Young-Ho Chun
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Young-Ho Chun is a Korean-born Professor of Systematic Theology at the Methodist Seminary, Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A., a position he has held since 1983.
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[edit] Life and career
Chun and wife, Hae-Sook have one daughter, Helenna Christine. Born in Korea, Dr. Chun was the oldest of four boys in his family. His father was a Methodist pastor who was converted from traditional Korean Confucianism and expelled from his family as a result. In considering this portion of family history, Chun wondered how his father was able to reconcile his Confucian upbringing with his post-conversion worldview. Chun found assistance in this regard within the works of Paul Tillich, and his conceptualization of God as Ultimate Concern. Since this early encounter, Chun has become one of the greatest authorities on Tillich working in the United States today.
[edit] Education
Dr. Chun holds a Ph.D. in Theology from Drew University, as well as a B.D. and Th. M., from Colgate Rochester Divinity School. A considerable amount of his education was conducted in Germany, where he studied with several giants of recent theology, including Karl Rahner and Wolfhart Pannenberg, as well as classes with French philosopher Michel Foucault. He is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church and has been a candidate for the episcopacy.
[edit] Theological Grounding and Position
Dr. Chun has a considerable range of expertise. In his early career, he was primarily focused on the theological work of Paul Tillich; but his interests also include: Buddhist/Christian dialogue, Islamic/Christian dialogue, World Religions, and Philosophy. In fact, if he were able to do so, Chun would teach only philosophy. More generally, Dr. Chun is concerned with a theology which undergirds one's practice of ministry. In short, his theological work is intended to be applicable to daily life. In this task he draws chiefly from Paul Tillich; Karl Barth; Jurgen Moltmann; Gustavo Gutierrez; Dorothee Solle; Wolfhart Pannenberg (his former professor); Karl Rahner (also a former professor); John MacQuarrie; and Hans Urs von Balthasar.
A polyglot, Chun is fluent in: Korean, English, and German. He is also sufficiently familiar with Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Arabic to conduct academic work and research in them.
- "My discipline is Theology. It is also identified as “Systematic Theology” in that it offers in metaphoric and rational narrative a coherent explication and interpretation of the symbols of the Christian faith as it is rooted in the Scriptures and transmitted through various Christian communities in light of the transient, yet significant needs of the human condition and diverse cultural forms. It is also known as “Constructive Theology” in that it critically examines the Christian creedal and confessional positions and reframes them through interpretation in light of the emerging scientific outlooks on the world as well as the cultural criticisms that open up a new horizon of meaning in a contemporary world" (Young-Ho Chun, Official Biography, Saint Paul School of Theology website, available online: www.spst.edu).
[edit] Teaching Style
Chun refers to the classroom as an environment, "richly pregnant with possibility." He sees the process of learning and exploration as an act of worship in which student and teacher are equally responsible for the process of learning. Some less academic students find Chun's lectures difficult to follow, and his use of philosophical language confusing. However, Chun is typically quite happy to repeat statements in a different way, partly because he gets to explore ideas even further.
That said, there are some students who find Chun too demanding and too intellectual. Those who have difficulty with him as a professor, however, are oftentimes students who are unwilling to let go of their preexisting concepts and find Chun's impatience with such fixed thinking threatening.
[edit] Selected works
- Tillich and Religion: Toward a Theology of World Religions (Seoul: Jeyoung Communications, 1998).
