Associate Professor of History and Theology
Dr. Hanson serves as Associate Professor of History and Theology and teaches courses in church history and historical theology. His scholarship focuses on the religious, intellectual, and social cultures of Europe in the late medieval, Reformation, and early modern periods. He also frequently writes and speaks on the Particular Baptists and the Puritans.
He is the author of Waiting on the Spirit of Promise and Reformation of the Commonwealth. He has authored several articles and chapters published by Brill, Routledge, and Palgrave Macmillan and has also written for Desiring God and The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. He recently authored forty articles in the new The Essential Lexham Dictionary of Church History.
He has five earned degrees in music, theology, and history including a Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland where he was the recipient of the School of History Ph.D. scholarship.
He is an active choral composer with over twenty works published by Choristers Guild and Concordia Publishing House and is a recipient of the 2009 John Ness Beck Foundation Award for his anthem, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” He and his wife, Johanna, have five children. He serves as an elder and choir director of The North Church in Mounds View.
Academic Credentials
- B.Mus., Bob Jones University (Piano Performance)
- M.Mus., Bob Jones University (Piano Performance)
- M.A., Bob Jones University (Theology)
- M.Div., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Ph.D., University of St. Andrews (History/Reformation Studies)
Specialties
- Early Modern England
- The English Reformation
- Early Modern Households
- Early Modern Political Rebellion
- Renaissance Humanism
- History of Religious Toleration
Publications
- “‘Thruste oute teares of repentaunce’: Dramatizing Conversion in Reformation England” in Reformation, Communication and the Book in Early Modern Europe: Essays in honour of Andrew Pettegree, ed. Arthur der Weduwen and Malcolm Walsby (Leiden: Brill, 2022), pp. 48–63.
- 40 entries on Medieval and Reformation history in Lexham Dictionary of Church History, ed. Michael Haykin (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2022).
- “‘Sedicious’ sermons: Preaching, Politics, and Provocation in Reformation England” in Audience and Reception in the Early Modern Period, ed. Mitzi Kirkland-Ives and John Decker (London: Routledge, 2021), pp. 124–144.
- “Sarah Wight” in Palgrave Encyclopaedia of Early Modern Women’s Writing in English, ed. Patricia Pender and Rosalind Smith (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020).
- Book reviews for Renaissance and Reformation, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Renaissance Quarterly, Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, The Sixteenth Century Journal, and Reading Religion.
- Reformation of the Commonwealth: Thomas Becon and the Politics of Evangelical Change in Tudor England (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2019).
- “Martin Luther and the English Reformation”, The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter 2017): pp. 177–186.
- Waiting on the Spirit of Promise: The Life and Theology of Suffering Of Abraham Cheare, with Michael Haykin (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2014). Online.
Selected Presentations
- “John Knox: Lessons from His Preaching and Pastoring,” Serious Joy Pastors Conference, Minneapolis, January 2023
- “Living In and Out of the Word with the Puritans,” Godward Life Conference, Minneapolis, September 2022.
- “‘Sedicious’ prophets: Old Testament prophecy, ‘common weale,’ and political protest in Tudor England,” American Society of Church History, New York, NY. January 2020.
- “The art of ‘rayling’: ‘conscience’ and criticism in Tudor England,” Sixteenth Century Society & Conference, St. Louis, MO. October 2019.
- “Reading the Spirit in the Psalms: Protestant Pneumatology and the Psalter in Early Modern England,” Evangelical Theological Society, Denver, CO. November 2018.
- “‘Order thy houshold godly and honestly’: ‘Common weale’ and Tudor household piety in the writings of Thomas Becon (1512–1567),” Sixteenth Century Society & Conference, Albuquerque, NM. November 2018.
Selected Awards and Grants
- Research Grant, Historical Society of the Episcopal Church
- Reformation of the Commonwealth: Thomas Becon and the Politics of Evangelical Change in Tudor England shortlisted for 2020 RefoRC Book Award.
- Research Affiliate, Center for Early Modern History, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2018–Present).
- School of History PhD Scholarship, University of St. Andrews (2013–2017).
- Archival Research Travel Grant, Davenant Foundation (2015).
Other Professional Activities
- Manuscript referee for Southeastern Theological Review. 2019–present
- Manuscript referee for Themelios. 2017–present
- Choral and Instrumental Composer, Concordia Publishing House. 2017–present
- Choral Composer, Choristers Guild. 2013–present
Follow Dr. Hanson on Twitter: @brianlhanson