My Theology: Spirit Life

Grace Ji-Sun Kim’s book centres on the Spirit as an avenue for better understanding God and reconciling with our faith. The Spirit is present in the Old Testament as ruach and in the New Testament as pneuma. When the field of theology was prominently German led, theologians used the word geist to talk about the Spirit. As an Asian American theologian, it is necessary to retrieve and disseminate Asian words and religious symbols into the mainstream discourse to revolutionize the accessibility and global understanding of God today. One important Asian concept is Chi, translated as wind, breath, spirit, energy, much like ruach, pneuma and geist. Chi is a term adept for coming to know God as the Spirit as it effectively conveys God’s presence in the world. As such, we can move towards a nondualistic theology that provides an abundant space for everyone, including the marginalized and the subordinated, paving a path towards liberation and radical demarginalization.