111. A Gospel for the Sinned-Against, with Phuc Luu, author of Jesus of the East

Spiritual Life and Leadership

Phuc Luu is the author of Jesus of the East: Reclaiming the Gospel for the Wounded. This book is based on the questions, “Why is there a theology for the sinner, but not for the victim, for the sinned against?”
That same question is also at the root of this conversation. In other words, do we need to pursue a Gospel that focuses less on punishment avoidance and more on the restoration of a broken world?
THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Phuc Luu is a theologian-philosopher and the author of Jesus of the East: Reclaiming the Gospel for the Wounded.
• The Crucified God, by Jürgen Moltmann, and The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James Cone, are the most formative books Phuc Luu has read.
• Phuc Luu came to the U.S. as a refugee with his family at the age of 4.
• The Eastern Church Fathers tended to see sin as akin to sickness and salvation was likened to healing.
• Minjung theology came out of Korea in response to the suffering and woundedness experienced, and focuses on salvation as healing, much like the Eastern Church Fathers.
• With Constantine’s conversion, Christianity went from being a religion for the victims to a religion for the victimizers.
• We have a Christianity for the sinner, but not a Christianity for the sinned against.
• Phuc Luu explains the racialization of justice in the United States.
• What is the good news for us today? How would Jesus bring healing to those who are wounded?
• Phuc Luu answers the question, why did Jesus die on the cross?
• Phuc Luu asks the question, does God have to do bad things in order to make good things happen?
• God stands in solidarity with all those who are crucified.
• The gospel for sinners is the opportunity to repent and have the mind of Christ.
• Jesus created a kinship that mended the wounds of those around them. Jesus wants us to be reconciled to one another.
• The church is called to allow its brokenness to intersect with the brokenness of the world, and thereby bring healing.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:

• Phuc Luu
  • Website: www.phucluu.com
• Books mentions:
  • Jesus of the East, by Phuc Luu
  • The Crucfied God, by Jürgen Moltmann
  • The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James Cone
  • Reading the Bible with the Damned, by Bob Ekblad

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