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Title: The Wounded Heart of God: The Asian Concept of Han and the Christian Doctrine of Sin by Andrew Sung Park ISBN: 0-687-38536-9 Publisher: Abingdon Press Pub. Date: March, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Asian-american perspective.
Comment: I have had the pleasure of attending a lecture given by Prof. Andrew Sung Min. His lecture was quite interesting and informative, but far from what I would call spectacular. It wasn't until I read his book, The Wounded Heart of God, that I began to understand the enormous project he undertook. His lecture was based on his book - a culmination of the Asian concept of Han and the Christian theology of Sin. I have never read a book that more accurately articulates the condition of man as an oppressed being. A condition that is easy to know but hard to explain. Perhaps being Korean, I am privileged to an almost innate understanding of Han. It was then I began to wonder of Prof. Park was unduly optimistic that others would also be attune to the language he uses. While he does highlight influential thinkers who describe a partial understanding of Han (such as Aquinas [p 74], Hegel [p 75], and others) and non-Asian communities that suffer from Han (such as the Israelites and Palestinians), it was his biblical references to a God that also suffers from Han that eventually convinced me of the plausibility of his model (p 122).
However I find one part of his theology problematic. Park's understanding of sin and han is that while they are very closely entwined, they are not the same. "Sin is the volitional act of the oppressors; hand is the pain of the victim" (p12). He views sin as a theological doctrine, while han is a more general world condition. Han is also, among many other things, "the point of contact between JC (Jesus Christ) and suffering humanity and between JC and God. Christ represents the han of the downtrodden to God..." (p 126). Coupled with the need for God - because ultimately it is God's heart that we wound - it is plainly obvious that both Jesus Christ and God are needed. [I also know this for a fact because I asked him if Jesus Christ and God are necessary component in his worldview.] Additionally the first component of relieving han is to recognize han. And to recognize Han, one must know of and have faith in Jesus Christ. If one has never had the opportunity to hear of JC and God - then it is impossible to relieve han. The problem is further compounded because han is not a religious aliment. It is, as Park puts it, a social and cultural inheritance. If that is the case then it is very possible to live in a han-filled world, yet at the same time live in a JC God-less world. Which would mean undue and unavoidable suffering with no way to escape it
Rating: 5
Summary: sin as relationship
Comment: Christianity of nearly all varieties has been dedicated to converting the "unbeliever". The intent is to convince the "other" to accept what Christians believe as true. The process has always been more complicated than that.
As the early church converted the Greeks, Greek concepts crept into Christian theology.
In 1531, only ten years after the Spanish conquest of Mexico, Juan Diego, a Christianized poor indigenous peasant walking down a path, heard beautiful music and stopped. A woman appeared to him and identified herself as the Virgin Mary. She told him that she wanted the Archbishop to build a temple on that site. Juan Diego dutifully set off to the Archbishop who was less than impressed. Reporting his failure, the Virgin told him where to find roses. When he brought her the roses, she wrapped them in Juan Diego's cloak. Once again, he set off to see the Archbishop. Unwrapping the cloak to free the roses revealed a picture of the Virgin. The Archbishop relented.
A conversion? Of whom? The Virgin spoke to Juan Diego in Nahuatl, not Spanish. The Virgin wanted her temple built not in the city where the Archbishop had planned, but where she appeared: on a sacrificial site dedicated to Tonantzin, the virgin mother of the gods. On Juan Diego's cloak, the Virgin's dress was red, the color of the god Huitzilopopchtli. The blue-green of the background was the color of Ometeotl, the god of natural forces. The Virgin wore a black band around her waist, a local sign of pregnancy.
A simple indian peasant had captured the Virgin Mary from the Spanish, or, if you prefer, the Virgin Mary had sided with oppressed. This appearance of the Virgin is now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of her most important apparitions.
Was Christianity compromised or enriched?
"The Wounded Heart of God" by Andrew Sung Park describes the influence the Korean concept of "han" is having on Christian theology. He writes, "(W)hen suffering reaches the point of saturation, it implodes and collapses into a condensed feeling of pain. This collapsed feeling of sadness, despair, and bitterness is han." Han produces mental and physical pain and sickness, and warps social, cultural and religious life.
The concept of han is rooted in Korean shamanism.
In his lively and clear analysis, Mr. Park discusses the structure and roots of han, the relationship between sin and han, and forgiveness in the light of han. "True repentance will transpire only when wrongdoers change their way of thinking and life against the wronged and are forgiven by them."
What? We sinners need to be forgiven by those we harmed? Why, that would mean ... a whole new way of relating to people.
I've underlined almost every other paragraph in this startling book. (Yes, I'm one of those.) Anyone interested in human relations, human rights or conflict resolution will find this slim volume very important.
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Title: Theology in a New Key: Responding to Liberation Themes by Robert McAfee Brown ISBN: 0664242049 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: April, 1981 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation by Gustavo Gutierrez, Caridad Inda, John Eagleson ISBN: 0883445425 Publisher: Orbis Books Pub. Date: June, 1988 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay by James Alison ISBN: 0824519221 Publisher: Crossroad/Herder & Herder Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: An Asian Theology of Liberation by Aloysius S. J. Pieris ISBN: 0567291588 Publisher: T&t Clark Ltd Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The Other Side of Sin: Woundedness from the Perspective of the Sinned-Against by Andrew Sung Park, Susan L. Nelson ISBN: 0791450422 Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr Pub. Date: August, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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