A new book, “An Anthropology of the Cross,” has been published, highlighting French literary critic and socio-anthropologist Dr. Rene Girard (1923∼), who has defended Christian thought in this postmodern age.
Author Dr. Jeong Il-gwon (photo), a professor of Korea Theological Seminary, commented in introducing his new book, “The work of Girard, who is often referred to as ‘the Darwin of human science,’ ‘the Hegel of Christian circles,’ and ‘the Einstein of humanities,’ is indispensable, but he is not well known in Korean church circles. The Korean church situation, with its poor theology, really needs his kind of humanities, because he explains Christianity in a sophisticated and logical way."
Jeong, who met Girard twice in person, evaluates him as a representative intellectual of the world. In 2005, Girard was appointed as one of the “immortels” of the French Academy.
Girard encountered God while studying the humanities, and accepted God in 1959. He once said, “The great literature made me turn to Christianity, and Christianity is still a very productive part of the humanities.” Jeong commented, “The humanities are moving to extremes, far beyond Christianity, and toward anti-Christianity, but Gerard restored the tradition and value of authentic Christianity, which has been a constant target of attacks… He explained the victory of the Cross by solving the mystery of myths.”
Jeong explained, “Girard was deeply moved by the story of Jesus, because it doesn’t contain the heroic element. Greek and Roman myths always praise strong heroes, but Jesus, on the contrary, stood on the side of the poor, oppressed and weak from the very beginning.”
According to Girard, the God of the Bible is a non-violent God, different from other myths, and always builds solidarity with the victims in the human race. In addition, the myths and gods in other religions ask for sacrifice endlessly, whereas God in the Bible announces the end of sacrifice due to the sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jeong said, “The anthropology of the Cross, according to Girard, means the paradox and victory of the everlasting self-sacrifice by the one on the Cross.”
He added, “Many religious pluralists and liberation theologians have turned to God after encountering Girard… He proved that Christianity can be explained not only by the Biblical text but also by the language of humanities. I hope to introduce Girard to the Korean church as much as possible.”
Article and photo by reporter A-young Kim (cello08@kmib.co.kr)
Click here for the original article in Korean
“Rene Girard and his humanities are essential for the Korean church today”
2015-07-21 16:59
