Practical Theology, Identity Formation, and Scripture Study

Teaching this fall: Mi-Rang Kang’s recent book, Interpretative Identity and Hermeneutical Community: A Biblical Hermeneutics for Women’s Group Bible Study in the Korean Context (Lit Verlag, 2011). The book is part of a series that I have found terrifically engaging and informative, titled ContactZone: Explorations in Intercultural Theology.
In Interpretative Identity, Prof. Mi-Rang Kang (of Chongshin University, Seoul) works from philosopher Paul Ricoeur’s works on the narrative character of textual and personal identity as it offers new possibilities for the formation of the Christian self-understanding of Korean women in and through the practice of Bible study. The book is rich in Ricoeur’s theory, in characterizing the distinctiveness of the Bible and its bearing on personal identity in Korean Christianity, in relating these to the potentials and struggles faced by many women in Korean Christian church contexts, and in showing through a detailed narrative of a Bible study on the Book of Ruth just how the Bible study can be a vehicle for a new Christian experience, for the women she studied, of themselves and others. The book’s interweaving of theology and pedagogy will be of particular interest to many APT members and friends. I’m teaching the book in a practical theology course this semester on evangelization, faith and culture.
Here on our APT blog, we’re interested in hearing what you’re reading, teaching, studying—! A few words or a short review is welcome…
–Tom Beaudoin, Fordham University