솔 벨로우의 『오늘을 포착하라』 에 나타난 기독교적 종말의식

임창건 한국문학과종교학회 2000 문학과종교 Vol.5 No.1

The purpose of this study is to analyze the sense of an ending in Seize the Day from the perspective of the redemptive history in the Bible. The sense of an ending overwhelms the entire work of Seize the Day, which begins with the foreboding that his routine was about to break up and a huge trouble long presaged but till now formless was due, and closes with image of death and resurrection of Tommy Wilhelm. The protagonist is paralyzed by his remembrance of things past and his anxieties for the future. As a result, he is helpless in the here-and-now. Although Wilhelm has many psychological problems, his deep problem is religious: the mystery of his own relationship to himself, to others, and to God. The problems of social success and failure in Seize the Day are the surface reflections of a deeper concern with the ultimate questions. Viewed from the perspective of redemptive history, many episodes in this work reflect the crucial events in the Biblical history : the Roxbury as the Garden of Eden. Margaret as Eve, Wilhelm as Adam, New York as the tower of Babel. Dr. Adler as a Pharisee, and finally Dr. Tamkin as Christ. The final scene, where Wilhelm is trapped in the crowd and swept into a funeral parlor to encounter the death, clearly echoes the crucifixion of Jesus and later resurrection from the death. In this moment of ultimate revelation, Wilhelm understands the message of Tamkin, $quot;Only the present is real-the here-and-now. Seize the Day.$quot; The past is no good to Wilhelm because it is obsolete, a chronicle of failures. The future is unreal also, a nightmare of apprehensions. He must live in the $quot;here-and-now$quot;, rather than in regret or anxiety. Now at last he achieves what St. Augustine calls $quot;the eternal present$quot;, which can be obtained only by experiencing spiritual death and resurrection through the union with Jesus on the cross.

토마스 쿤의 『과학혁명의 구조』와 바울의 해석학적 패러다임

임창건 한국문학과종교학회 2015 문학과종교 Vol.20 No.1

본 논문은 바울이 다메섹 도상에서 체험한 ‘회심’과 그 결과를 토마스 쿤이 과학혁명의 구조에서 주장한 ‘정상과학,’ ‘위기,’ ‘패러다임 전환’ 등 몇 가지 핵 심 개념으로 분석하였다. 회심이전, 바울의 구약해석학은 구전토라를 포함한 랍 비전통의 해석학이었고, 회심이후 그의 해석학은 그리스도 중심적 구약해석으 로 전환된다. 그의 구약해석은 이후 기독교도들에게 구약해석의 표준을 제공한 다는 점에서 쿤이 말한 “학제모형”의 성격을 띤다. 또한 그의 회심은 ‘비축적적’ 이고 돌발적인 방식으로 진행되었을 뿐만 아니라 이전의 해석학을 새로운 해석 학으로 완전히 대치했다는 점에서 쿤이 언급한 패러다임 전환의 여러 특징을 잘 보여주고 있다. 본 논문은 쿤이 언급한 과학혁명의 순서에 따라 바울의 해석 학을 분석하는 방식으로 구성 되었다. 1장에서는 ‘정상과학’과 유대경전의 해석 학을, 2장에서는 ‘위기’와 바울의 해석적학 위기를, 3장에서는 새로운 패러다임 의 탄생과 바울의 해석학적 패러다임의 전환을 다루었다. This paper aims to analyze Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus from the perspective of the paradigm shift in Kuhn’s theory. According to Kuhn, the paradigm shift occurs not in the form of accumulation but in the form of religious conversion or political revolution. In this context, one of the most classical conversions in Christian history is that of Paul. Paul’s conversion can be regarded not merely as a personal religious experience. It also provides Christians with a paradigm of the uniqueness of the gospel, whose structure is repeated in the lives of Christians like St. Augustine, Luther, and Wesley. Prior to his conversion, Paul’s hermeneutics belongs to the ‘disciplinary matrix’ of rabbinic tradition, whose Torah includes the oral Torah as the collective body of the hermeneutic legacy. However, his encounter with Jesus resulted in the drastic shift in his hermeneutics, that is, from the legalistic interpretation to the Christocentric interpretation of the Torah. Paul’s conversion to the new order in Christianity from the old order in Judaism fits into the definition of the paradigm shift in Kuhn’s theory.

