Young Oon Kim (1914–1989) was a leading

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

of the

Unification Church The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spi ...

and its first

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.J. Isamu Yamamoto, 1994, ''Unification Church: Zondervan guide to cults & religious movements'',

Zondervan Zondervan is an international Christian media and publishing company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan is a founding member of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). They are a part of HarperCollins Christian Publ ...

, pages 8 and 22

Career

Kim was a professor of religion at

Ewha University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's university in Seoul founded in 1886 by Mary F. Scranton under Emperor Gojong. It was the first university founded in South Korea. Currently, Ewha is one of the world's largest female educational ins ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. After she joined the Unification Church, church founder

Sun Myung Moon Sun Myung Moon (; born Yong Myung Moon; 6 January 1920 – 3 September 2012) was a Korean religious leader, also known for his business ventures and support for conservative political causes. A messiah claimant, he was the founder of the Unif ...

sent her to the United States as a missionary in January 1959.Rodney Stark, Roger Finke, ''Acts of faith: explaining the human side of religion'',

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 2000 page 116 In the 1960s, while a missionary in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, she worked to promote Unification Church theology to mainstream Christian churches. She was also the first person to translate the ''

Divine Principle The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or " Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy S ...

'', the basic textbook of Unification Church teaching, from Korean to English.James R. Lewis, Olav Hammer, ''The invention of sacred tradition'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 2007, pages 124 and 131. From 1975 to 1988 she was a Professor of Systematic Theology at the

Unification Theological Seminary Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) is a private Unification Church-affiliated graduate seminary headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. The seminary was granted an absolute charter from the State of New York in January 198 ...

Barrytown, New York Barrytown is a hamlet (and census-designated place) within the town of Red Hook in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is within the Hudson River Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and contains four notable Hudson River V ...

, and the first Unification Church member on the faculty there.Young Oon Kim: A Woman of many "Firsts"

Works

*''A study of symbols and allegories in the Fourth Gospel'', 1951,

Victoria University, Toronto Victoria University is a federated university forming part of the wider University of Toronto, and was founded in 1836. The undergraduate section of the university is Victoria College, informally ''Vic'', after the original name of the univers ...

*''The Divine Principles'', 1963,

The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spi ...

(Unification Church) *''Divine Principle and its Application'', 1980, The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity *''For God's Sake'', 1972, The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity *''World Religions: Living religions of the Middle East'', 1976, Golden Gate Publishing Company *''World Religions: India's religious quest'', 1976, Golden Gate Publishing Company *''World Religions: Faiths of the Far East'', 1976, Golden Gate Publishing Company *''Unification theology & Christian thought'', 1976, Golden Gate Publishing Company *''Unification Theology'', 1980, The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity *''New methods of group Bible study in Korea: with focus on the Korean Methodist Church'', 1982,

San Francisco Theological Seminary The San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) is a seminary in San Anselmo, California with historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). SFTS became embedded in a new Graduate School of Theology of the University of Redlands in 2019. It was ...

*''The Types of Modern Theology'', 1983, The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity *''An introduction to theology'', 1983, The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity *''Unification theology in comparative perspectives'', 1988,

References

External links

Unification Theology
Young Oon Kim, 1980

Young Oon Kim, 1988 {{Authority control American people of Korean descent American theologians South Korean Unificationists 1989 deaths 1914 births People from Barrytown, New York 20th-century American writers

Career

Works

See also

References

External links