Home / Directory / Sam Ha

Sam Ha

Sam Ha

Theological Librarian and Curator of the Meeter Center;
Senior Program and Learning Initiatives Director

Degrees

PhD in Systematic Theology and History of Christianity, Calvin Theological Seminary, 2026
Master of Divinity, Korea Theological Seminary, 2019
Bachelor of Arts in Theology, London School of Theology, 2011

About

Sam started his time at the seminary as a student in 2019, and he joined the seminary faculty in the summer of 2023 as a theological librarian. His main interests are John Calvin, the Reformation, Reformed theology and worldview, and global Christianity. He is also very keen on understanding and teaching systematic theology in a way that it helps everyday Christians to thrive and flourish in their lives.

Sam is also an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church of Korea, and serves churches in the UK, South Korea, and the US.
He is married to Lila, and they have three children.

Featured Publications

Books

  • A Day of Worship: Adoring God in Every Moment (Viator, 2024)
  • Young Calvin: Wisdom and Consolation through Calvin’s Letters (Hakyoung, 2026)

Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters

  • “Prayer as Participatory Agency in Calvin’s Doctrine of Sanctification: A Study of His Pastoral Correspondence,” Religions 17, no. 7: 861. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel17070861.
  • “‘A Covering Shelter from the Storm’: Calvin’s Political and Pastoral Theology of Exile,” in Crafting the Reformed Tradition: Studies in Honor of Donald K. McKim—A Churchman and A Scholar, eds. Jon Balserak and Jim West, 77-94.
  • “Cultural Competence as Calling: Theological Librarianship in the Age of Global Theological Education,” in The Theological Librarian’s Handbook: Theological Library Services (Atla Open Press, 2026), 93-102.
  • “Gifts for the Pilgrimage: Flourishing in Cross-Cultural Academic Life,” in Purpose and Joy: Sustaining a Meaningful Career in Christian Higher Education (Abilene: Abilene Christian University Press, 2026), 241-249.
  • “Because of Who We Are: A Fresh Perspective on Calvin’s Doctrine of the Image of God and Human Dignity,” Religions 15.10 (2024): 1-12.
  • “‘Perpetuum studium et exercitationem mortificandae carnis’: John Calvin’s View on Habit Formation,” Journal of Reformed Theology 18.1-3 (2024): 26-49.
  • “Toward a More Trinitarian Understanding of Atonement: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Calvin’s Atonement Theology,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 33.1 (2024): 18-32.
  • “The Consolation of Theology: How Calvin and Calvinist Missionaries to Korea Comforted the Suffering,” Church History and Religious Culture 104.1 (2024): 67-94.
  • “The Exile Motifs in Calvin’s Early View on the Doctrine of Covenant,” Calvin, Exile, and Religious Refugees, eds. Karin Maag and Arnold Huijgen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2024), 155-166.
  • “With Whom Should One Worship? A Fresh Perspective on John Calvin’s Liturgical Theology of Physical Proximity and Spiritual Epidemic,” Religions 14.8 (2023): 1-12.
  • “Calvin’s Pneumatological Understanding of the Doctrine of the Image of God,” Reformed Theology and the Church 35 (2021): 167-189.
  • “Calvin and Ecumenism,” in John Calvin Today, ed. Donald K. McKim (Minneapolis: Fortress Press) (Accepted and forthcoming).
  • “The Very First ‘Calvinists’ in Korea? Uncovering the Early Missionaries’ Semi-Calvinism,” in The Calvin Studies Society Proceedings, ed. Kirk Summers (Accepted and forthcoming).
  • “Luther’s So-Called Breakthrough in the Light of the Long Reformation: A Historiographical Study,” Tenth Annual RefoRC Conference on Early Modern Christianity (Accepted and forthcoming).

Areas of Expertise

Featured Presentations:

