Jung Mo Sung

This is a Korean name; the family name is Sung.
Jung Mo Sung
Born 1957 (age 58–59)
Seoul, South Korea
Residence Brazil
Religion Roman Catholic
Korean name
Hangul 성정모[1]
Hanja 成定模
Revised Romanization Seong Jeong-mo
McCune–Reischauer Sŏng Chŏngmo

Jung Mo Sung (born 1957) is a Roman Catholic lay theologian trained in theology, ethics, and education.

He works within the paradigm of liberation theology and can be considered a "next generation" theologian-practitioner. He has served as an informal associate of the "DEI School," a research institute in Costa Rica where scholars such as Pablo Richard, Elsa Tamez, and Franz Hinkelammert are currently working. He is particularly concerned with the relation between theology and the economy as well as education theory in view of solidarity.

Though he may be viewed as rejecting the idea that some sort of historical subject, whether God, the proletariat, or even a particular set of social institutions, will bring into history the utopian dream of a truly just, peaceful, and harmonious society, he is not passive in the face of injustice. Sung has worked directly with basic ecclesial communities as an advisor, speaking regularly at various ecumenical events that focus on justice and solidarity, and writing scholarly books as well as those aimed directly at those laypersons who are involved in particular struggles for justice. He speaks about justice with the same ferociousness as most liberation theologians, but tempers his evaluations of struggles, projects, and proposals with a sense of what may be temporally attainable.

Early life

He was born in South Korea but moved to Brazil with his family in 1966 and has remained there ever since.

Education

Sung was born in Seoul.[1] He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy in 1984, a doctorate in religious studies in 1993 (from the Methodist University of São Paulo, under the direction of Júlio de Santa Ana), and did post-doctoral work in education in 2000 (at the Methodist University of Piracicaba with Hugo Assmann).

Employment

Sung is currently a professor in the graduate program of religious studies at the prestigious Methodist University of São Paulo, where he has been teaching since 1994. From 1996 to 2006 he was also a professor in the graduate program at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.

Impact abroad

Several of Sung's texts have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Korean, English, and German. He is gradually gaining prominence and exposure in the United States, speaking, for example, twice in the last three years at the annual national meeting of the American Academy of Religion (a large convention with over 11,000 participants).

For some basic external references about his work, see "Moral Theology in Latin America" by Dean Brackey and Thomas Schubeck in Theological Studies (March 2002, vol.63, issue 1). Jung Mo Sung's "concept of the inevitability of inequality and social exclusion" backgrounding Western socio-economic tradition was drawn on by Ronaldo Sathler-Rosa in his "Pastoral Action in the Midst of a Context of Economic Transformation and Cultural Apathy" in International Perspectives on Pastoral Counseling, ed. James Reaves Farris (2002).

See also Ivan Petrella's The Future of Liberation Theology (SCM Press, 2006) and his edited volume of articles, Latin American Liberation Theology: The Next Generation (Orbis Books, 2005). The latter volume, Petrella states, "opens with Jung Mo Sung, the most prolific next-generation voice within mainstream contemporary Latin American liberation theology" (p. xvi). Dr. Petrella employed Sung's critique of earlier liberation theologians in his own article "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Making Over of Liberation Theology, A Queer Discursive Approach" in Liberation Theology and Sexuality, ed. Marcella Althaus-Reid (Ashgate, 2006 [expanded pb. ed., 2009]), pp. 33–49.

Publication of Desire, Market and Religion in 2007 brought Sung's work into English as the sole author of a book-length project for the first time. It was followed by Beyond the Spirit of Empire: Theology and Politics in a New Key in 2009, a book co-authored with Nestor Miguez and Joerg Rieger in SCM's "Reclaiming Liberation Theology" Series.

Referred to

For those with knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese, a web search will yield numerous links to speeches, articles, book reviews, and appraisals of his work. A glance at his curriculum vitae reveals the prolific character of his work in Latin America, the importance of his writings for both popular and academic audiences, and the respect he has gained as a teacher, speaker, advisor, commentator, and theologian.

The bibliography of major international book publications, discussing this liberation theologian's contribution, includes such liberation theology classics as:

Publications

This list is far from comprehensive. See the link above to his resume for a complete list.

English

Portuguese

References

  1. 1 2 김항섭 [Kim Hang-seop] (May 2008). "라틴아메리카 속의 한국ㆍ한국인: 브라질 해방신학자 성정모" [Korea and Koreans in Latin America: Brazilian liberation theologist Sung Jung-mo] (PDF). TransLatin (2). Retrieved 2013-12-21.

External links

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