미국 초기 식민지의 행위언약 : 그 신학적 의미와 현실적 의미

임창건 東義大學校 美國學硏究所 2011 美國學論集 Vol.13 No.-

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the theological and secular meaning of covenant of works in Massachusetts Bay Colony. The covenant of works and the covenant of grace are the major theological doctrines that divided the Catholic Church and the Reformed church. Rome asserted that the salvation is gained through the grace of Jesus plus the good works of saints which is the combination of the covenant of works and covenant of grace. However, the reformers, including Martin Luther and Calvin, proclaimed that salvation is imputed by the grace God through Jesus on the cross. This means that salvation is gained on the basis of covenant of grace only. The puritans in England were persecuted due to their adherence to the doctrine of covenant of grace by the Roman Catholic and the Anglican of a Church, and attacked the Anglican Church for their mixture of covenant of grace and the covenant of works. But the covenant of works suffers compromise in the new context of Massachusetts colony because of the demanding situation of colony, where the legal systems were not fully equipped, and the visible and binding moral values in the puritan commonwealth were desperately in need. The colonists found the spiritual values in the covenant of grace and the law of Spirit ineffective in dealing with the reality of colony, because they are very individual and subjective. But the covenant of works was ready to be appropriated for the enforcement of moral and legal values in an objective standard. Even though they tried to maintain the purity of the reformation theology proclaimed by the early reformers, they had to adapt the continental Puritanism into the unique situation of the colony, resulting in the significant change and retreat from the original theology. The Mosaic Laws in The Old Testament were applied to the everyday life of the Puritans, thus emphasizing the covenant of works rather than the covenant of grace. The legalistic approach to the Bible and daily life led the common wealth into the theocratic society, resulting in the Antinomian Controversy and radical dissidents like Ann Hutchinson and Roger Williams.

신학적 갈등의 예술적 전개 : 호손의 딜레마와 『주홍글자』

임창건 한국문학과종교학회 2003 문학과종교 Vol.8 No.2

The purpose of this study is to analyze The Scarlet Letter from the perspective of the unresolved tension inherent in Nathaniel Hawthorne between his ancestral Puritanism and his contempory Transcendentalism. The theological dilemma in Hawthorne is largely responsible for the ambiquity and duality in Hawthorne's works. He was neither Emersonian nor Edwardean: or rather, he was both. This peculiar state of mind created a spiritual battleground where the Puritanism with its sin and judgement and the Transcendentalism with its innocence and hope struggled for dominance. In The Scarlet Letter, the ironic relation between Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne can be seen as the artistic embodiment of author's own theological tension, that is, the conflict between the Calvinistic pessimism and the Emersonian optimism. Puritanism and Transcendentalism are almost in a complete disagreement due to their disparate theological backgrounds: the former emphasizes God's sovereignty, while the latter man's free will. Ironically, Hawthorne tries to secure some middle ground by compromising these two incompatible ideas, but only in vain. This unresolved conflict is clearly reflected in the relation between Dimmesdale and Hester. The response of Dimmesdale to the fatal affair of adultery is quite oppositional to that of Hester's: Dimmesdale's is that of a Puritan, while Hester's is of a Transcendentalist. While Dimmesdale was obsessed with the sense of guilt in accordance with the puritanic code of Original Sin, Hester seemed to be unrepentant, since she regarded that the affair "had a consecration of its own" as a result of spontaneous act of love chosen by her own free will. The theological incompatibility between Puritanism and Transcendentalism in Hawthorne can help explain the irritant relation between Dimmesdale and Hester in terms of the effect of the adultery on the two characters, who can be regarded as the artistic representation of Hawthorne's "productive tension".

