In Search of God, Identity and Home with/in Others: A Reflection on Korean Diaspora and Old Testament
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Since the expulsion of Adam and Eve from their home, we are in some sense all living in diaspora. But calling a town, city, state, or country as one’s home and cherishing the sense of belonging to it have left us inattentive to our diasporic conditions. The Old Testament reminds us that no matter how comfortable we may feel in our homeland, or wherever we may be living, we need to pay attention to our diasporic situation in order to fully understand our lives on earth and one’s relation to God and to those who are different from ourselves. Abraham and Sarah left their home and lived their life as strangers and residents and experienced the state of being both guests and hosts, a paradox of being diasporic people. Korean living in North America are keener to this theme in the Old Testament and to stories like that of Abraham and Sarah than Koreans living in their homeland. The author reflects on his research in the last ten years, which engages with the positionality of Korean Americans and argues that the politics of othering are used to designate Korean Americans and other minoritized groups as “perpetual foreigners” who can never be permanent hosts in their own land. Although such rhetoric used to legitimatize the majority group’s position and identity as permanent hosts may bring material and political benefits, they have forgotten their diasporic situation, resulting in searching for God from the position of the Self (host) that impedes their access to God whenever they encounter the Other (guest). There is another approach to knowing God, the Self, and the Other that comes from those who have experienced being in the position of the Other (guest; foreigner; stranger) and understand the paradox of being both hosts and guests in their own residence that enabled them to see God when they engaged with others. Korean American biblical scholars are developing hermeneutical strategies that are being forged from their diasporic context and follow closely to this tradition when they read the Old Testament.
Abstract
Since the expulsion of Adam and Eve from their home, we are in some sense all living in diaspora. But calling a town, city, state, or country as one’s home and cherishing the sense of belonging to it have left us inattentive to our diasporic conditions. The Old Testament reminds us that no matter how comfortable we may feel in our homeland, or wherever we may be living, we need to pay attention to our diasporic situation in order to fully understand our lives on earth and one’s relation to God and to those who are different from ourselves. Abraham and Sarah left their home and lived their life as strangers and residents and experienced the state of being both guests and hosts, a paradox of being diasporic people. Korean living in North America are keener to this theme in the Old Testament and to stories like that of Abraham and Sarah than Koreans living in their homeland. The author reflects on his research in the last ten years, which engages with the positionality of Korean Americans and argues that the politics of othering are used to designate Korean Americans and other minoritized groups as “perpetual foreigners” who can never be permanent hosts in their own land. Although such rhetoric used to legitimatize the majority group’s position and identity as permanent hosts may bring material and political benefits, they have forgotten their diasporic situation, resulting in searching for God from the position of the Self (host) that impedes their access to God whenever they encounter the Other (guest). There is another approach to knowing God, the Self, and the Other that comes from those who have experienced being in the position of the Other (guest; foreigner; stranger) and understand the paradox of being both hosts and guests in their own residence that enabled them to see God when they engaged with others. Korean American biblical scholars are developing hermeneutical strategies that are being forged from their diasporic context and follow closely to this tradition when they read the Old Testament.
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