Haan of Minjung Theology and Han of Han Philosophy // Chang-hee Son.

This is a difficult work due to its philosophical translation of foreign, Eastern thought into perplexing English. With an aura of dissertation-feel, the language is specialized and, albeit, inaccessible. The book is split into four unequal parts: (1) Introduction, (2) Haan, (3) Han, and (4) Haan and Han. The introduction parses the difference between the psychological Haan (or Han in other Korean Minjung theologies) of being ‘sinned against’ and the philosophical Han (or Hahn) of harmony in ‘one-as-many and many-as-one.’ Son traces the historical roots and explicates the outcome of each term. In its conclusion, he states that Haan is the psychological distress of dissonance whereas Han is the creative, synthesizing force of harmony–resolving Haan.

If one can bear the baffling wordings, the text can be quite illuminating. So, tread slowly and patiently.

Christ the Key // Kathryn Tanner.

Current Issues in Theology strives to exhibit cutting-edge and thorough theologies by the finest minds in the league. Kathryn Tanner easily tops the list. Her academic credentials, superb; her writing, sublime; and her theological clarity and import, magnificent. Yet these were discovered not by a third-party voice but in her work in Christ the Key. I cannot stress this enough: this is one of the best theological reads I have ever read. Ever. Although not the most accessible reads–hard work and full concentration are needed–the fruits of one’s tireless efforts profit richly. Tanner’s insistence on Christocentric theology (hence, her tagline: “Christ the key”) is refreshing and high valuation of humanity is astounding. Mysteriously wonderful is the God-Man Jesus who took on flesh to heal and elevate humanity to participate in the life of the Triune God. Hallelujah. Amen.

Shadow of the Hegemon // Orson Scott Card.

Following the aftermath of the the Formic Wars, ‘Ender’s Jeesh’ are welcomed home as venerated heroes of earth, yet it is their fame and expertise that lures an insidious manifestation of evil: Achilles (pronounced Ah-SHEEL). With a faulty, deified self-perception, Achilles emboldens nations to ethnocentric wars to fabricate the most auspicious circumstances for his hungry usurpation as ‘Ruler of the World.’ Inebriated with the desire for power, Achilles hijacks the most brilliant military minds (Ender’s Jeesh), but strikes one for death: Julian Delphiki–better known as ‘Bean.’ However, Bean’s impeccable record of narrowly escaping death remains unmitigated. And as arrogant as he may be, for most obvious reasons, Bean self-mandates himself as the only force capable of stopping Achilles, saving the world from a manic ruler, and rescuing Petra–a friend he refuses to have killed.

Between the World and Me // Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Possibly one of the most beautiful and powerful works I have ever read. Coates writes with elegant simplicity that is both piercing and remedying. Forged as words of wisdom to his adolescent son, Coates unrelentingly warns of ‘the Dreamers’ and rectifies the beauty and value of black bodies. The Dreamers do not want them, but cannot but need them. Therefore, the Dreamers name them and forget them to further exploit them. Yet, Coates powerfully exclaims: “They made us into a race. We made ourselves into a people.” The struggle is for the awareness and valuation of the beauty that is inherent in black bodies and their cultivations. It is the struggle that fashioned them. It is the struggle that sustains them. It is the struggle that will revive them.

In light of recent horrific traumas (that reflect the historic and ongoing disembodiment and disenfranchisement of black bodies), I am challenged, as an Asian American (specifically Korean American), to try my best to understand and empathize with the ongoing black struggle. It is not their job to teach me; it is my job to love them: this is my human responsibility, which is my Christian responsibility for “to be Christian is to be human” (Hauerwas, Stanley).

Following Jesus Without Dishonoring Your Parents // Coordinated by Jeanette Yep.

Initially read to help me prep for a sermon on “obeying your parents” to a youth group comprised of Korean Americans, I was delightfully surprised to see how much I was convicted and empowered by these sincere and perceptive voices. Even though this collection is a bit outdated (1998; just examine the cover) and much has changed in the past 18 years, there are some truths that never change and are always refreshing. Reflections on my parental and sibling relations, various friendships, unique Korean American immigrant church experiences, and self ventures in light of what these authors have explicated have and continue to work wholesome healing and forging: I am wonderfully and fearfully made! “Your Parents Love You, My Parents Love Me,” “Relating to Others–Understanding Yourself,” “Marriage & Singleness,” “The Gender Trap,” “Finding a Church Home,” and “Gifts Asian Americans Bring” were especially beneficial (that’s over half!).

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows // J. K. Rowling.

