Hanna Reichel - Princeton Theological Seminary
Hanna Reichel

Hanna Reichel

Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology

Phone
609.497.7996

Office
106 Hodge Hall

Email
hanna.reichel@ptsem.edu

Biography

Hanna Reichel is Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Reichel earned their Dr. theol. in Systematic Theology from Heidelberg University, Germany, after an MDiv in Theology and a BSc in Economics. Prior to coming to Princeton, they taught at Heidelberg University and Halle-Wittenberg University in Germany. Reichel is also a research fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

An internationally renowned scholar and widely sought speaker, Reichel has authored three monographs, co-edited nine collected volumes, and published several dozen scholarly articles. Reichel’s first book, Theologie als Bekenntnis: Karl Barths kontextuelle Lektüre des Heidelberger Katechismus reframes Barth as a contextual theologian through his repeated engagements with this Reformed confession over the course of his life. The book received the Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise and the Ernst Wolf Award. Reichel’s second book, After Method: Queer Grace, Conceptual Design, and the Possibility of Theology has been widely celebrated for building bridges between Queer-liberationist and Reformed-Systematic sensibilities, as well as constructively introducing design theory into conversations about theological method. Reichel’s newest book, For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional is directed at a wider audience, offering a timely resource for ordinary Christians seeking to live faithfully in extraordinary times of societal upheaval and political fragility.

Reichel’s teaching spans doctrine and political theology, with special interests in Christology, theological anthropology, eschatology, the doctrine of God, theological method and critical epistemologies. Reichel is currently working on two monograph-length projects: Against Humanity takes a critical inventory of different theological conceptions of the human being in light of recent antihumanisms in decolonial, Black, queer, crip, and ecological studies. Political Theologies of Omniscience analyzes technology through a doctrinal lens, bringing surveillance studies and AI in conversation with historical debates on divine omniscience.

Reichel co-chairs AAR’s Christian Systematic Theology unit and is a member of the steering committee of the Karl Barth Society of North America and the annual International Karl Barth Conference in Switzerland. Reichel co-edits Brill’s Studies in Systematic Theology series and Routledge’s Karl Barth Studies series and chairs Princeton Theological Seminary’s Center for Barth Studies advisory board. Reichel’s work has also been featured in public outlets such as The Atlantic, the Presbyterian Foundation’s Leading Theologically, CTI’s Theology Matters, and Tripp Fuller’s Homebrewed Christianity. A ruling elder in the PC (USA), Reichel serves on the Theology Working Group of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and preached the closing sermon at the 2025 Deutsche Evangelische Kirchentag in Hannover.

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