(良知)의 궁극적 체현. 또한 이들은 도-모형, 인-모형, 신-인간-우주적 모형으로 규정할 수 있으며, 오늘날 포스트-모던적 상황에 큰 가능성을 가진 그리스도론적 패러다임들이다. 첫째, 균형(中)과 조화(和)를 우선적으로 추구하는 도(道)-모형은 지배와 확장 중심의 제국주의적 잔재와 현대과학기술 문명이 초래한 모순과 역기능들에 의해 고뇌하는 서구신학의 한계를 극복하게 하는데 큰 잠재력을 가지고 있다. 둘째, 인(仁)-모형은 그리스도를 우주적이고 화해되어진 공존적 존재로 성찰하고, 호혜성과 상호성의 유교적 원리를 신-인간-우주적 차원으로 확장하고, 인간과 자연을 현시대의 지배와 착취의 원리로부터 해방시키는데 도움을 줄 수 있다. 셋째, 전통적으로 새 하늘과 새 땅, 새 인간이라는 비전으로 표현되어온 신(神)-인간-우주적 모형은 예수 그리스도를 그 비전의 완성자로, 곧 새로운 우주적 인간성의 도라고 인식한다. 이러한 통전적이고 개방적인 유교적 사유양식들은 삼천년대를 위해 매우 적절한 그리스도론적 패러다임들을 제공 할 수 있을 것이다. 결론적으로, 유교-그리스도교의 대화는 ‘새로운 휴머니즘을 위한 공동의 탐구’에 대한 진정한 ‘대화적 참여’를 의미하는 것이다. Although they are associated with radically different traditions, namely Confucianism and Christianity, the confuciology of Wang Yang-ming and the theology of Karl Barth present remarkably thick resemblances. Their crucial doctrines, self-cultivation and sanctification, share the common goal to search the way how to be fully human, that is to say, radical humanization. Whereas Yangming asserts that the goal of self-cultivation is to attain the true self innate in the human nature (liang-chih), Barth argues that the goal of sanctification is to realize the true huan nature in the original creation (imago Dei). Generally, whereas Confucianism underscores immanence, Christianity focues on historicality. This difference is owing to their different mode of thought, namely anthropo-cosmic vision (the unity of Heaven and human) vs. theohistorical vision (salvation history). Despite this fundamental difference, the confuciology of Yang-ming and the theology of Barth show remarkable similarities as follow; 1) providing a crucial paradigm shift to its own tradition, 2) advocating a concrete-universal way of radical humanization, 3) defining evil as the dysfunction of ontological reality, and 4) understanding humanity as co-humanity. The Confucian anthropocosmic vision and the Chrisitian theohistorical vision encounter each other in East Asian Christianity to be transfomred into a novel theanthropocosmic vision. And the Confucian notions of jen, ch’eng, and tao have great potentialities to offer viable paradigms to overcome dilemmas of contemporary Western theologies. Firstly, the relational and communal mode of jen, as a proper corrective to modern individualism, includes solidarity with nature and ecosystem in addition to the people of other races, sexes, classes, and cultures. Secondly, the ch’eng mode of thought proposes that the concrete-universal mode of self-transformation is a communal act rooted in the unity of ontological knowledge and ethical practice. This will be very important for our divided world, because it may overcome difficult polarities such as religious or cultural particularity and universality, or diversity and unity, theory and practice, and orthodoxy and orthopraxis. Thirdly, the tao mode proposes the way of life transformation in communal interrelatedness (propriety, orthopraxis), namely transformative praxis (in affinity with liberation theology). Furthermore, to Christians who believe Jesus Christ as the root-paradigm of humanity, these offer new understandings of Christ as follow: (1) the tao of radical humanization, (2) the ultimate sage, (3) the ch’eng par excellence, (4) the paradigm of humanity in the unity of image Dei and jen, and (5) the ultimate embodiment of liang-chih. These entail three modes of Christology, tao, jen, and theanthropocosmic paradigms, potentially effective to today’s post-modern situation. Firstly, the tao paradigm of equilibrium and harmony has a great potentiality to overcome limitations of Western theologies in struggle with imperalistic modern principles of domination and expansion and with errors and dysfuctions occurred by the development of contemporary science and technology. Secondly, conceiving Christ as the cosmic, reconciled being-in-togetherness, the jen paradigm can expand and empower the Confucian principle of reciprocity and mutuality to the theanthropocosmic dimension and help to liberate humanity and nature from the principle and exploitation. Thirdly, rephrasing the traditional vision of New Heaven, New Earth, and New Humanity, the theanthroposcosmic paradigm enables to conceive Jesus Christ as the one who has completely realized the vision once and for all; namely, the tao of new cosmic humanity. These wholistic and inclusive Confucian modes of thought can offer new appropriate paradigms of Christology for the third millenium. In conclusion, Confucian-Christian dialogue implies a genuine ‘dialogical participation’ for the ‘common quest for a new h

유학과 신학의 대화를 통해 본 새로운 인간 이해

김흡영(Heup Young Kim) 한국기독교학회 2000 한국기독교신학논총 Vol.19 No.-

In this paper, I have made seven proposals for doing a Korean theology of culture. In addition, I have suggested a new paradigm of theological anthropology, based on Confucian-Christian dialogues I had formulated. 1. The task of Korean theology of culture does not lie in a propagation of religious pluralism as an theological doctrine, but in an articulation of Christian faith in the distinctive Korean context where religious plurality is a historical fact. 2. Doing a Korean theology of culture entails a serious engagement in intereligious dialogue with Korean indigenous religions, and this task should be combined with the proper use of the symmetrical method. 3. Interreligious dialogue should begin with a concrete point of encounter between traditions in dialogue, and humanity is a common topic for all religious traditions. Therefore, humanity is a far more adequate point. of departure for interreligious dialogue than a priori topics such as God, Heaven, and Nilvana that presuppose entirely different hemeneutical matrices. 4. (In the light of the dialogue between Wang Yang-ming and Karl Barth) Despite their radical differences, confuciolgy and theology present thick resemblance in discussing their common topic of humanization, "how to become fully human?" 5. For Christians, the Confucian-Christian dialogue on the topic of humanity or humanization eventually leads to a formulation of Confucian Christology, and this Christology entails a new understanding of humanity in a theanthropocosmic horizon. 6. (In the light of the dialogue between John Calvin and Yi T`oegye) Theological and Confucian anthropologies are very similar in structure and content, and they converge in a theanthropocosmic understanding of humanity (the reverence of the Heaven, the love of people, and the caring of the nature). 7. To construct a proper Korean theology, we should replace of the outdated and dualistic root-metaphors of Western theologies (the logos and the praxis) with our own (the tao). We must boldly make a macro theological paradigm shift from both the traditional, metaphysical paradigm of logos (theo-logy ; God-talk) and the modern, alternative paradigm of praxis (theo-praxis ; God-walk) to a new Biblical and holistic paradigm of tao (theo-tao ; God-live).