Commissioned on his final task, Harry Potter with his most beloved friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, attempts to close the vast gap between imminent destruction and insurmountable victory. Hunting for both horcruxes and hallows, Harry encounters coded hints, multiple nearby deaths, and impossible odds. Absolutely fearful of losing loved ones due to his dangerous proximity, Harry initially rebuffs assistance. However, at his most dire needs, friends and loved ones surround and sacrifice for him. And paved with the blood of friends and loved ones, Harry eventually treads on to face death to truly master death: a feat never accomplished even by one of the most skilled and dreaded wizards of all time–Lord Voldemort.

Flowers for Algernon // Daniel Keyes.

Struggling to find adequate words to describe the vast array of emotions and intellectual stimulations Keyes provides in his masterful Flowers for Algernon. Unafraid to trek the gray matters of the (hypothetical) psychological perspective and (realistic) societal perceptions of mental retardation, Keyes pits intelligence and relations against each other. Charlie Gordon, brutally tormented by his tormented mother, has an undying drive to get smarter. Ironically, however, achieving brilliance has casted larger and more ominous shadows–isolation due to intimidation and emotional immaturity and instability of the old Charlie Gordon–that hinder and eventually reverts him back. What is the personal and societal value of intelligence? Amiability? A human being that might lack one or both? The pre-operation Charlie Gordon sought intelligence as a cure, the post-operation Charlie Gordon desperately clung to intelligence as an identity, but pre-deterioration Charlie Gordon realized his fate and surrendered to restore the body to its rightful owner: the pre-operation Charlie Gordon. He is, after all, a human being.

Theology of the Pain of God // Kazoh Kitamori.

Profoundly disturbed and invigorated by the perplexing phrase, “my [God’s] heart is in pain,” in Jeremiah 31:20, Kazoh Kitamori delves and discovers an original theological crux: the pain of God. The pain of God is succinctly defined as the dissonance in God between his wrath to punish sin and his love to embrace the unlovable [us], yet in the historical person of Jesus it is clearly shown that love conquers wrath (Barth’s distinction between “God’s No” and “God’s Yes” as “God’s No in the service of God’s Yes” is comparable here). Therefore, the pain of God is ‘love rooted in the pain of God.’ This is also demonstrated in God’s forgiveness of unforgivable sin: “Forgiveness for a forgivable sin is a denial of the pain of God. The pain of God is his love conquering the inflexible wrath of God…” (35). Kitamori further recognizes the redemption of human pain in God’s pain by serving it. And what is the service of the pain of God except the complete denial of self-love for love of God and neighbor? To love in this way causes pain analogous to love rooted in God’s pain.

Kitamori unabashedly draws from his Japanese heritage, especially grassroots philosophy (the mind or sense of Japan’s common people). This inspires me as a Korean American Christian male in the U.S. of the 21st century: How can God speak to us? How can we speak about God?

Gilead // Marilynne Robinson.

Written as a memoir for his beautiful, ordinary, unnamed, seven year old son, to teach the things he would have love to teach as they grow old together, Reverend John Ames, the son of Reverend John Ames and Martha Turner Ames, grandson of Reverend John Ames and Margaret Todd Ames, pens his life as a warning and an encouragement. Vulnerable yet sublime, John Ames, 76, reminisces battles old memories and wounds: there is something beautiful about regret and bitterness mingling with joy and love, that is an objective truth but also a subjective discovery. Courage, not mystical enlightenment, is the foundational ingredient to this discovery: “I think there must also be a prevenient courage that allows us to be brave–that is, to acknowledge that there is more beauty than our eyes can bear, that precious things have been put into our hands and to do nothing to honor them is to do great harm” (246).

Letters and Papers from Prison // Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Complied by Eberhard Bethge)

On the 25th anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s death, Eberhard Bethge, a most treasured and beloved confidant, expanded and revised the numerous letters Bonhoeffer wrote and received. The depth and breadth of Dietrich’s subject matters include the public and private responsibilities of both the Christian and the Church, the importance and demands of the Christian community, the inhumanity of imprisonment, the preciousness of the gospel of Jesus, and the love he shares with his betrothed, parents, friends, and family. Dietrich towers as a modern theological giant, able to both decipher protestant liberalism and construct perceptive, Christocentric ethics. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a mere man, which he often tries to remind himself (I believe he assumes his intellectual prowess), but even this “mere-ness” is cherished because of Jesus Christ:

“But the truth is that if this earth was good enough for the man Jesus Christ, if such a man as Jesus lived, then, and only then, has life a meaning for us” (391).