Paul D. Hanson (born November 17, 1939) is an American biblical scholar who taught for 40 years at the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

. He spent his whole career at Harvard Divinity School, starting out in 1971 as an Assistant Professor of Old Testament. He was appointed the Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity (1988–2009) and Bussey Professor of Divinity (1981–1988). Since his retirement from the active faculty in 2009 he has been the Florence Corliss Lamont Research Professor of Divinity.

Education

Hanson received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavus gets its nam ...

in 1961 after which he received a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to study at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. In 1965 he received a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and in 1970 he completed a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

at Harvard's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Career

After receiving his doctoral degree, he spent a year doing archaeological research in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and he has spent sabbatical years in Israel and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and most recently at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. In his courses he focuses on

Hebrew prophecy Bible prophecy or biblical prophecy comprises the passages of the Bible that are claimed to reflect communications from God to humans through prophets. Jews and Christians usually consider the biblical prophets to have received revelations from G ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

literature of the

Second Temple Period The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Jewis ...

, the religion of the ancient cultures of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, and

Biblical Theology Because scholars have tended to use the term in different ways, Biblical theology has been notoriously difficult to define. Description Although most speak of biblical theology as a particular method or emphasis within biblical studies, some scho ...

. He is a member of the Old Testament editorial board for the commentary series ''Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible'' (published by Fortress Press). As a member of that board, Hanson has acted as the volume editor of the following commentaries: ''Hosea'' (by Hans Walter Wolff, 1974), ''Ezekiel 2'' (by Walther Zimmerli, 1983), ''Micah'' (by Delbert Hillers, 1984), ''Jeremiah 1 & 2'' (by William L. Holladay, 1986, 1989), and ''Zephaniah'' (by Marvin A. Sweeney, 2003). Hanson is currently working to complete a book examining the interplay between

religion and politics Religion in politics covers various topics related to the effects of religion on politics. Religion has been claimed to be "the source of some of the most remarkable political mobilizations of our times". Religious political doctrines Various po ...

, with emphasis on American faith communities rooted in Biblical tradition. He is a member of University Lutheran Church (Cambridge, MA) and a member of the Council for Lutheran Theological Education in the Northeast.

Select bibliography

Hanson is considered an expert on

Biblical hermeneutics Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, for ...

and has written numerous books on theological interpretations. His titles include: * ''The Dawn of Apocalyptic: The Historical and Sociological Roots of Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology'' (1975; rev. ed. 1979) * ''Dynamic Transcendence: The Correlation of Confessional Heritage and Contemporary Experience in a Biblical Model of Divine Activity'' (1978) * ''The Diversity of Scripture: A Theological Interpretation'' (1982) * (editor) ''Visionaries and Their Apocalypses'' (1983) * ''The People Called: The Growth of Community in the Bible'' (1986; 2d ed. 2001) * ''Old Testament Apocalyptic'' (1987) * ''Isaiah 40-66'' (1995)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Paul D. 1939 births Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Living people Yale Divinity School alumni Harvard University alumni Harvard Divinity School faculty