Kevin Jung

Professor of Theological Ethics and Moral Philosophy

Kevin Jung is a Professor of Theological Ethics and Moral Philosophy at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity. As a theological ethicist, his scholarly passion lies in demonstrating the enduring relevance of theological concepts and ideas to contemporary moral life by elucidating their meanings and significance. His primary research interests encompass a broad range of metaethical and normative issues, including moral epistemology, value theory, moral psychology, action theory, and the philosophy of religion.

Dr. Jung holds an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, an S.T.M. from Yale Divinity School, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is the author of Christian Ethics and Commonsense Morality: An Intuitionist Account (Routledge, 2014) and Ethical Theory and Responsibility Ethics (Peter Lang, 2011). He edited Religious Ethics and Constructivism: A Metaethical Account (Routledge, 2018) and co-edited Doing Justice to Mercy: Religion, Law, and Criminal Justice (University of Virginia Press, 2007) and Humanity Before God: Contemporary Faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Ethics (Fortress Press, 2006). His articles have appeared in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Religious Ethics, Harvard Theological Review, Studies in Christian Ethics, and Christian Bioethics. He currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Religious Ethics.

Education

BA, Seoul Theological University; MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary;
STM, Yale Divinity School; PhD, University of Chicago

Courses Taught at Wake Forest

• Introduction to Theological Ethics
• Foundations of Christian Ethics
• The Problem of Evil
• Neuroethics
• Kierkegaard and Nietzsche
• Augustine’s Confessions
• The Ethics of Death and Dying
• Classics of Modern Theological Ethics

Books

• Christian Ethics and Commonsense Morality. New York: Routledge, 2014.  
• Ethical Theory and Responsibility Ethics: A Metaethical Study of H. Richard Niebuhr and Emmanuel Levinas. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2011.
• (Editor) Constructivism and Religious Ethics: A Metaethical Inquiry. New York: Routledge, 2018.  
• (Co-editor) Doing Justice to Mercy: Interdisciplinary Essays on Law, Religion, and Criminal Justice. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2007.
• (Co-editor) Humanity Before God: Contemporary Faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Ethics. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006.
• (Co-translator) John Witte, Jr. From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition. Seoul: Christian Literature Society of Korea, 2006.
• (Translator) Gene Outka, Agape: An Ethical Analysis. Seoul: Christian Literature Society of Korea, 1999.

Select Journal Articles, Book Chapters

• “Religious Ethics and AI,” Journal of Religious Ethics (2025).
• “Augustine, AI, and the Two Models of Language,” Journal of Religious Ethics (2025).
• “The Grounding Problem of Equal Respect: A Theistic Alternative to Constitutivism.” De Ethica 7, no. 4 (2023): 35-49.
• “Eudaimonism and the Ground of Normative Reasons,” Journal of Religious Ethics, 50 (2022): 84-102.   
• “Desire and Will.” In Encyclopedia of Religious Ethics, 133–39. Oxford, UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2022.
• “Weakness of Will and Practical Identity.” Studies in Christian Ethics, 33, no. 4 (2020): 463–478. 
• “Brain Transplant and Personal Identity,” Journal of Christian Bioethics, 26, no. 1 (2020): 95-112.
• “Normativity in Comparative Religious Ethics.” Journal of Religious Ethics, 45, no. 4 (2017): 642–65. 
• Models of Moral Realism in Christian Ethics. Harvard Theological Review, 108, no. 4 (2015), 485-507.

Select Honors and Awards

• 2023-2024. Fellow, Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Leaders Network (ACC-ALN)
• 2014-2016. Project Leader, “Science at the Forefront of Theological Education,” Science for Seminaries Grant, administered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and funded by the John Templeton Foundation. 
• 2008-2009. Lilly Theological Scholars Grant, Association of Theological Schools (ATS).
• 2004-2005. Spruill Fellowship, Emory University School of Law.