Frank Woggon, PhD

Chaplain. Clinical Theologian & Educator. Author.

“Love sees others as intrinsically valuable and with dignity and possibilities. A pessimistic assessment, on the other hand, which insists with certitude that the human condition is inherently corrupted cannot support an open, appreciative, and dialogical approach to understanding the human experience and possibilities for transformation. Appreciative dialogue that is rooted in love for the world and its inhabitants transcends dogmatic certitude about the human condition and is open to discover new possibilities of seeing and naming the world, including one’s theological world.”

 

The Empathic God: A Clinical Theology of At-onement, p. 15

Books

The Empathic God

The Empathic God offers a re-interpretation of the Christian doctrine of atonement from the perspective of clinical spiritual care and develops a theological theory for spiritual care based upon that interpretation.

News

Congratulations to Candida Moss

December 3, 2025

The 2026 Grawemeyer Award in Religion honors Candida Moss' book about God's Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible. Professor Moss' research shows that enslaved people served as scribes, secretaries, and copyists in Roman society and produced some of the early manuscripts of Christian scripture. The Grawemeyer Award in Religion is given annually to honor significant contributions to religious and spirtual understanding. It has been an honor to have The Empathic God being considered for the award. Professor Moss will present a public lecture on her work at the Louisville Presbyterian Seminary on Thursday, April 16, 2026, where she will formally receive the award from the seminary and the University of Louisville.

Speaking

Becoming an Empathic Church

February 1, 2026

I had the privilege to speak at First Unitarian Universalist Church in Louisville. My sermon was grounded in an understanding of the Jesus story as God’s empathic and liberating initiative towards humanity and makes the point that those, who live their faith by participating in God’s ongoing work of liberation and healing, need to develop practices of empathy. At a time when democracy is threatened by religious and political actors, such practices of empathy are practices of resistance against the exclusionary and oppressive agenda of white Christian nationalism.  

Podcast

Cruciform Conversations with Greg Arthur: A Conversation about The Empathic God

November 20, 2025

This podcast is the conclusion of a four-part series, which explores my book The Empathic God. Parts 1-3 were published as brief, reflective essays in Greg Arthur's Cruciform Reflections on substack. Greg is a contextual theologian and pastor, who seeks to cultivate the peace of Christ in a broken world. I highly recommend his reflections and podcast. In my conversation with Greg, we explore how my work as a pastor and chaplain inspired the book and themes of empathy in relation to the life and death of Jesus, emphasizing the therapeutic aspect of the Jesus event. We also discuss the prevelance of violence in society and how it presents a challenge to reconciling the concept of a violent God with the idea of redemption. And much more.