Halton, associate rector at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, argues in his 2021 “A Human-Shaped God: Theology of an Embodied God” that embracing a God with human qualities can deepen our theological connection and inspire moral growth.

This perspective earned him the 2024 Grawemeyer Award in Religion, presented by the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the University of Louisville. The award recognizes those who have presented ideas with the potential to bring about change in the world through religion.

At a , Halton presented examples of God’s emotions, such as regret. He reasoned that the modern interpretation of the rainbow focuses on love and promises after devastation, but scripture actually states God regretted destroying everything except Noah’s Ark.

“In the story I had always assumed, I was supposed to look out in the world and see the rainbow and I am supposed to be reminded of God’s love and care and provisions,” he said. “That’s not what the book of Genesis says. It says God made the rainbow to remind God to never do that again.”

Halton believes a deeper understanding of God’s human-like depictions in the Old Testament, when combined with traditional theology, offers a richer perspective.

“The God of Genesis experiences emotion, changes their mind, has regret, makes promises to be better in the future,” Halton said. “This is a God who is on a moral arc. It’s a God who is in relationship with creation. It’s a God who is in the process learning, even about God’s self, within this relationship with God’s creation. The more God learns about itself, the more God wants to change and be more kind, more loving, more charitable and embracing of God’s creation.”

By emulating this evolving God, Halton encourages individuals to find inspiration for their own understanding of how to move in the world.

The $100,000 Grawemeyer prizes also honor seminal ideas in , ,ĚýĚý˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý. Winners visit Louisville to accept their awards and give free talks on their winning ideas.

Hearing her son ask those questions and seeing Black Lives Matter protests erupt nationwide after George Floyd’s death led theologian Kelly Brown Douglas to write “Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter.”

On Dec. 9, she was named winner of the 2023 Grawemeyer Award in Religion for the book’s ideas.

, dean of Union Theological Seminary’s Episcopal Divinity School in New York City and a canon theologian at Washington Cathedral, is one of the first Black female Episcopal priests in the United States and the first Black person to head an Episcopal Church-affiliated educational institution.

In “,” she shows how a “white way of knowing” came to dominate America through an anti-Black narrative tracing back to the Greek philosopher Aristotle. She also cites examples of how the bias persists today, from the refusal to dismantle Confederate monuments to attempts to discredit The 1619 Project, an effort to reframe U.S. history starting from the year the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia.

While recognizing the prolonged suffering of Black people raises deep questions about the credibility of Christianity, she argues that faith, not despair, is the best hope for assuring Black lives are valued in the future.

“Douglas takes us on a captivating, painful journey with personal and erudite reflections on America’s corrupted soul,” said Tyler Mayfield, religion award director. “Her insights are lucid and disturbing. Her remedies are bold and constructive. May we find the courage to walk into the future she envisions for us all.”

Douglas, who has doctor of philosophy and master of divinity degrees, has been a faculty member at Edward Waters College, Howard University and Goucher College. She has written five books, including “Sexuality and the Black Church” in which she addresses homophobia from a womanist perspective. Orbis Books published her Grawemeyer Award-winning book in 2021.

The University of Louisville and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary jointly give the religion prize. Recipients of next year’s s were named Dec. 5-9 pending formal approval by trustees at both institutions.

The $100,000 prizes also honor seminal ideas in music, world order, psychology and education. Winners will visit Louisville in the spring to accept their awards and give free talks on their winning ideas.