About

My name is Jiun Kit Koo (Scuter). I am a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Religion & Theology at the Vrije Universiteit (Free University) Amsterdam. I am currently based in Singapore.

I am in the middle of writing my dissertation on the theology of the Puritan John Owen tentatively titled, “Responsive Virtue: John Owen on Infusion, Union, and Virtue Formation.” My primary supervisor at the VU is Willem van Vlastuin. My secondary and external supervisor is Kyle Strobel at Talbot School of Theology (Biola University).

My work focuses on John Owen’s writings broadly and his spiritual/practical writings in particular. I am especially interested in his writings on the nature of sin and the believer’s call to the universal, daily mortification of it. I view my project as one of ressourcement in the Reformed tradition, as I use Owen as a platform to engage contemporary Christian accounts of virtue theory and formation.

My hope is that this project will ultimately be serviceable to the Church.
Often, believers are taught that it is their duty to fight sin their entire life but there tends to be precious little said about how to do so (Gal. 3:1-3). At best, the overall feeling tends to be that, “As long as I am consciously trying my best not to sin, and I do my best at the spiritual disciplines (Bible reading, prayer, evangelism, etc.), that has to be enough, right?”
This has led to a lot of frustration and little fruit in my own spiritual life. I knew that I could habituate myself into the spiritual disciplines and yet still not have the actual desire and longing to do them. I longed to have that longing.

In an attempt to understand the dynamics of change and transformation of my own heart, I was introduced to the writings of the Puritans and was immediately captivated at the depth of their psychological/pastoral insight and their deep conviction that doctrine and spirituality are not separate disciplines, but really two sides of the same coin.

My primary areas of research in constructive systematic theology include theological anthropology (doctrine of man), hamartiology (doctrine of sin), soteriology (doctrine of salvation, sanctification, and the Christian life).
Because of the influence of the Puritans, aside from theology I also have cross-disciplinary interests in analytic philosophy (moral psychology, virtue ethics/theory) and psychology (depth and existential psychology, object-relations and attachment theory, and interpersonal neurobiology).
I am convinced that if Owen were alive today, he would also be waist-deep in these disciplines, deeply concerned about integrating them into his Reformed theological convictions and commitments.

I still occasionally indulge in older areas of interest such as natural theology/apologetics, analytic metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and various issues in philosophy of religion and philosophical theology.

I have a heart for engaging Christians who have been in the church for awhile, have heard years of sermons, attended bible studies, gone to revival meetings, participated in retreats, and yet still find that something is missing in their spiritual life. They long (or long to long) for the rivers of living water.