Lori Brandt Hale

Lori Brandt Hale, trained in philosophical theology and philosophy of religion, specializes in the life and legacy of German theologian and Nazi resister Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and currently serves as the president of the International Bonhoeffer Society – English Language (IBS-ELS) Society Board of Directors. In that role, she played a pivotal role in designing the new IBS-ELS website, launched in June 2022, and continues to serve as webmaster. She is the co-editor, with W. David Hall, of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theology, and Political Resistance (Lexington Books, June 2020). It was the second volume in a series by Lexington Books, Faith and Politics: Political Theology in a New Key.  Together with Hall, she now serves as the editor for that series.

Inspired by her increasingly diverse students at Augsburg University, where she has taught since 1998, and her resolute commitment to interfaith engagement, Brandt Hale’s chapter in the political resistance book is a constructive read of Bonhoeffer titled, “The Interfaith Imperative: How Bonhoeffer Compels Interfaith Action.” She is the co-author of Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians (Westminster John Knox, 2009) which has been translated into Japanese and Portuguese. And, she has written numerous book chapters and articles as well as offered webinars and podcasts on Bonhoeffer’s political resistance, understanding of vocation, and relevance in contemporary times, including work addressing the now perennial question, “Is this a Bonhoeffer moment?”

At Augsburg, Brandt Hale currently serves as the chair for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts and teaches courses that meet general education requirements in the department of religion and philosophy, including a class on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, theology, and political resistance. She is honored to be the recipient of the 2022 “Faculty of the Year” Award given by the Augsburg Day Student Government.

Professor Brandt Hale is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the International Bonhoeffer Society – English Language Section, and is a Scholar with the Westar Institute – God and the Human Future Seminar.

Education

Ph.D. University of Virginia (Philosophical Theology)
M.A. University of Chicago Divinity School
B.A. University of Iowa (History and Religion)

Select Publications

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Theology, and Political Resistance, with W. David Hall. Lexington Books, 2020.

Bonhoeffer for Armchair Theologians, with Stephen Haynes. Westminster John Knox
Press, 2009. Available in Japanese and Portuguese translations.

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)” in T&T Clark Handbook of Modern Theology. T&T Clark, expected 2024.

“Why is Dietrich Bonhoeffer Relevant Today?”  Faith and Leadership, an online publication of Duke Divinity School. (November 2019).

“Is This a Bonhoeffer Moment?” with Reggie Williams, Sojourners magazine (February 2018).

“Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Political Resistance in Tyrannical Times,” Radical Lutherans / Lutheran
Radicals, Cascade Books/Wipf & Stock, 2017.

“Lived Theology 101: Exploring the Claim ‘What We Believe Matters’ with Undergraduates,”
After 10 Years: The Project on Lived Theology. Oxford University Press, 2017.