Charles M. Stang

Charles M. Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought at Harvard Divinity School and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, positions he has held since joining the faculty in 2008 and becoming director in 2017 respectively. His academic home is firmly within Harvard University's religious studies ecosystem, where he has established himself as a leading scholar in ancient Christian thought and Mediterranean religious history.

His educational background includes an AB from Harvard College, an MDiv from the University of Chicago, and a ThD from Harvard Divinity School. This rigorous training across prestigious institutions has equipped him with interdisciplinary perspectives that inform his boundary-crossing scholarship.

Stang's research interrogates the intersections of early Christian thought with broader Mediterranean philosophical traditions, with particular emphasis on apophatic theology, Gnosticism, and Syriac Christianity. His work consistently challenges reductionist approaches to religious studies, advocating instead for what he terms an 'expansive anthropology, ontology and epistemology' that recognizes religion's capacity to transcend mundane frameworks. He has developed a distinctive theoretical framework around 'transcendence and transformation'—concepts he argues should form the core of religious studies in the contemporary academy.

His publications reveal a trajectory from focused historical studies of early Christian texts toward more expansive theoretical interventions in religious studies methodology. While his early work centered on figures like Dionysius the Areopagite and Evagrius Ponticus, his recent scholarship increasingly engages with contemporary questions about religion's role in the humanities and the urgent need for what he calls 'superhumanities' that acknowledge dimensions of reality beyond conventional academic frameworks.

• Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise (2013) for Apophasis and Pseudonymity in Dionysius the Areopagite

As Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, Stang has launched the 'Transcendence and Transformation' initiative, positioning the center as both a scholarly hub and a conceptual beacon for reimagining religious studies. His vision frames religious studies not as a marginal discipline but as essential to revitalizing the humanities through its unique capacity to engage with dimensions of reality that conventional academic frameworks often overlook. The Center functions as what Stang describes as 'a beacon, a harbour, and a record' for this reconceptualization of religious inquiry.