  • “Friends or Older Brothers? Rethinking Neo-Calvinist Retrieval through an East Asian Lens,” Kuyper Conference, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, March 26–28, 2026.
  • “Calvin, Creation, and AI: Pneumatology, Habituation, and the Ethics of Digital Speech,” Calvin Studies Society, Birmingham, AL, USA, March 20, 2026.
  • “Covenant as Consolation: Calvin’s Approach to Temporal Suffering and Eternal Happiness,” Evangelical Theological Society Conference, Boston, MA, November 19, 2025.
  • “Forming a Missional Life through Prayer: Conversations with Calvin,” Institute for Missional Theology Forum, Seoul, Korea, September 30, 2025.
  • “From Potential to Practical: The Rewards and Risks of AI in Teaching,” Calvin University Fall Conference for Faculty and Staff, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, August 21, 2025.
  • “Embodied Suffering and the Spirit: Reconsidering John Calvin’s Theology of the Body,” Society for the Study of Theology 2025, University of Warwick, Coventry, England, April 7-10, 2025.
  • “The Suffering God, Missional Theology, and Calvin,” Institute for Missional Theology Forum, Seoul, Korea, December 19, 2024.
  • “Recontextualizing Calvin and Calvin Studies for the Post Colonial Globe: An Asian Perspective,” The Conference on Faith and History 2024, Birmingham, Alabama, USA, October 10, 2024.
  • “Teaching and Being Who You Are: Challenges and Strategies for BIPOC in Higher Education,” The Conference on Faith and History 2024, Birmingham, Alabama, USA, October 11, 2024.
  • “The Pedagogy of Prayer: Affective Teaching between God and Humans in Cyril of Jerusalem and Gregory Nazianzen,” Florovsky Tantur Symposium 2024, Notre Dame University, IN, USA, October 5, 2024.
  • “Is Prayer Speaking or Listening? Prayer as Genuine Divine and Human Speech according to Augustine,” Society for the Study of Theology, UK, April 9, 2024.
  • “‘Great Trouble and Vexation the Righteous Shall Sustain’: How Anne Lock Was a Resistant Theologian-Poet of Consolation and Suffering,” International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, USA, May 10, 2024.
  • “’The Spirit’ of God and ‘the spirit’ of Scholarship,” Kuyper Conference, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, April 2, 2024.
  • “Kant’s Theological Interpretation of Grace in his ‘Three Difficulties,’” The Michigan Academy Conference, Alma, MI, USA, March 8, 2024.
  • “Were Women in Peripheral Vision for Calvin?” Ecclesiastical History Society, UK, January 13, 2024.
  • “‘Scauroit-on imaginer chose plus malheureuse?’: The Significance of the Exile Motif in Calvin’s Early View on Covenant,” American Society of Church History, San Francisco, CA, USA, January 5, 2024.
  • “What Can You Do with a PhD?: Alternate Pathways,” American Society of Church History, San Francisco, CA, USA, January 4, 2024.
  • “The Rhetoric of Persecution and Consolation during the Christian Century in Japan,” Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, October 28, 2023.
  • “The Exile Motifs in Calvin’s Early View on the Doctrine of Covenant,” International Congress on Calvin Research, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, July 25, 2023.
  • “The Paradoxical Nature of Prayer to the Holy Spirit and its Implications for the Church in Karl Barth’s Theology,” Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference, Edinburgh, UK, June 8, 2023.
  • “The Power of Physical Proximity and Assimilation: John Calvin’s Warning of the Spiritual Epidemic,” Society for the Study of Theology, Warwick, UK, April 19, 2023.
  • “The Idea of Suffering God and Comforting Believers in John Calvin’s Thought,” Society for Reformation Studies, Cambridge, UK, April 12, 2023.
  • “Hypocrisy and Assimilation: An Untold Tale of Calvin’s View of Spiritual Pandemic,” Ecclesiastical History Society, UK, January 14, 2023.
  • “‘Necessary and Sweet’: the Rhetoric of Persecution among the Missionaries in Korea during the Japanese Colonization,” American Academy of Religion (AAR), Denver, Colorado, USA, November 19, 2022.
  • “‘A Covering Shelter from the Storm’: Calvin’s Political and Religious Perspective on Exile,” Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, October 28, 2022.
  • “Calvin’s Pneumatological Understanding of the Imago Dei,” Society for Reformation Studies, Cambridge, UK, April 7, 2022.
  • “‘Perpetuum studium et exercitationem mortificandae carnis’: Calvin’s View on Habitus and Virtue Ethics,” Sixteenth Century Society and Conference, San Diego, California, USA, October 29, 2021.
  • “Luther’s So-called Breakthrough in the Light of the Long Reformation,” Tenth Annual RefoRC Conference on Early Modern Christianity, Budapest, Hungary, May 6, 2021.
  • “John Calvin and his Consolation of Theology for the Refugees,” Society for Reformation Studies, Cambridge, UK, April 7, 2021.
  • “Active Sanctification in Karl Barth,” The Michigan Academy Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, March 12, 2021.

Speaking Topics

 Public Lectures

  • “AI and Education: The Virtues for Educators in the Age of AI,” High School Teachers Conference, Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, November 7, 2025.
  • “A Reformed Way of Reading Scripture: The Case of John Calvin,” Reformed Touchstones Academic Lecture Series, Calvin Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, October 23, 2025.
  • “Vocation and Discernment: Serving Students Faithfully in the Age of AI,” Calvin Seminary Faculty Development, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, October 3, 2025.
  • “Not Just about Who They Are, but Who We Become: Rethinking Calvin on the Imago Dei and Human Dignity,” Calvin Seminary Faculty Monthly Mini-Colloquium, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, February 20, 2025.
  • “The Theological Implications of the Reformation,” invited speaker at the Grand Rapids Christian High School, June 10, 2024.
  • “Toward a More Trinitarian Understanding of the Atonement: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Calvin’s Atonement Theology,” Monthly mini colloquium at Calvin Theological Seminary, November 13, 2023.
  • “How Luther Overcame His Crises: Lectures on the Reformation for Everyday Believers,” invited speaker at the Brookside CRC, Grand Rapids, Michigan, January 8, 2023.
  • “The Consolation of Theology according to John Calvin,” invited speaker for the Missional Historical Theology Forum, Seoul, South Korea, November 9, 2022.
  • “The Impact of the Reformed Faith on the Korean Peninsula,” invited speaker at the Meeter Center, October 31, 2022.
  • “Learning from John Calvin: Church History for Preachers Part 2,” invited speaker at the Pastors’ Conference, August 23, 2021.
  • “How to Live as a Christian in a Contemporary Society: A Lecture for 20-Somethings,” invited speaker at the Students for Christ, Seoul, Korea, April 6, 2021.
  • “Learning from Martin Luther: Church History for Preachers Part 1,” invited speaker at the Pastors’ Conference, March 29, 2021.
Row midpoint Shape Decorative svg added to bottom

Blog and Forum Contributions