Addiction, Personhood, & Christian Communities
Course Description
Addiction is a crisis of our time. We frequently hear about the devastation caused by drug addiction: overdose deaths, broken relationships, and harm to communities. Many of us have wrestled with addiction in the context of our own lives, homes, workplaces, and churches. We often hear that addiction is essentially a narrow medical issue. But what does Christian theology say about what addiction is and how it might be healed? How can the practices of Christian communities promote recovery, justice, and peace for our neighbors with addiction? This course seeks to engage these difficult and pressing questions. We will seek a nuanced answer to the foundational question: What is addiction? We will consider how the resources of Christian tradition and Scripture can be powerful tools in teaching us how to think, speak, pray, and act with regards to the addiction crisis of our time. Finally, we will explore ways that Christian communities can and should be places of healing and hope for our neighbors with addiction.Offered | 2026 Winter |
Dates | Jan 5-9 |
Days | Mon, Tue, Wed, Thurs, Fri |
Format | Onsite and Online |
Credit Hours | 1-2 |
Room Number | Rm 010 / Online |
Teaching Faculty

Quentin Genuis
Professional-in-Residence; Emergency Physician (St. Paul's Hospital) & Physician Ethicist (Providence Health Care)
Dr. Quentin Genuis is an Emergency Physician at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver and the Physician Ethicist for Providence Health Care. He holds a Master of Letters in Theology from the University of St Andrews. He teaches in academic, clinical, professional, and lay settings on a variety of issues related to bioethics, compassion, addiction, and theological anthropology. He enjoys drinking Scottish whiskey, reading Dostoevsky, and slacklining. He loves his wife, Kalyn, and their four children: Lila, Rowan, Elias, and Junia.