딤즈데일과 헤스터의 동상이몽 : 청교주의와 초절주의의 대립구조로 본『주홍글자』 Puritanic Dimmesdale and Transcendental Hester

임창건 동의대학교 미국학연구소 1998 美國學論集 Vol.1 No.-

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relation between Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter from the view point of Puritanism and Transcendentalism. In the premise that a work of art is the artistic expression of author's mind, Dimmesdale and Hester represent and embody the conflict between Puritanism and Transcendentalism in Hawthorne's mind, which is largely responsible for the ambiguity in Nathaniel Hawthorne's thoughts and works. Puritanism and Transcendentalism are almost in complete disagreement due to their disparate theological backgrounds; the former emphasizes on God's sovereignty, while the latter on man's free will. Ironically, Hawthorne tries to secure some middle ground by compromising these two incompatible ideas, but only in vain. This unresolved conflict is clearly reflected in the relation between Dimmesdale and Hester. Even though they are engaged in the same fatal affair, their interpretations of the affair are uncompromisingly oppositional; Dimmesdale's attitude toward the affair is that of a Puritan, while Hester's is that of a Transcendentalist. He is guilt-stricken, for he has committed the sin of adultery, the result of which is eternal damnation by God's law, but she is free from the pangs of conscience, since she seems to regard the affair as a spontaneous act of love chosen by her free will. It seems to me that the paradigmic incompatibility of Puritanism and Transcendentalism in Hawthorne's thoughts clearly account for the discrepancies in the relation between Dimmesdale and Hester, before, during, and after the affair.

야곱의 사다리에 숨겨진 신화적 상징과 신학적 담론

임창건 한국문학과종교학회 2014 문학과종교 Vol.19 No.3

본 논문의 목적은 창세기에 등장하는 야곱의 사다리에 숨겨져 있는 메시지를 신화적 상징과 신학적 담론의 관점에서 분석하여, 동일한 사건이 신화, 종교, 교리의 문맥에 따라 다양한 의미로 수용되고 발전하는 과정을 추적하는 것이다. 창세기에 등장하는 야곱의 사다리를 신화적 상징과 신학적 담론이라는 두 관점에서 접근할 수 있는 근거는 이 일화가 신화적 상징과 신학적 의미를 동시에 포함하고 있기 때문이다. 유대교도나 기독교인이 아닌 사람의 시각에서 야곱의 사다리는 그리스 로마 신화를 포함한 다양한 신화에서 발견되는 보편적 상징체계로 해석될 수 있다. 하지만 구약성경을 자신의 종교경전으로 간주하는 유대인이 나 기독교인의 관점에서 보면, 야곱의 사다리는 야훼 하나님과 신도 사이의 관계를 설명하는 보다 구체적이며 제한된 신학적 담론 안에서 논의될 수 있다. 야곱의 사다리는 다시 유대교와 기독교의 신학적 담론 안에서 각기 다른 의미로 해석될 뿐 만 아니라, 동일한 기독교 안에서도 가톨릭과 개신교에서 각기 다른 신학적 담론을 형성한다. 본 논문은 이 같은 목적을 위해 네 부분으로 구성되었다. 신화의 영역은 주로 엘리아데의 “우주의 축”의 개념에 따라, 유대교, 가톨릭, 개신교의 영역은 각기 성전, 교황, 만인제사장의 신학적 담론 안에서 “야곱의 사다리”를 분석한다. This paper is to analyze Jacob’s ladder according to Eliade’s concept of “Axis Mundi” and Judeo-Christian theological discourses to reveal its implied meanings in the synchronic context. In contrast to the myth whose archaic symbols can transcend history and locality, theological discourse provides Jacob’s ladder with a particular frame of reference in a given religious community. While Jacob’s ladder can be interpreted as a universal symbol of Axis Mundi, its theological implication varies according to the theological discourses of different religious groups who accept Genesis as their holy scripture. Judaism associates Jacob’s ladder with the holy place of the temple, but Christianity explains its meaning in relation to the person of Jesus, who connects heaven and earth. Even in the same Christianity, there are different understandings of its implication in the Catholic Church and Reformed Church. The former claims there is a correspondence between Jacob’s ladder and the Papacy, while the latter regards every believer as Jacob’s ladder on the basis of Luther’s universal priesthood.

