David B. Hart

David Bentley Hart (born 1965) is a writer, philosopher, religious studies scholar, critic, and theologian with academic works published on a wide range of topics including Christian metaphysics, philosophy of mind, classics, Asian languages, and literature. In 2015, Hart was granted a Templeton Fellowship at the University of Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study with research and a conference focused on the philosophy of mind. His translation of the New Testament was published by Yale in 2017 (with a 2nd edition in 2023). A prolific essayist, he has written on topics as diverse as art, literature, baseball, religion, philosophy, consciousness, problem of evil, apocatastasis, theosis, fairies, film, and politics. His fiction includes ''The Devil and Pierre Gernet: Stories'' (2012) as well as two books from 2021: '' Roland in Moonlight'' and ''Kenogaia (A Gnostic Tale)''. Hart also maintains a popular subscription newsletter ''Leaves in the Wind'' that includes a YouTube channel where he posts conversations with other writers. Hart is an Orthodox Christian.

Career and life

Academic career

Hart earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, his Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge, and his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Virginia. He has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), Duke Divinity School, and Loyola College in Maryland. He served as visiting professor at Providence College, where he also previously held the Robert J. Randall Chair in Christian Culture. During the 2014–2015 academic year, Hart was Danforth Chair at Saint Louis University in the Department of Theological Studies. In 2015, he was appointed as Templeton Fellow at the University of Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. and is currently a collaborative scholar in the departments of Theology and German for Notre Dame.

As a philosopher and a religious studies scholar, Hart's work engages classical, medieval and continental European philosophy, philosophy of mind, philosophical and systematic theology, patristic texts, South and East Asian culture, religion, literature, philosophy and metaphysics.

Literary writing

Noted for his distinctive, humorous, pyrotechnic and often combative prose style, Hart has been described by the conservative writer Matthew Walther as "our greatest living essayist". He has written essays on subjects as varied as Don Juan, Vladimir Nabokov, Charles Baudelaire, Victor Segalen, Leon Bloy, William Empson, David Jones, and baseball.

Two of his books, ''A Splendid Wickedness'' (2016) and ''The Dream-Child's Progress'' (2017), are collections devoted to non-theological essays. They also include several short stories. In 2012, ''The Devil and Pierre Gernet'', a collection of his fiction, was released by Eerdmans. His short stories have been described as "Borgesian" and are elaborate metaphysical fables, full of wordplay, allusion, and structural puzzles.

Hart added two books to his fiction works in 2021: '' Roland in Moonlight'' and ''Kenogaia (A Gnostic Tale)''. His book ''Roland in Moonlight'' has a largely autobiographical framework while consisting primarily of dialogs with his dog Roland (pictured here) as well as accounts of his fictional great uncle Aloysius Bentley (1895-1987). Hart had written previously about both Roland and Aloysius in essay form: with Aloysius in 2011 and Roland in 2014. Describing ''Roland in Moonlight'' for a review in ''Church Times'', John Saxbee (former Bishop of Lincoln) wrote: "Sometimes, a book defies description or, rather, refuses to settle into a conventional genre. David Bentley Hart’s prodigious mind and imagination has given us just such a book. Perhaps, here, ''Sophie’s World'' meets ''Alice through the Looking-Glass'', or ''Don Quixote'' meets ''The Wind in the Willows''."

Awards and reception

Hart's first major work, ''The Beauty of the Infinite'', an adaptation of his doctoral thesis, received acclaim from the theologians John Milbank, Janet Soskice, Paul J. Griffiths, and Reinhard Hütter. William Placher said of the book, "I can think of no more brilliant work by an American theologian in the past ten years." Geoffrey Wainwright said, "This magnificent and demanding volume should establish David Bentley Hart, around the world no less than in North America, as one of his generation's leading theologians."

On May 27, 2011, Hart's book ''Atheist Delusions'' was awarded the Michael Ramsey Prize in Theology by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and was praised by the agnostic philosopher Anthony Kenny: “Hart has the gifts of a good advocate. He writes with clarity and force, and he drives his points home again and again. He exposes his opponents’ errors of fact or logic with ruthless precision.”

Oliver Burkeman, writing in '' The Guardian'' in January 2014, praised Hart's book ''The Experience of God'' as "the one theology book all atheists really should read".

