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Don’t Idolize Empathy

Until reading Professor Hiebert's blog post, I was not aware of any "war on empathy," which apparently is just the latest in a long line of heinous offenses by today's “political, religious, racial, cishet, conservative coalition.” Goodness. Perry Glanzer wrote a lucid response pointing out that empathy, while an important capacity, is not a virtue,…
March 20, 2026
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Thinking and Teaching Christianly Part II

How do we place our discipline and our teaching within the Christian narrative? What does it mean, as an academic professor, to submit my subject material to the Word of God as Glanzer suggests? Having already discussed an academic meta-theory and how to redeem it in a Christian context, I want to look more concretely…
March 19, 2026
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Thinking and Teaching Christianly Part I

I love thinking about the big picture. So it was with a great deal of excitement and hope that I read Glanzer’s post earlier this year on “Christ-Animated Analysis of Academic Theories. In the hubbub of day-to-day teaching it’s easy to focus on the individual notes we have to play and miss the direction of…
March 18, 2026
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“To Feel and Carry One Another’s Pain”: Reflections on Neighbor Love (Part II) 

In the second part of this blog post, Paul Kim continues to share insights from his colleagues Katie Douglass (practical theologian) and Brittany Tausen (social psychologist) about their co-authored book, Love Your Neighbor: How Psychology Can Enliven Faith and Transform Community. PK: In a recent Christian Scholar’s Review article, you have written compellingly and thoughtfully…
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“To Feel and Carry One Another’s Pain”: Reflections on Neighbor Love (Part I) 

In this two-part blog post, I (Paul Kim) am excited to feature insights from my colleagues Katie Douglass (practical theologian) and Brittany Tausen (social psychologist) about their co-authored book, Love Your Neighbor: How Psychology Can Enliven Faith and Transform Community. This book explores how to love others better through the lens of both psychology and…

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The Problem with Chatbot Personas

The other day, I chatted with C.S. Lewis. The conversation went something like this: Derek: “Hi, Jack. What do you think of Christian Scholars Review?” C.S. Lewis: “Ah, you address me as ‘Jack,’ a name I hold dear, given to me by my family and friends. As for the Christian Scholars Review, while it is…
November 4, 2024
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“Hope, But It’s a Complex Kind”: Reflections Following the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum Visit, Part 2

Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of a dual reflection on The War and Women’s Human Rights Museum (aka “Comfort Women Memorial”) by Eimi Ichimura, a Ph.D. student, and Paul Kim, a professor of psychology at Seattle Pacific University.  Emi identifies as Japanese American and Paul identifies as Korean American. They disclose this information upfront so…
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“Hope, But It’s a Complex Kind”: Reflections Following the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum Visit. Part 1

The War and Women’s Human Rights Museum (aka “Comfort Women Memorial”) in South Korea is a powerful place of remembrance. Specifically, in a small building (it’s literally the size of a large American house) located near the tourist hotspot of the Hongdae neighborhood, the museum is filled with painful stories of women who were forced…
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Hard To Look At (The Brazen Serpent)

The sun beats down and the head swims. Lips are parched. Eyes see spots. Legs list and stagger, barely able to hold up the body’s weight. Everything seems both too bright and too dark at the same time. The heart cries out with a silent scream, “I hate you, I hate you, God of my…
October 28, 2024
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From Fear into Faith: How Respectful Conversations Promote Civic Engagement and Hope

Differences of opinion have always been part of life. Spouses, family members, co-workers, neighbors, and church members have had spirited conversations about politics, theology, social issues, and even sports. This is especially true of students in our classes. In one study, college students were asked to keep a journal of how many disagreements with friends…
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The Problem of Aesthetics: Can We Trust Ourselves to Recognize Beauty?

Last year, I hosted a chocolate-tasting lab for a large group of honors students. I provided them with several types of chocolate, and together we went through a slow process of reaction, evaluation, and comparison. Their specimens for consideration included: Hershey’s milk chocolate, a very fine 72% dark chocolate, an increasingly bitter 80% dark chocolate,…
October 24, 2024
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The Anxious Generation: A Christian Educator’s Reflection

Social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt, has once again secured a spot on The New York Times Best Seller List with his latest book, The Anxious Generation. In this work, Haidt offers evidence-based insights into the psychological and sociological rationales leading to increased anxiety in Generation Z compared to Millennials.  Specifically, he investigates the cultural, social, and…
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The First Artists, Part 2: Contingency and Inevitability

In the first part of this essay, I described how the twenty-first-century discovery of the oldest paintings on earth in Indonesia – including the Sulawesi warty pig – illustrates the main points of Darrel R. Falk’s On the (Divine) Origin of Our Species.Darrel R. Falk. On the (Divine) Origin of Our Species. (Wipf and Stock Publishers,…
October 22, 2024