Empathy, Emotions, and Jesus

Becky Castle-Miller, a PhD student researching emotions in the Gospel of Luke, delves into the interplay of neuroscience, psychology, and faith. She explores how unhealthy emotional teachings can enable abuse within certain Christian contexts. The conversation touches on how emotions can be socially learned rather than innate, and critiques the distrust of emotions in conservative Christianity. Becky champions compassion as a biblical theme and argues that Jesus’s emotional life validates our humanity, emphasizing the importance of healthy emotional expression and healing.