Richard Patrick Crosland Hanson, FBA, MRIA (1916–1988) was

bishop of Clogher The Bishop of Clogher is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clogher in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Following the Reformation, there are now parallel apostolic successions: one of the Church of Ireland and the ot ...

in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

from 1970 to 1973. A historian of antiquity (he claimed to distrust history written concerning periods subsequent to 600 AD) he was particularly noted for a life of

St. Patrick ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

. He discovered that ecumenical work was particularly restricted in the context of

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

in a diocese lying on both sides of the border between

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and the

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, which he accordingly resigned to take up a professorship in Systematic Theology in the Faculty of Theology at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. During this period he worked notably on the evolution of

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theology, theologian ...

in the period between (and immediately prior to) the Councils of

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(325 AD) and

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(381 A. D.) He was the first British or Irish contributor to the

Sources Chrétiennes Sources Chrétiennes ( French "Christian sources") is a bilingual collection of patristic texts founded in Lyon in 1942 by the Jesuits Jean Daniélou, Claude Mondésert, and Henri de Lubac. Citations to the series are commonly made by the letter ...

collection of early Christian writings. Among his writings was ''Reasonable Belief'' which was written jointly with his brother. In the introduction he notes "One of the authors is an Anglican priest and the other an Anglican bishop, and neither can jump out of his skin" (p. x) and "It should perhaps be explained that this book is not only a collaboration between two Anglican theologians but between two identical twin brothers" (p. xi). First published in the year of his death (1988), his book, The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy, 318-381, is still considered by many scholars to be the finest work on the Arian Controversy. Bishop

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

described it as an indispensable tool for future researchers and stated that there is nothing else in English of comparable scope. Dr. Hart, lecturer in Systematic Theology in the University of Aberdeen described it as the distillation of some twenty years' careful research and also stated that nothing comparable exists in either scale or erudition in the English language. Kevin Giles refers to this book as Hanson’s “definitive book on Arianism.”

Footnotes

Publications (selected)

* 1948, 1960, 2nd ed. ''The Church of Rome: A Dissuasive'' (with

Reginald H. Fuller Reginald Horace Fuller (1915–2007) was an Anglo-American biblical scholar, ecumenist, and Anglican priest. His works are recognized for their consequential analysis of New Testament Christology. One aspect of his work is on the relation of Jesu ...

). Seabury. *1954: ''Origen's Doctrine of Tradition'' *1962: ''Tradition in the Early Church'' London: SCM Press. *1968: ''Saint Patrick'' *1978: ''Saint Patrick: Confession et lettre à Coroticus, (

; no. 249 )(annotated edition with French translation) *1981: ''Reasonable Belief: A Survey of the Christian Faith'' (jointly with his brother Anthony Tyrrell Hanson) Oxford: Oxford University Press,
Description.
*1988: ''The Search for the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381'' 1916 births 1988 deaths Bishops of Clogher (Church of Ireland) 20th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland Fellows of the British Academy Members of the Royal Irish Academy People educated at Cheltenham College Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Academics of the University of Nottingham Academics of the Victoria University of Manchester {{ireland-Anglican-bishop-stub