Home / Directory / Sam Ha

Sam Ha

Sam Ha

Theological Librarian and Curator of the Meeter Center

Degrees

PhD Candidate in Systematic Theology and History of Christianity, Calvin Theological Seminary, 2020-
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.

 

Areas of Expertise

Featured Presentations:

  • “The Exile Motifs in Calvin’s Early View on the Doctrine of Covenant,” International Congress on Calvin Research, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, July 27, 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 6-8, 2023 (online).
  • “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 (online).
  • “The Idea of Suffering God and Comforting Believers in John Calvin’s Thought,” Society for Reformation Studies, Cambridge, UK, April 12, 2023 (online).
  • “Hypocrisy and Assimilation: An Untold Tale of Calvin’s View of Spiritual Pandemic,” Ecclesiastical History Society, UK, January 14, 2023 (online).
  • “‘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 (online).
  • “‘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 (online).
  • “‘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 (online).
  • “John Calvin and his Consolation of Theology for the Refugees,” Society for Reformation Studies, Cambridge, UK, April 7, 2021 (online).
  • “Active Sanctification in Karl Barth,” The Michigan Academy Conference, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, March 12, 2021 (online).

Speaking Topics

 Public Lectures

  • “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 (online).
  • “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 (online).
  • “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 (online).
  • “Learning from Martin Luther: Church History for Preachers Part 1,” invited speaker at the Pastors’ Conference, March 29, 2021 (online).

Blog and Forum Contributions

Featured Publications

  • “With Whom Should One Worship? A Fresh Perspective on John Calvin’s Liturgical Theology of Physical Proximity and Spiritual Epidemic,” Religions 14.8, 2023.
  • “Luther’s So-Called Breakthrough in the Light of the Long Reformation: A Historiographical Study,” in Tenth Annual RefoRC Conference on Early Modern Christianity* (accepted, forthcoming in 2023).
  • “‘Perpetuum studium et exercitationem mortificandae carnis’: John Calvin’s View on Habit Formation,” Journal of Reformed Theology (accepted, forthcoming in 2023).
  • “Toward a More Trinitarian Understanding of Atonement: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Calvin’s Atonement Theology,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology (accept, forthcoming in 2024).
  • “Calvin’s Pneumatological Understanding of the Doctrine of the Image of God,” Reformed Theology and the Church 35 (2021): 167-189.