Messiah In Weakness Yung Suk Kim by Yung Suk Kim; 9781498217460, 149821746X instant download after payment.

Kim raises a perennial question about Jesus:How can we approach the historical Jesus?Kim proposes to interpret him from the perspective of the dispossessed--through the eyes of weakness. Exploring Jesus' experience, interpretation, and enactment of weakness, understanding weakness as both human condition and virtue, Kim offers a new portrait of Jesus who is weak and strong, and empowered to bring God's rule, replete with mercy, in the here and now. Arguing against the grain of tradition that the strong Jesus identifies with the weak, Kim demonstrates that it is the weak Jesus who identifies with the weak. The paradoxical truth with Jesus is: "Because he is weak, he is strong." In the end, Jesus dies a death of paradox that reveals both his ultimate weakness that demands divine justice, and his unyielding spirit of love for the world and truth of God.

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A timely intervention of public biblical interpretation. Yung Suk Kim's interpretation of Jesus provides a much-needed intervention in our current cultural moment. A society determined to assert its power naturally seeks a Jesus who affirms its striving -- Kim names such theologies idolatrous and demonstrates how Jesus brought transformation out of his own weakness. Acknowledging that we are all weak, he reasons, we can live in solidarity with the rest of humanity.

--Greg Carey, Professor of New Testament, Lancaster Theological Seminary

InMessiah in Weakness, Dr. Kim presents the intriguing and engaging contextualized proposition that Jesus of Nazareth embodied both weakness and strength. Expanding the conceptualization of weakness, Kim convincingly demonstrates how Jesus, through his ministry of teaching and healing and his suffering/crucifixion, enacted weakness, advocating for the weak. Reading through the decolonizing lens of weakness, Kim guides readers through a path paved with history of interpretation, adept literary analysis, contextual theology, and cultural and contemporary relevance.
--Mitzi J. Smith, Associate Professor of New Testament and Early Christian Studies, Ashland Theological Seminary/Detroit Center

This book raises a host of questions about weakness and Jesus: What is weakness (astheneia)? Was Jesus weak? Or did he simply identity with the weak? How did Jesus see God and the world? How can we explain Jesus' death in view of this lens of weakness? Can we see God and world from the perspective of weakness? Can we also read biblical characters through this lens of weakness? How should we see ourselves? With all these complex questions in mind, I believe that this book will be helpful to study of the historical Jesus, anthropology and Jesus, biblical theology about weakness, and feminist/womanist theology about the cross.