Curry, Janel M. and Ronald A. Wells, eds. 2008. Faithful Imagination in the Academy: Explorations in Religious Belief and Scholarship. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
American intellectual discussion is conflicted over the role of religious commitments in academic endeavors. Some academics insist that religion cannot have a place at the academic table; others insist that religious values cannot be separated from intellectual debate. Faithful Imagination in the Academy takes an approach based on dialogue that neither claims too much or too little. The authors in the chapters in this book are respected scholars in their disciplines and they are also Christians whose religious commitments are reflected in their intellectual work.
Christian Thought
The Christian faith has various intellectual traditions that address the question of the integration of faith with our empirical understanding of the world. These traditions also challenge natural and social scientists to explore the assumptions underlying their approach to gaining knowledge. This journey of seeking understanding while sitting in this space between faith and empirical knowledge is described by Davis Young, in his book John Calvin and the Natural World, as one where we sit with uncertainty when we come against what seems to be conflict between science and faith until it resolves itself. Traditions of Christian thought inhabit this space, seeking wisdom and understanding from both of God’s books—Scripture and nature.
My career has been spent at the intersection of empirical research, theological exploration, and pragmatic application of knowledge. Everything I do has been shaped by my faith, yet also my understanding of God has also been shaped by my exploration of the world. The question that has driven my desire for all understanding has been: What does it look like to be at peace with God, with the creation, and with humanity?
Below are leadership positions, initiatives, and publications that explicitly address Christian thought. They are addressed to numerous types of audience—the church, my discipline of geography, and the broader public.
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Byker Chair in Christian Perspectives on Political, Social, and Economic Thought, 2008-2012, Calvin College
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Across Cultures, Within Contexts: Evangelicalism and Modernity. 2014-2015, Templeton Foundation (with K. Cook)
Climate Change: Complexity, Uncertainty and the Precautionary Principle. Reading group led with Del Ratzsch (Philosophy) and Jamie Skillen (Environmental Studies), 2009-2011, Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship
Why are countries poor? Reading group led with Roland Hoksbergen (Economics) and Tracy Kuperus (IDS and Political science), 2003-2005, Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship
Living as Part of God's Good Earth. 2002-2004, Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities, Initiative Grants to Network Christian Scholars (with John Wood, Steve Bouma- Prediger, Susan Bratton, Mark Bjelland)
Care and the Christian Community: Reflections on an Ethics of Care Across Disciplines. 1999-2000, Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship (with Ruth Groenhout and Helen Sterk)
The Development of a Model of Community-Level Religious Worldviews as a Factor in Natural Resource Management. 1994-1995, Pew Charitable Trusts, Evangelical Scholars Program
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Curry, Janel M. and Dorothy F. Chappell. 2025. “The Formation of Scientists and Christian Formation.” Perspectives in Science and Christian Faith 77 (2):97-106.
Curry, Janel. 2022. “Thoughts on the Nature of our Search for Knowledge and Truth,” God and Nature. https://godandnature.asa3.org/curry-knowldege-and-truth.html
Curry, Janel. 2021. “Living with a Posture of Courage and Care.” In EcoHodos: Eco-theology, Mission, and Leadership, edited by Alexander Malov, Hodos Institute, Ukraine.
Curry, Janel. 2013. “Attachment to Place and Nature in Our Search for Shalom.” In Integrating the New Science of Love and a Spirituality of Peace, edited by Christian E. Early and Annmarie L. Early, pp. 113-124, Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.
Curry, Janel. 2012. “God, Nature, and Society: Theological Frameworks Illuminated by Two Natural Disasters.” Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought 27 (8):14-17.
Curry, Janel. 2011.“Cross-Boundary Faith: The Universal and the Contextual.” In Reformed Mission In An Age of World Christianity: Ideas for the 21st Century, edited by Shirley J. Roels, pp. 47-56, Grand Rapids: The Calvin Press, 2011.
Hoksbergen, Roland, Janel Curry, and Tracy Kuperus. 2009. “International Development: Christian Reflections on Today’s Competing Theories.” Christian Scholars Review 39(1): 11-35.
Curry, Janel M. 2008. “Christians and Climate Change: A Social Framework of Analysis.” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 60(3): 156-164.
Curry, Janel M. and Ronald A. Wells. 2008. “Introduction.” In Faithful Imagination in the Academy, edited by Janel Curry and Ronald A. Wells, pp. 1-9, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Curry, Janel M. 2008. “Understanding God, Nature, and Social Structure: A Case Study of Great Barrier Island, New Zealand.” In Faithful Imagination in the Academy, edited by Janel M. Curry and Ronald A. Wells, pp. 151-164, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Curry, Janel. 2008. “Globalization and the Problem of the Nature/Culture Boundary.” In After Modernity? Secularity, Globalization, and the Re-Enchantment of the World, edited by James K.A. Smith, pp. 183-200, Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
Curry, Janel M. 2006. “Ocean Fisheries, Boundaries and God’s Perichoretic Love.” TheOtherJournal.com: An Intersection of Theology and Culture Issue 8, Earth to Christians. www.theotherjournal.com
Wood, John, Janel Curry, Mark Bjelland, Steve Bouma-Prediger, and Susan Bratton. 2005. “Christian Environmentalism: Cosmos, Community, and Place.” Perspectives on Science
and Christian Faith 57(1): 1-5.
____________. 2005. Guest Editors. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 57(1).
Curry, Janel M. 2003. “Social Capital and Societal Vision: A Study of Six Farm Communities in Iowa.” In Religion as Social Capital: Producing the Common Good, edited by Corwin Smidt, pp. 139-152, Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
____________. 2002. “The Development of an Ethic of Service to Place.” In Commitment and Connection: Service-Learning and Christian Higher Education, edited by Gail Gunst Heffner and Claudia DeVries Beversluis, pp. 167-181, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
____________. 2002. Guest Editor, Special Issue on Geography. Christian Scholars Review 31(4).
____________. 2002. “Introduction to the Theme Issue.” Christian Scholars Review 31(4): 353-358.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. 1999. “Reformed Covenantal Worldviews and Debates in the Discipline of Geography.” Perspectives 14(6): 8-10.
____________. 1998. “Christian Worldview and Geography: Positivism, Covenantal Relations, and The Importance of Place.” In Geography and Worldview: A Christian Reconnaissance, edited by Henk Aay and Sander Griffioen, pp.49-60, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Curry-Roper, Janel M. 1990. “Christianity, Individualism, and Natural Resource Policy.” Perspectives (November): 8-11.
“Everything I do has been shaped by my faith, yet also my understanding of God has also been shaped by my exploration of the world. What does it look like to be at peace with God, with the creation, and with humanity?”