'' Roland in Moonlight'' was chosen by A.N. Wilson as his November 2021 “Book of the Year” for the ''Times Literary Supplement''. Wilson described this "dialogue with the author's dog Roland, who turns out to be a philosopher of mind, with a particular bee in his bonnet about the inadequacy of materialist explanations for 'consciousness'" as "probably the dottiest book of the year" while noting that "I KEEP returning to it."

In 2022, the Catholic Media Association awarded a first place prize to ''Kenogaia (A Gnostic Tale)'' in the category of “Escapism” for authors from other traditions.

Personal life

Family

Hart is married and has one grown son with whom he co-wrote the children's book ''The Mystery of Castle MacGorilla''. He has two brothers: Addison Hodges Hart (also an author) and Fr. Robert Hart (rector of Saint Benedict's Anglican Catholic Church in Chapel Hill, NC).

Faith community

Hart converted at the age of 18 from high-church Anglicanism to Eastern Orthodoxy. In 2017, Hart served on a special commission of Orthodox theologians for the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to help compose “For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church” and to coauthor the preface. Hart is regularly invited to work with leaders in his church around the world.

Political affiliations

Hart is a Christian socialist as well as a democratic socialist and an anarcho-communist. Hart has been a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

On August 8, 2020, Hart wrote:

I’m basically an anarchist and communalist. I believe that all that lilies of the field nonsense that Jesus preached was more than a daydream; and I think the longing for strict social hierarchy ...as an antidote to modernity is simply a longing for a reprise of the same sins that created modernity.

On April 3, 2022, Hart wrote:

In my heart of hearts, I want to vote for someone whose entire political philosophy is derived from John Ruskin by way of Kenneth Grahame, with lashings of William Cobbett, Gilbert White, and William Morris; failing that, I want to enjoy the luxury of writing in Wendell Berry on every ballot. But the imminent collapse of the civil order of the entire world doth make pragmatists of us all. I long for the day, however, when I can return to my posture of airily insouciant disdain for the whole system and can again cast votes only for hopeless third party candidates with a clear conscience. But I suspect I will die before that day comes.

Selected bibliography

Books

* ''You Are Gods: On Nature and Supernature''. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2022.
* ''Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief''. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 2022.
* ''Kenogaia (A Gnostic Tale)''. Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press. 2021.
* '' Roland In Moonlight''. Brooklyn, NY: Angelico Press. 2021.
* ''Theological Territories: A David Bentley Hart Digest''. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. 2020.
* ''The Mystery of Castle MacGorilla''. With Patrick Robert Hart. New York: Angelico Press. 2019.
* ''That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press: 2019.
*''The New Testament: A Translation''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press: 2017.
* ''The Hidden and the Manifest: Essays in Theology and Metaphysics''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. 2017.
* ''The Dream-Child's Progress and Other Essays''. New York: Angelico Press. 2017.
* ''A Splendid Wickedness and Other Essays''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans: 2016.
* ''The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press: 2013.
* ''The Devil and Pierre Gernet: Stories.'' Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans: 2012.
* ''Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.
* ''In the Aftermath: Provocations and Laments''. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans: 2008.
* ''The Story of Christianity: An Illustrated History of 2000 Years of the Christian Faith.'' London: Quercus: 2007.
* '' The Doors of the Sea.'' Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans: 2005.
* ''The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth.'' Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans: 2003.

Translations

* ''The New Testament: A Translation.'' Yale University Press: 2017 (2nd edition in 2023).
* Erich Przywara, ''Analogia Entis: Metaphysics: Original Structure and Universal Rhythm.'' Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans: 2014. In collaboration with John R. Betz.
* "Was liegt jenseits des Kapitalismus? Eine christliche Untersuchung" in ''Pflug Magazin'' 3 (Sommer 2019).
* "The Peach Blossom Spring: A Translation (and apologia)"] by Tao Yuanming (Tao Qian—Tao the Recluse). ''Leaves in the Wind''. October 31, 2021.

Articles (selected)

* "Reality Minus" in '' The New Atlantis (journal), The New Atlantis'' (Spring 2022)
* "Three Cheers for Socialism: Christian Love & Political Practice" in ''Commonweal'' (February 2020).
* "Divorce, Annulment, & Communion" in ''Commonweal'' (August 2019).
* "What Lies Beyond Capitalism? A Christian Exploration"] in ''Plough Quarterly'' 21 (Summer 2019).
* "Quentin Tarantino's Cosmic Justice" in '' The New York Times'' (August 6, 2019).
* "Can We Please Relax About 'Socialism'?" in '' The New York Times'' (April 27, 2019).
* "The New York Yankees Are a Moral Abomination" in '' The New York Times'' (July 14, 2018).
* "Everything you know about the Gospel of Paul is likely wrong" in '' Aeon'' (January 8, 2018.)
* "Christians and the Death Penalty" in ''Commonweal'' (November 2017).
* "Are Christians Supposed to be Communists?" i
Archived
from the Wayback Machine. '' The New York Times'' (November 4, 2017).
* "The Illusionist" in '' The New Atlantis (journal), The New Atlantis'' (Summer/Fall 2017)
* "From a Vanished Library" in '' First Things'' (April 2017).
* 'We need to talk about God', '' Church Times'' (an independent Church of England newspaper), February 2016.
* "Christ's Rabble" in ''Commonweal'' (September 2016).
* "Habetis Papam"], '' First Things'' (December 2015).
* "The Myth of Schism" in ''Clarion Journal'' (June 2014).
* "Therapeutic Superstition" in '' First Things'' (November 2012).
* Response to critiques of ''The Beauty of the Infinite'' by Francesca Murphy and John A. McGuckin, '' Scottish Journal of Theology'' 60 (February 2007): 95-101.
* "Daniel Dennett Hunts the Snark" in '' First Things'' 169 (January 2007).
* Contribution to "Theology as Knowledge: A Symposium" in ''First Things'' 163 (May 2006): 21–27.
* "The Lively God of Robert Jenson" in ''First Things'' 156 (October 2005): 28–34.
* "The Anti-Theology of the Body" in '' The New Atlantis (journal), The New Atlantis'' 9 (Summer 2005): 65–73.
* "The Soul of a Controversy" in '' The Wall Street Journal'' (April 1, 2005).
* "Tsunami and Theodicy" in ''First Things'' 151 (March 2005): 6–9.
* "The Laughter of the Philosophers" in ''First Things'' 149 (January 2005): 31–38. A review loosely structured around ''The Humor of Kierkegaard'' by Thomas C. Oden, containing a long excursus on Johann Georg Hamann.
* "God or Nothingness" in ''I Am the Lord Your God: Christian Reflections on the Ten Commandments'' Carl E. Braaten and Christopher Seitz, eds. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005: 55–76.
* "The Offering of Names: Metaphysics, Nihilism, and Analogy" in ''Reason and the Reasons of Faith.'' Reinhard Hütter and Paul J. Griffiths, eds. London: T. & T. Clark, 2005: 55–76.
* "Tremors of Doubt" in ''The Wall Street Journal'' (December 31, 2004). This article was the seed for the book '' The Doors of the Sea''.
* "Ecumenical Councils of War" in ''Touchstone'' (November 2004).
* "The Pornography Culture" in '' The New Atlantis (journal), The New Atlantis'' 6 (Summer 2004): 82–89.
* "Freedom and Decency" in ''First Things'' 144 (June/July 2004): 35–41.
* "An Orthodox Easter" in '' The Wall Street Journal'' (April 9, 2004) (in "Houses of Worship").
* "Religion in America: Ancient & Modern", '' The New Criterion'' (March 2004).
* "A Most Partial Historian" in ''First Things'' 138 (December 2003): 34–41. A review of ''Religion and Public Doctrine in Modern England Volume III: Accommodations'' by Maurice Cowling.
* "Christ and Nothing" in ''First Things'' 136 (October 2003): 47–57.
* "The Bright Morning of the Soul: John of the Cross on Theosis", ''Pro Ecclesia'' (Summer 2003): 324–45.
* "Thine Own of Thine Own: the Orthodox Understanding of Eucharistic Sacrifice" in ''Rediscovering the Eucharist: Ecumenical Considerations'' Roch A. Kereszty, ed. (Paulist Press, 2003): 142–169.
* "A Gift Exceeding Every Debt: An Eastern Orthodox Appreciation of Anselm's ''Cur Deus Homo''", ''Pro Ecclesia'' 7.3: 333–348.
* "The Mirror of the Infinite: Gregory of Nyssa on the ''Vestigia Trinitatis''", ''Modern Theology'' 18.4 (October 2002): 542–56.
* "No Shadow of Turning: On Divine Impassibility", ''Pro Ecclesia'' (Spring 2002): 184–206.
* Contribution to "The Future of the Papacy: A Symposium" in ''First Things'' (March 2001): 28–36.
* "The 'Whole Humanity': Gregory of Nyssa's Critique of Slavery in Light of His Eschatology", ''Scottish Journal of Theology'' 54.1 (2001): 51–69.
* "Analogy" in ''Elsevier Concise Encyclopaedia of Religion and Language'' (Elsevier Press, 2001).
* "The Writing of the Kingdom: Thirty-Seven Aphorisms towards an Eschatology of the Text", ''Modern Theology'' (Spring 2000): 181–202.
* "Matter, Monism, and Narrative: An Essay on the Metaphysics of Paradise Lost" ''Milton Quarterly'' (Winter 1996): 16–27.

