Chung Hyun Kyung (born May 15, 1956) is a South Korean

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

theologian. She is a lay theologian of the Presbyterian Church of Korea, and is also an Associate Professor of

Ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

Theology at Union Theological Seminary in the United States. Her teaching and research interests include

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and ecofeminist theologies and spiritualities from Asia, Africa and Latin America; Christian- Buddhist interfaith dialogue; disease and healing in varied religious backgrounds; mysticism and

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

social change; as well as the history and critical issues of various Asian Christian theologies.

Early life and education

Chung Hyun Kyung was born in

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

, South Korea, May 15, 1956. Chung graduated from Ewha Womans University in Seoul with a B.A. (1979) and an M.A. (1981). She holds an M.Div. from the Claremont School of Theology (1984), a diploma from the

Women's Theological Center A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

in Boston (1984), and a Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary (1989).

''Struggle to be the Sun Again''

In 1990, Chung introduced Asian women's theology with her book ''Struggle to be the Sun Again: Introducing Asian Women's Theology''. In it, she responds to the emerging liberation theology which argues for Christianity's preferential option for the poor. She interprets the Gospel through her experience as an Asian woman: :"Doing theology is a personal and a political activity. As a Korean woman, I do theology in search of what it means to be fully human in my struggle for wholeness and in my people's concrete historical fight for

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

." (1990: 1)

WCC at Canberra

In 1991, she was invited to speak at a World Council of Churches gathering in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Her speech created a furor and she was accused of

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in t ...

, that is, combining

teachings and practices with elements of other traditions. Her retort, however, was: :If they ask me, "Are you a syncretist?" I say, "You are right, I am a syncretist, but so are you." My response is that I know I am a syncretist, but you don’t know you are a syncretist because you have hegemonic power ... non- Christian cultures, when they try to interpret the gospel out of their life experience, they are syncretists! But they are just being true to their identity, history and culture. In the same interview, she challenged the Western values imposed on the Third World: :"I think in order to really heal the world we need the 'wisdom of darkness.' This can be the Third World, dark people, women, or our 'shadows,' ... all the things we do not want to confront within ourselves, so we project them onto others and call them terrorists. So, I think that we need 'endarkenment' for a while, not enlightenment, to heal the world."

Works

References

External links