Magda B. Arnold’s appraisal model ignited the modern “renaissance” in emotion research by proposing that emotions arise not first from bodily arousal but from a rapid, often unconscious cognitive appraisal of whether a situation is good or bad for the person, a meaning-based evaluation that immediately inclines us toward approach or avoidance (Arnold, 1960). This was a radical move that helped shift psychology in the 1960s from behaviourist reductionism to a renewed concern with mind, meaning, and values. This appraisal revival was extended and diversified by key contributors such as Richard Lazarus, who emphasized primary and secondary appraisal in stress and coping (Lazarus, 1966; 1991), Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer, who integrated cognitive interpretation with physiological arousal (1962), Nico Frijda, who framed emotions as action tendencies grounded in appraisals of significance (1986), and later theorists such as Ira Roseman and Craig Smith, who specified appraisal dimensions linking evaluations to discrete emotions (Roseman, 1984; Smith & Lazarus, 1990), together forming a family of Appraisal Theories that re-centred emotion as intelligent, purposive, and relational. Viewed through a Christian lens, this tradition resonates deeply with Scripture’s insight that the heart’s interpretation shapes emotional life and action: “as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7), “guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23), and “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), suggesting that emotions are not merely impulses to suppress but meaningful responses to how we perceive God, self, and world, capable of being re-formed by truth, prayer, and love (Philippians 4:6–7). The benefits of this work are profound for personal wellbeing and societal health, as appraisal-based approaches empower individuals to reinterpret stressors, cultivate emotional wisdom, resilience, and compassion, and promote communities marked by empathy, moral responsibility, and peace-making, an integration of scientific insight and theological anthropology that honours both the created complexity of human emotion and the redemptive call to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5) for the flourishing of persons and societies alike.