History prof lands prestigious Fulbright Scholarship in Cyprus

Calvin history professor Young Kim has landed a prestigious Fulbright Research
Grant to study in Cyprus during the 2012 academic year. Kim will be studying an
expert in heresies: Epiphanius--a church father born in Palestine--and will
write a book about his life and work.

See full story:
http://www.calvin.edu/news/archive/young-kim-wins-fulbright-to-study-an-expert-in-heresies

"He wrote this large manual that described the beliefs, practices and
refutations of 80 heresies," Kim said. The work is called the "Panarion," Greek
for "Medicine Chest," and it cautions against, among many others, the
Manichaeans, the Origenists, various 'Gnostic' sects and the different
derivations of non-Nicene theology.

"However, the "Panarion" tells us in many ways more about the author than it
does about the heresies he describes … ," said Kim. "It embodies in written
form his self-constructed public persona--as the defender of orthodoxy, the
scourge of heretics."
Kim will devote his time in Cyprus to learning more about Epiphanius, reading
his signature work as more of an autobiography. "I'm going to be looking for
the man, the author behind the writing," he said.
Kim, a specialist in late Roman history, believes the fourth century, the
Constantinian era, is one of the most important in church history for
articulating the basic doctrines of the Christian faith.
"This is the time when Christianity had become a legal religion, and
Christians were debating, writing and arguing like they never had before," he
said. "Epiphanius is part of that very, very large conversation on Christian
theology."
Kim hopes to make that conversation less black-and-white, an approach he also
takes in his teaching. "I want students to complicate things--because if
history teaches us anything, it's that things are always more complicated than
they are made out to be," he said.
The Fulbright Scholars Program, administered by the U.S. Department of State,
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is an international educational
exchange created in 1946 to increase mutual understanding between the people of
the United States and other countries. The program awards 800 grants to
scholars annually.
For more info, contact Kim at 616-526-7568.
For a hi-res photo of Kim, contact Matt Kucinski at msk23@calvin.edu
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Received on Mon Mar 5 12:15:10 2012