Christopher Hays Wins Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise

Dr. Hays is one of ten early-career scholars from around the world to receive the award :: 12/03/12

Christopher Hays, D. Wilson Moore Associate Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, has been named a recipient of the 2013 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise, sponsored by the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Foundation.

Each year the award is given to ten early-career scholars from around the world in recognition of the best doctoral or first post-doctoral works on the topic of “God and Spirituality (as broadly understood).” Winners are selected by an international committee of distinguished scholars.

Dr. Hays received the award for his book Death in the Iron Age II and in First Isaiah (Mohr Siebeck, 2011), which explores the ways in which the rhetoric of death functioned in the Ancient Near East during the Iron Age II and offers new interpretations of more than a dozen passages in the book of Isaiah.

In a recent review of the book in the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, University of Zurich Professor of Old Testament Konrad Schmid called it “a very impressive scholarly work that sets a high standard for related investigations.”

Hays and other award recipients will be honored at a ceremony on May 31, 2013, at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. They will also participate in a colloquium to present and discuss their next research projects and receive a $10,000 cash prize. Award winners will also have an opportunity to propose an international and interdisciplinary colloquium on an important academic topic.

“It’s an honor to be included with the past winners of this award, and I look forward to getting to know this year’s other recipients at the symposium next summer,” Hays said. “I’m grateful to my mentors at Princeton Seminary and Emory for supporting me, and to Fuller for supporting faculty research.”

Howard Loewen, dean of Fuller Seminary’s School of Theology, said, “On behalf of his Fuller faculty colleagues, I want to publicly congratulate Dr. Chris Hays for this outstanding achievement. With the reception of this premiere award, Dr. Hays has clearly established himself as a top-flight scholar in his fields of study. We are indeed honored and privileged to have a professor of Dr. Hays’s caliber on our biblical studies faculty. We are excited with him for the signature recognition he has received alongside an international cast of young and very promising scholars representing some of the best theological schools in the world.”

Other award winners represent universities in Germany, Israel, England, Australia and the United States.