Minjung theology

well pretty interesting day today.

I have a prologue week class this week. It is called Theology in Context. It has been a interesting class, if a bit overwhelming, just because they have covered a subject a bit and then the next day covered something else. While they are connected to each other, it is just a bare minimum of information about the subject and a whole semester probably could be used for each.

The subject today was Theology, and also Lutheran Theology. In our second session of class today one professor Paul Chung talked about Lutheran Theology and Lutheran Theology in Context. The part that really interested me was the Theology in Context, Professor Chung talked about different contexts that Lutheran Theology has fit into. One area was in Japan dealing with the regards to the "Social reality of post-Hiroshima Japan." and the work of Kazoh Kitamori, a Japanese Lutheran Theologian. Kitamori used the term turasa to define the relationship between God and Jesus and also between God and the people that suffered and died because of the bomb. Turasa is a Japanese term that refers to the Father's pain over the death of the son, not just pain but extreme agony.

Chung then turned to Ahn Byung Mu, the father of Asian minjung theology. and it relationship with turasa. Minjung deals with Jesus's connection and solidarity with ochlos a Greek word meaning crowd, usually a poor crowd, (vs Loas meaning the people or regular normal individuals of society). It challenges turasa by asking "Who was there in Hiroshima?" Chung then talked about minjung meaning "the poor mass" and "Han" (outcry of victim) and how the relationship with God is based on God hearing the "Han" or the outcry of the victims.

The problem now arises that we did not delve into this any further, Chung stated that he talks about it more is his book Martin Luther and Buddhism. I look forward to learning more about this subject and how I can use it.

My first reaction was the thought that "Can it be modified to the change that has happened in the US with regards to 9/11?" It is a subject that would be interesting to ask Professor Chung during the class.


well, that should give you something to chew on for a while,


laters