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Articles and Essays
2021
Chung-Kim, Esther, "Moneylending in Medieval Christianity and Reformation Era," in Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception, (EBR) vol. 19, eds. Constance Furey et al. (Berlin: DeGruyter, June 2021)
2020
Chung-Kim, Esther, “Virtual Connection: Teaching Religion and Politics in East Asia Online in the Era of COVID-19,” Sixteenth Century Journal 51, no. S1 [Special Edition on Teaching] (September 2020).
2020
Chung-Kim, Esther, "Calvin and his Lutheran Critics, in John Calvin in Context, ed. R. Ward Holder (Cambridge University Press, January 2020), 345-354.
2018
Chung-Kim, Esther, “Reception in the Renaissance and Reformation,” in The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation, eds. Peter Martens and Paul Blowers (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, July 2019), 686-703.
ABSTRACT - The retrieval of patristic exegesis made great strides during the revival of Renaissance humanism and the spread of European Reformations. While devotion to the recovery of the early church writings was primarily an intellectual movement, it was shaped and motivated by distinct social, political, religious, and philosophical developments of fifteenth and sixteenth century Europe. Humanists appreciated ancient Christian writings because they sought to combine piety with eloquence, which would reinvigorate religion for educated laity. When humanists, such as LeFévre and Erasmus, offered their translations and interpretation of Scripture and the church fathers, others responded with their own interpretations, whether Lutheran, Calvinist, Swiss Reformed, English, or Catholic. Although the development of confessionalization shaped the integration of Renaissance patristic scholarship, the patristic reception of Protestants and Catholics portrayed both respect and criticism of ancient exegetes because they now had to struggle in order to define their theological positions among a plurality of interpretations.
2017
Chung-Kim, Esther, “Advocating for Poor Relief in Zurich: Heinrich Bullinger’s Contributions to Religious Ideals and Swiss Policy Reforms,” Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture vol. 86, number 2 in Cambridge University Press Journals, June 2017.
ABSTRACT - Despite the demarcations of the political and religious spheres, Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575) considered the city’s system of poor relief to be a pastoral concern. The chief minister of Zurich expected the wealth from confiscated church property to be used for communal needs and believed that the magistrates needed the ministers to guide them in poor relief reforms. This article demonstrates that Bullinger’s biblical interpretation was not peripheral to his political activity, but rather central to his contributions to poor relief and to the justification of his political involvement in poor relief reform. More specifically, Bullinger’s involvement in poor relief reform was a consistent development from his articulation of his theological views in the 1530s, applied to the Zurich context in the 1550s, and politically supported in the 1570s. An examination of Bullinger’s biblical interpretation and scriptural references in his commentaries, sermons, and speeches reveals a consistent concern for the c
2016
Chung-Kim, “John Calvin on Poverty and Wealth,” in Calvinus Pastor Ecclesiae. Papers of the Eleventh International Congress on Calvin Research, Herman Selderhuis and Arnold Huijsen, eds., (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 2016).
ABSTRACT - This paper addresses the Reformation problem of negotiating long-held values of poverty as a religious ideal with the emerging social values of profit and wealth accompanying the rapid economic development during the early modern period. Drawing insights from Scripture to be applied in the sixteenth century context, Calvin addressed the social problems of poverty and wealth that elevated neither the poor nor the rich, simply for their economic status, but rather for how they responded to their respective circumstances. Hence, Calvin could imagine the pious poor and the virtuous rich, while envisioning a social structure where voluntary wealth distribution would remove the causes of abject poverty. Calvin’s intersection of religious thought with his support of emerging social welfare systems resulted in a broader appeal for his views.
2011
Chung-Kim, Esther, “The Lord’s Supper,” in In the Precious Name: Festschrift for Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar (CreateSpace, 2011), pp. 144-157.
2010
Chung-Kim, Esther, multiple entries in Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity, Daniel Patte, ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2010). “Balthasar Hubmaier,” “Johannes Brenz,” and “The Peasants’ War.”
2010
Chung-Kim, Esther, multiple entries in The Westminster Handbook to the Reformation, R. Ward Holder, ed., (Westminster/John Knox Press, 2010).“Joris Cassander,” “Confession,” “Covenant,” “Intercession of Saints,” “Magistrates,” “Original Sin,” “Satisfaction,” and “Tabernacle.”
2009
Chung-Kim, Esther, “Use of the Fathers in the Eucharistic Debates between John Calvin and Joachim Westphal,” in Reformation, vol. 14 (December 2009), pp. 101-125.
ABSTRACT - This essay examines how John Calvin and Joachim Westphal used the early church fathers in the sixteenth-century debates over the Lord's Supper. In the midst of competing Lutheran and Reformed interpretations of the Lord s Supper, the reformers looked to ancient authorities in support of their views against competing opinions. As controversies erupted, not only between Catholics and Protestants but among the Protestants themselves, references to the church fathers increased as the reformers appealed to the ancient tradition for confirmation on doctrinal and liturgical issues. This essay compares how Calvin and Westphal referred to the church fathers to authorize their own interpretations concerning the Eucharist and contributes to current conversations on the use of the early church fathers in the construction of Protestant "orthodoxy," and the history of biblical interpretation during the Reformation.
2009
Chung-Kim, Esther, “Use of Wealth in the Christian Life: John Calvin’s Biblical Interpretation,” in Dulia et Latria, vol. 2 (April 2009), pp. 57-78.
ABSTRACT - When John Calvin describes the Christian life, one key issue that arises is how believers are to use earthly and material blessings. The condition for using and enjoying these material gifts is that they be used rightly, namely according to the purposes of God. This paper illustrates how John Calvin understood the balance of theology and ethics in his sixteenth-century contest. If poverty is no longer the religious ideal, what does a pious Christian do with his or her possessions? By examining Calvin’s biblical interpretation of the last section in Acts 4 concerning the communal sharing of possessions and the first section in Acts 5 on Ananias and Sapphira, it becomes clear that the goal of reflecting God’s providence guides the use of material wealth and the answer to the question of how much one should give.
2009
Chung-Kim, Esther, multiple entries in The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology, Dawn DeVries and Brian Gerrish, eds. (Westminster/John Knox Press, submitted 2009, publication forthcoming). “Allegory and Typology,” “Antinomianism,” “Catechesis,” “Celibacy,” “Jansenism,” “Nominalism,” “Socinianism,” and “Unction.”
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