David Ananda Hart (fl. c. 2000) is a British radical theologian,

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and a practicing

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Career

Educated at Keble College, Oxford and

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, with a doctorate in Philosophy of Religion from the

University of Derby , mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher , established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status , type = Public , chancellor = William Cavendish, Ea ...

, Hart is a prominent member of a group of non-realist theologians inspired by the work of

Don Cupitt Don Cupitt (born 22 May 1934) is an English philosopher of religion and scholar of Christian theology. He has been an Anglican priest and a lecturer in the University of Cambridge, though is better known as a popular writer, broadcaster and comm ...

. In the 1990s Hart worked as a chaplin at Loughborough University in the midlands. In 2006 Hart was the subject of some controversy after newspapers in India and the UK reported that he had converted to Hinduism, changing his middle name from Alan to Ananda, but without renouncing Christianity or his priestly orders. Hart is currently India Secretary of the World Congress of Faiths. He is also a Fellow of the

Jesus Seminar The Jesus Seminar was a group of about 50 critical biblical scholars and 100 laymen founded in 1985 by Robert Funk that originated under the auspices of the Westar Institute.''Making Sense of the New Testament'' by Craig Blomberg (Mar 1, 200 ...

(USA) and Samvada (India). His proposed book 'An Introduction to Hinduism' (London: Continuum 2009; Series Editor: Clinton Bennett) was intended to examine the breadth of the Hindu faith as he discovered it living in India and show how he regards his position as a Hindu believer as entirely compatible with being an Anglican priest in good standing with his diocesan bishop back in England. In September 2014 David Ananda returned to his home in South India to take up a position as Consultant and Teacher for the Venad Education and Social Services, a registered NGO in India providing educational opportunities for the children of the marginalised Christian fishing communities in five centres in Kerala and one in Sri Lanka. He was also finalising his eighth book 'Study in Hinduism' which was due out early in 2015.

Publications

*''Faith in Doubt: Non-Realism and Christian Belief'' (Mowbray 1993) *''One Faith? Non-Realism and the World of Faiths'' (Mowbray 1995) *''Linking Up: Christianity and Sexuality'' (Arthur James 1997) *(co-editor) ''Time and Tide: Sea of Faith Beyond the Millennium'' (O Books 2001) *''Multi-Faith Britain: An Experiment in Worship'' (O Books 2002) *''Trading Faith: Global Religion in an Age of Rapid Change'' (O Books 2007) *''The Unification of World Faith: the Challenge of Sun Myung Moon'' (Om Books 2007) *''Study in Hinduism'' (Om Books 2015 forthcoming) "The Wide Gulf in the Gulf: the Religious Origins of the War in the Levant" (co-authored with His Grace Mar Aprem, Head of Church of the East"

References

External links

Christian priest converts to Hinduism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, David Ananda Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Converts to Hinduism Alumni of the University of Derby