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David Bentley Hart (born February 20, 1965) is an American philosopher, theologian, essayist, cultural commentator, fiction author, and religious studies scholar. Reviewers have commented on Hart's baroque prose and provocative rhetoric in over one thousand essays, reviews, and papers as well as twenty-four books (including translations). From a predominantly
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
family background, Hart became
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
when he was twenty-one. His academic works focus on Christian metaphysics,
philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of the mind and its relation to the Body (biology), body and the Reality, external world. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a ...
,
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
and East Asian religion, Asian languages, classics, and literature as well as a
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
translation. Books with wider audiences include '' The Doors of the Sea'', '' Atheist Delusions'', ''
That All Shall Be Saved ''That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation'' is a 2019 book by philosopher and religious studies scholar David Bentley Hart published by Yale University Press. In it Hart argues that "if Christianity taken as a whole is ind ...
'', '' Roland in Moonlight'', and ''All Things Are Full of Gods''. Born and raised in Maryland, Hart regularly references his family roots and the
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
in his writing. Hart graduated with a BA in interdisciplinary study from the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
, completed an MPhil in theology at
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, and then a PhD in religious studies at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
. Hart received the Templeton Fellowship at the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
Institute for Advanced Study in 2015. Hart's translation of the New Testament was published in 2017 with a second edition in 2023. Five of his books have received awards or book of the year recognitions. Hart has written essays on diverse topics such as art, baseball, literature, consciousness, the problem of evil,
apokatastasis In theology, apokatastasis (, also spelled apocatastasis) is the restoration of creation to a condition of perfection. In Christianity, the term refers to a form of Christian universalism, often associated with Origen, that includes the ultimate s ...
, theosis,
fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...
, film, and politics. Hart maintains a subscription newsletter called ''Leaves in the Wind'' that features original essays and conversations with other thinkers.


Early life

Hart notes that most of his ancestors lived in Maryland for generations since their arrival there in 1634. Born in Howard County and graduating from
Wilde Lake High School Wilde Lake High School is a secondary school located at the village of Wilde Lake in Columbia, Maryland, Columbia, Maryland, United States. It is one of the 13 public high schools in Howard County, Maryland, Howard County. The school is central ...
in 1982 with classes in Latin and Greek, Hart was a National Merit Scholar. Hart grew up with two older brothers and writes that this "has always made me feel more like a creature of the 1960s and early 1970s than do some of my friends of roughly my age." Hart writes that "regional pride dictated that the tender souls of schoolchildren be regularly exposed to the works of
H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...
" and that this shaped his own writing style so that he would spend his life "striving to suppress my assassin's smile while heaping one elaborately vituperative subordinate clause atop another." Outside the high school curriculum, Hart took up French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and modern Greek. At the University of Maryland, Hart studied classics, history, world literature, religious studies and philosophy while also learning to read Chinese and Sanskrit. As a teenager, Hart started to read the early
Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical peri ...
along with contemporary Eastern Orthodox theologians, converting to Orthodoxy at the age of twenty-one.


Academic career

Hart earned a B.A. in interdisciplinary study from the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
, a M.Phil. in theology from the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, and a Ph.D. in religious studies from the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...
. He taught at the University of Virginia, the
University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) The University of St. Thomas (also known as UST or simply St. Thomas) is a private Catholic research university with campuses in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1885 as a Catholic seminary, it is named after Thom ...
,
Duke Divinity School The Duke Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 ...
, and
Loyola College in Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the Un ...
. He also served as visiting professor at
Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...
where he held the Robert J. Randall Chair in Christian Culture. During the 2014–2015 academic year, Hart was Danforth Chair at
Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...
in the Department of Theological Studies. In 2015, he was appointed as Templeton Fellow at the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
Institute for Advanced Study. As part of this Templeton Fellowship work, Hart organized a conference focused on the philosophy of mind. In an April 19, 2023 email, Hart noted that he is currently a collaborative research scholar at the University of Notre Dame. His primary areas of research have been
philosophical theology Philosophical theology is both a branch and form of theology in which philosophical methods are used in developing or analyzing theological concepts. It therefore includes natural theology as well as philosophical treatments of orthodox and het ...
,
systematics Systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: phylogenetic trees, phylogenies). Phy ...
,
patristics Patristics, also known as Patrology, is a branch of theological studies focused on the writings and teachings of the Church Fathers, between the 1st to 8th centuries CE. Scholars analyze texts from both orthodox and heretical authors. Patristics e ...
, classical and
continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a group of philosophies prominent in 20th-century continental Europe that derive from a broadly Kantianism, Kantian tradition.Continental philosophers usually identify such conditions with the transcendental subject or ...
, and
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
and East Asian religion with recent focus on the genealogy of classical and Christian
metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
,
ontology Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...
, the metaphysics of the
soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...
, and the
philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of the mind and its relation to the Body (biology), body and the Reality, external world. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a ...
. Hart has authored twenty books and produced two translated works. ''The New Testament: A Translation'' was published in 2017 with
Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
and a second edition in 2023. His translation in collaboration with John R. Betz of ''Analogia Entis: Metaphysics: Original Structure and Universal Rhythm'' by
Erich Przywara Erich Przywara (12 October 188928 September 1972) was a Jesuit priest, philosopher, and theologian of German- Polish origin, who was one of the first Catholics to engage in dialogue with modern philosophers, especially those of the phenomenol ...
was published in 2014 by
Eerdmans William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is a religious publishing house based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1911 by Dutch American William B. