Dr Ruan Bessa
Associate Junior Research Fellow
Ruan Bessa is a Research Fellow in Christian Ethics, working at the intersection of Scripture, practical reason, and ethics. His research centers on Oliver O'Donovan's moral and political theology. He holds a PhD from Calvin Theological Seminary (Grand Rapids, Michigan), where he served as a research and teaching assistant and as Associate Director of Admissions.
He is the editor of Oliver O’Donovan’s The Courage of Truth (JAMS, 2025) and of the upcoming Brazilian Portuguese translation of Resurrection and Moral Order. He is currently working on a new monograph and developing The O’Donovans Initiative for Ethics as Theology, supported by the “Christian Moral and Political Thought for British Public Life” project (which is directed by Revd Prof Joshua Hordern and funded by the McDonald Agape Foundation).
Publications
2026 "The Path to Resurrection and Moral Order: From 'The Possibility of a Biblical Ethic' to Evangelical Ethics." Studies in Christian Ethics. Online First.
2025 "Oliver O'Donovan and the Bible and Ethics Debate: The Significance of Practical Reason for Understanding the Relationship between Scripture and Ethics." DPhil Dissertation, Calvin Theological Seminary.
2025 "Introduction." In The Courage of Truth. Maine: Joseph and Alice McKeen Christian Study Center.
2021 "Nature and Resurrection: Oliver O'Donovan and the Brazilian Christian Moral Imagination." Gazeta do Povo.
2019 "Worldview and Reformed Education: Scripture, Mission and Literacy." In Worldview and Education: Historical and Thematic Overview, edited by Gleyds Domingues and Wilibaldo Neto. Curitiba: Emanuel, 2019.
Presentations
2025 "Response to The Disappearing of Ethics." Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Boston, MA.
2023. "Approaching Ethics through the Long Psalm," with Oliver O'Donovan. Consortium for Christian Study Centers, Minneapolis, MN.
2022 "An Introduction to Oliver O'Donovan's Political Thought," Brasília Federal University.