George Hunsinger

George Hunsinger is an American theologian who is Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. He served as director of the Seminary’s Center for Karl Barth Studies from 1997 to 2001.

Educational background and career

Hunsinger received a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School and an MA, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University. Throughout his career his work has focused primarily on the theology of Karl Barth. Hunsinger was the recipient of the 2010 Karl Barth Prize and joins previous prize recipients Eberhard Jüngel, Hans Küng, John W. de Gruchy, Johannes Rau, Bruce McCormack, and others.

In 2006 he convened the conference at which the National Religious Campaign Against Torture was founded.

Hunsinger has also been associated with the postliberalism. Along these lines, he is viewed as an authoritative interpreter of the work of Hans Frei. He has a long history of anti-war and human rights activism and was also an open critic of the war in Iraq.

Since 2003 he has been active in the ecumenical movement through the Faith and Order commission and has written extensively on issues related to the movement.

Major publications

• 1991, How to Read Karl Barth: The Shape of His Theology, Oxford University Press.
• 2001, Disruptive Grace: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
• 2004, For the Sake of the World: Karl Barth and the Future of Ecclesial History, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
• 2003, "The Eucharist and Ecumenism: Let Us Keep the Feast," Current Issues in Theology. Cambridge.
• 2015, Reading Barth with Charity: A Hermeneutical Proposal, Baker Academic.