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Prof. Kirsten Macfarlane Wins Roland H. Bainton Theology and Religion Prize

November 4, 2025

The University of Chicago Divinity School congratulates Kirsten Macfarlane, Associate Professor of Early Modern Religious and Intellectual History, whose book Lay Learning and the Bible in the Seventeenth-Century Atlantic World (Oxford University Press, 2025) has been awarded the Roland H. Bainton Prize for Theology and Religion by the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference.

"I'm truly honoured and delighted to receive the Bainton prize," Macfarlane said. "My goal for the book was twofold: to offer a new vision of the relationship between devotion and scholarship in early modernity, as well as to demonstrate the need for a genuinely interdisciplinary approach to studies of Christianity in this period. I hope that the prize encourages more people to read the book and consider these claims—even if they don't end up agreeing with my conclusions."

The Bainton Prizes honor outstanding scholarship on the early modern era (1450–1750) and are named for the influential church historian Roland H. Bainton (1894–1984), Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale University. The prize recognizes books distinguished by originality, methodological innovation, and literary quality, offering fresh insights into the religious and theological life of the period.

Macfarlane’s book examines how non-specialist readers across England, New England, and the Atlantic world engaged with scripture, revealing a rich and often overlooked landscape of lay biblical interpretation. In doing so, her work deepens the understanding of early modern Protestantism, education, and transatlantic religious culture.

The Divinity School celebrates this recognition of Professor Macfarlane’s exceptional scholarship and contribution to the study of religion in a historical context.

Learn more about the prize on the Sixteenth Century Society website.