Dr. Justin D. Klassen

Justin Klassen

Professor of Theology & Religious Studies

Office: Alumni Hall 112
Phone: 502.272.8178
jklassen@bellarmine.edu
B.A., Simon Fraser University; M.A., Ph.D., McMaster University

Justin Klassen teaches courses in philosophical theology and religious ethics, and his scholarship focuses on religion and ecology, as well as the significance of vocational discernment in undergraduate education. He is the author of The Paradox of Hope: Theology and the Problem of Nihilism, and the co-editor of Aspiring to Fullness in a Secular Age: Essays on Religion and Theology in the Work of Charles Taylor, along with numerous scholarly and popular articles. Originally from Canada, he now enjoys hiking, camping, and taking photos of birds in the woods of Kentucky.

Recent Publications

  • “Miracles and Matter: Toward a Messianic Theology of Creation.” In Messianic Imagination: Ethics, Literature, Theology (forthcoming 2025 with Cascade Books).
  • “Wonder, Awe, and Sacred Inspirations.” Moderated panel for the 2024 Festival of Faiths, featuring Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Silas House, and Anis Mojgani: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geBQA1hEMqw&ab_channel=FestivalofFaiths
  • “Educating for Friendship.” In Vocation Matters. June, 2024. https://vocationmatters.org/2024/06/06/educating-for-friendship/
  • “Saying Yes to Weirdness and Wandering.” In Vocation Matters. January, 2024. https://vocationmatters.org/2024/01/31/saying-yes-to-weirdness-and-wandering/
  • “What is the value of a college education?” In BELLARMINE Magazine. https://www.bellarmine.edu/magazine/article/magazine-2023/2023/05/08/faculty-essay-what-is-the-value-of-a-college-education/
  • “Critical Race Theory Invites Us to Remember Christ.” In Sojourners, April 2022. https://sojo.net/articles/critical-race-theory-invites-us-remember-christ
  • “Peace Beyond Prose: Augustine and Merton on Creation’s Useless Speech.” The Merton Annual 33 (2021): 108 – 124.
  • “Daniel Cameron, true justice isn’t numb to emotion,” an op-ed for the Courier-Journal on the Breonna Taylor case. Appeared in print on Sunday, October 4, 2020. Online version here: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/2020/09/29/kentucky-ag-daniel-camerons-breonna-taylor-decision-not-justice/3569186001/
  • “Evolution, Temporality, and Ethics: On Kierkegaard’s Surprising Relevance to Eco-Theology.” Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 12.1 (2018): 55 – 75.

Courses Taught

  • THEO 200: Ultimate Questions
  • THEO 305: The Quest for God
  • THEO 306: Christ
  • THEO 334: Religion, Peace, and Conflict
  • THEO 336: Theology, Nature, and Environmental Responsibility