성 어거스틴의 "영원한 현재"와 벨로우의『오늘을 포착하라』 : The Analysis of "the Day" from the Viewpoint of Redemptive History 구속사적 시간의 관점에서 본 "오늘"의 의미 분석

임창건 새한영어영문학회 1999 새한영어영문학 Vol.41 No.2

The purpose of this study is to analyze the meaning of "the Day" in Seize the Day from the perspective of the redemptive history in the Bible. To achieve this goal, the Augustinian "eternal present" has been introduced, so that this concept may be compared with the hidden meaning of "the Day". Time consciousness overwhelms the entire work of Seize the Day, which begins with the foreboding that Wilhelm's routine was about to break up and a catastrophe long presaged but until now formless was due, and closes with images of death and resurrection. He is paralyzed by his remembrance of things past and his anxieties about the future. As a result, he is helpless in the here-and-now. Although Wilhelm has many psychological problems, his deep problem is religious: the mystery of his own relationships to himself, to others, and to God. The problems of social success and failure in Seize the Day are the surface reflections of a deeper concern with the ultimate questions. Viewed from the perspective of redemptive history, many episodes in this work reflect the crucial events in Biblical history: the Roxbury as the Garden of Eden, Margaret as Eve, Wilhelm as Adam, New York as the tower of Babel, Dr. Adler as a Pharisee, Olive as Mary, and finally Dr. Tamkin as Christ. The final scene, where Wilhelm is trapped in the crowd and swept into a funeral parlor to encounter the death, echoes the crucifixion of Jesus and later resurrection from the death. In this moment of ultimate revelation, Wilhelm understands the message of Tamkin, "Only the present is real-the here-and-now. Seize the day". The past is no good to Wilhelm because it is obsolete, a chronicle of failure. The future is unreal also, a nightmare of apprehensions. He must live in the "here-and-now", rather than in regret or anxiety. Now at las he achieves what St. Augustine calls "eternal present", which can be obtained only by experiencing spiritual death and resurrection through the union with Jesus on the cross.

Nathaniel Hawthorne의 단편소설과 성인식

임창건 신한영미어문학회 1996 새한영어영문학 Vol.35 No.-

Nathaniel Hawthorne's principal concern was with the crucial conditions of the fall itself and the individual response to it ― the moral growth or personal disaster that followed. He deals with a protagonist who stands on the threshhold of loss of innocence, not in the theological sense, but in a psychological sense in a great number of his best short stories and tales ― “The May-Pole of Merry Mount", “Young Goodman Brown", “Rapaccini's Daughter", “The Birthmark", “The Minister's Black Veil" as well as his last romance, The Marble Faun. The fall of man, freed from theology, becomes an initiation ceremony in Hawthorne's fiction for a universal circumstance ; the profound, psychological complex of experience and knowledge that leads to maturity of mind and heart. The innocence of the recruits to this ceremony is considered not a state of guiltlessness, but rather a state of inexperience and ignorance. Thus Robin in “My Kinsman, Major Molineux", Brown in “Young Goodman Brown", and Edgar in “The May-Pole of Merry Mount" are innocent not by virtue of guiltlessness or “sinlessness", but by virtue of ignorance and inexperience. The initiates' encounter with the evil in Hawthorne's stories can be regarded as the initiation ceremony that can help them to overcome the Edenic features of innocence and inexperience. And they, except Brown who has traveled to the end of a journey from which he can return but never recover, manage to arrive at a maturity through the altruistic love of a woman who is inevitably a link with society. At the final stage of the initiation ceremony, the term of natural innocence leads the initiates to a life of “troubled joy" which means the combination of “trouble" and “joy" of the adult would.