Book reviews (selected)

* "Mind Over Matter" in ''Commonweal'' (January 2019). A review of Lloyd P. Gerson's translation of '' The Enneads'' by Plotinus.
* "Shock of the Real" in ''First Things'' (November 2017). A long essay-review of Natasha Lehrer's translation of "Équipée" by Victor Segalen.
* "Empson in the East" in ''First Things'' (May 2017). A review of "The Face of the Buddha" by William Empson.
* "Our Atheism is Different" in ''Commonweal'' (June 2016). A review of ''Battling the Gods'' by Tim Whitmarsh.
* "Dante Decluttered: A review of The Divine Comedy" in ''First Things'' (November 2013). A review of Clive James' translation of "The Divine Comedy".
* "Inside the mind of the Archbishop of Canterbury" in The Times Literary Supplement (March 2008). A review of Rowan Williams's "Wrestling with Angels," edited by Mike Higton.
* "Con Man" in ''The New Criterion'' (September 2006): 124. A review of "The Theocons: Secular America under Siege" by Damon Linker.
* "Beyond Disbelief" in ''The New Criterion'' (June 2005): 78–81. A review of "The Twilight of Atheism" by Alister McGrath.
* "Roland Redivivus" in ''First Things'' 150 (February 2005): 44–48. A review of '' Orlando Innamorato'' by Matteo Maria Boiardo, translated by Charles Stanley Ross.
* "The Laughter of the Philosophers" in ''First Things'' 149 (January 2005): 31–38. A review loosely structured around ''The Humor of Kierkegaard'' by Thomas C. Oden, containing a long excursus on Johann Georg Hamann.
* "When the Going was Bad" in ''First Things'' 143 (May 2004): 50–53. A review of ''Waugh Abroad: Collected Travel Writing'' by Evelyn Waugh.
* "Sheer Extravagant Violence" in ''First Things'' 139 (January 2004): 64–69. A review of '' Taras Bulba'' by Nikolai Gogol, translated by Peter Constantine.
* "A Most Partial Historian" in ''First Things'' 138 (December 2003): 34–41. A review of ''Religion and Public Doctrine in Modern England Volume III: Accommodations'' by Maurice Cowling.
* Review of Gianni Vattimo's ''Belief'', ''The Journal of Religion'' 82.1 (Jan. 2002): 132–133.
* "Israel and the Nations" in ''First Things'' 105 (August/September 2000): 51–54. A review of ''Church and Israel After Christendom: The Politics of Election'' by Scott Bader–Saye.
* "Review Essay: On Catherine Pickstock's ''After Writing''", ''Pro Ecclesia'' (Summer 2000): 367–372.
* "Beyond Reductionism" in ''First Things'' 87 (November 1998): 55–57. A review of ''Religious Mystery and Rational Reflection'' by Louis Dupre.

External links

Leaves in the Wind
Hart's subscription newsletter

Eclectic Orthodoxy
where Hart has been a long-time commenter

David Bentley Hart
Featured Author at '' First Things'' from 2012 to 2017

See also

* Christian philosophy
* Criticism of atheism
*Eastern Orthodox Christian theology
* Philosophy of religion
* Universal reconciliation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, David Bentley
1965 births
21st-century American essayists
21st-century American theologians
21st-century Christian universalists
21st-century Eastern Orthodox theologians
Alumni of Lancaster University
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
American Christian socialists
American Christian theologians
American male essayists
Christian socialist theologians
Christian universalist theologians
Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Anglicanism
Critics of atheism
Duke University faculty
Eastern Orthodox socialists
Eastern Orthodox philosophers
Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States
Living people
Loyola University Maryland faculty
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America
Patristic scholars
Philosophers of mind
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
University of Virginia alumni
University of Virginia faculty
21st-century American male writers