Paul D. Hanson

Paul D. Hanson (born November 17, 1939) is an American biblical scholar, since 1987 Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity at Harvard University. He was previously Bussey Professor of Divinity (1981-1987). He began his teaching career at Harvard in 1971 as Assistant Professor of Old Testament. In addition to teaching he is a world-renowned author on issues relating to Old Testament hermeneutics.

Education

Hanson received a Bachelor of Arts from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1961 after which he received a Fulbright to study at the University of Heidelberg. In 1965 he received a Bachelor of Divinity from Yale University and in 1970 he completed a Ph.D. 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, and he has spent sabbatical years in Israel and Germany and most recently at Princeton University. In his courses he focuses on Hebrew prophecy, Jewish literature of the Second Temple Period, the religion of the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt, and Biblical Theology.

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, 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.

cholarship Contributions

Hanson is considered a leading expert on Biblical hermeneutics 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)