『지킬 박사와 하이드』, 『허공에 매달린 사람』, <아바타>에 나타난 자아 정체성의 세 유형

임창건 문학과영상학회 2012 문학과영상 Vol.13 No.1

The purpose of this paper is to analyze three types of identity in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dangling Man, and Avatar on the basis of Erick Erickson’s self identity. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a ‘profound allegory’, that explores into the two-fold nature of man. When Dr. Jekyll divides himself into two separate identities by his scientific knowledge, he experiences unexpected symptoms of the “identity diffusion” described by Erick Erickson, ultimately destroying himself. But Joseph in Dangling Man responds to his identity crisis caused by the absurd situation in an opposite way, trying to reconcile his ideal and existential self. He willingly embraces the existential, human condition at the sacrifice of immature and romantic self. Therefore, his identity crisis can be categorized into “identity moratorium” according to Erickson, which can be found in the transitional period of life. The identity conflict in the case of Joseph helps him to equip a more solid and mature identity. Jake in Avatar goes through serious “borderline state” caused by his multiple identities as a disabled marine, Na’vi warrior, and spy who falls in love with a woman in the hostile land. He later discovers his hidden identity as the Messiah of Na’vi. His new identity as a savior replaces his multiple identities, bringing victory to Na’vi by uniting all the resources of the planet Pandora; Na’vi tribes, beasts, birds, and Eywa. Jake attends his own funeral where his identity as a human dies and his new identity as a Na’vi resurrects, bringing an end to his identity conflict once and for all. His ultimate identity is similar to the transcendental or spiritual identity as the result of the conversion in religious experience.

희년의 신화적 의미와 해석학적 의미

임창건 한국문학과종교학회 2023 문학과종교 Vol.28 No.3

본 연구는 희년의 의미를 신화적 관점과 해석학적 관점을 차용한 학제적 관점에서 접근하여 레위기의 전통적 해석으로 포착하기 힘든 희년의 다의적 뉘앙스를 드러내고자 하였다. 이를 위해 필자는 역사적 관점과 대립되는 신화적 관점에서, 율법적 관점과 대립되는 복음의 관점에서, 신앙공동체와 대립되는 개인의 관점에서 희년의 의미를 재해석한다. 4장으로 구성된 본 논문의 2장에서는 레위기 40장에 언급된 희년의 의미를 창조신화의 관련 속에서 살펴보며, 비교 신화학자 엘리아데(Eliade)의 신화이론, 특히 “성스러운 시간”의 개념을 통해서 레위기의 희년을 분석한다. 3장에서는 누가복음에서 예수가 선포한 희년과 레위기에 기록된 희년을 비교 분석하여 희년사상의 확장과 변형을 다룬다. 또한 구약성경에 대한 예수의 새로운 해석 방식과 이를 발전시킨 바울의 모형론적 해석학의 관점에서 희년을 분석한다. 4장에서는 엘리아데의 신화적 시간, 즉 “성스러운 시간”과 레위기의 희년 사이의 유사성을 밝히고, “성스러운 시간”과 레위기의 희년에서는 발견될 수 없는 신약의 희년만이 갖고 있는 두 가지 특징을 규명한다. Abstract: This paper aims to reveal the multifaceted nuances in the meaning of the Jubilee (Leviticus 25:8-22) from mythological and hermeneutical perspectives. Several themes within the Bible often require multiple interpretive perspectives due to their complexity. Such themes resist a singular interpretive paradigm, as their meanings extend and transform. The Jubilee is such a theme. Expanding, transforming, and completing its meaning through Genesis, Leviticus, Isaiah, Luke, and Revelation, the Jubilee defies closed interpretations mandated by a single paradigm. Its multidimensional meanings demand interpretations rooted in myth, law, prophecy, gospel, and eschatology. This invites new approaches in interpreting the Jubilee, distinct from Levitical traditions. In the luminous context of the Jubilee's distinctive significance, it unfolds a tapestry of mythological interpretation counterpoised to historical narratives, hermeneutical richness contrasting with legal exegesis, and the revelation experienced by individual believers standing in juxtaposition to the collective faith of the community.