God Who Is Not, Yet Is

CONTENTS

Abbreviations vii
Glossary ix
Note on Translation and Romanisation xv
Foreword xvii
Preface 1

1. Korean Theology and Dasŏk Ryu Young-mo 21

2. The God of Oneness in Unity with the World 41

3. Christ as the Identity of Believers 103

4. Ŏl · Sum · Qim Pneumatology 147

5. Three Powers Theory and Dasŏk’s Doctrine of the Trinity 173

6. Dasŏk’s Performative-Aesthetical Anthropology 199

7. Dasŏk’s Theology in the Age of Post-Christianity 233

8. Conclusion: The Face of God Manifest in Korean

Spirituality 257
References 265
Index 275

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kyu-sik Ahn read History at Chungnam National University (B.A.) before pursuing a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) at Seoul Theological University. He subsequently attained an M.A. in the Sociology of Religion from King’s College London. Dr Ahn was awarded his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology and the Theology of Culture from Yonsei University, where his doctoral research focused on the eminent Korean Christian thinker, Dasŏk Ryu Young-mo. Currently serving as a Research Professor at Yonsei University, he lectures on Korean Theology, Systematic Theology, and Christian Liberal Arts. His scholarly endeavours are dedicated to pioneering new vistas in Korean theology through the intellectual confluence of Eastern and Western thought.

I find Ahn Kyu-sik's engagement with Dasŏk Ryu Young-mo’s Theology of Non-Being compellingly resistant to classical metaphysical closure. Ahn Kyu-sik claim that God is not a being or non-being, yet God is the reality by which all beings and non-beings are, is both provocative, theologically and philosophically generative. It rewards careful readers with fresh insight, conceptual clarity, and a compelling vision that invites sustained reflection rather than easy conclusions. This book is enriching and conceptually transformative for readers across both Western and Korean intellectual traditions, inviting dialogue beyond inherited metaphysical boundaries.
Prof. Chammah J. Kaunda Academic Dean, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Extraordinary Professor of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, University of South Africas

God Who Is Not, Yet Is: Dasŏk Ryu Young-mo’s Theology of Non-Being is a groundbreaking work that brings Korean contextual theology into mature dialogue with global theology. Ahn Kyu-sik offers the first comprehensive English study of Dasŏk Ryu Young-mo, revealing a theology that unites God’s transcendence and immanence through the Korean spiritual imagination of Ŏl, Han, and emptiness. This book’s unique contribution lies in presenting a post-Christian, de-Westernised vision of faith that integrates Eastern and Western wisdom into a holistic theology of life. Essential reading for theologians, missiologists, and scholars of world Christianity, it redefines what contextual theology can be in a global age.
Rev Dr Guichun Jun, PhD Research Tutor and Supervisor,
Oxford Centre For Mission Studies Stage Leader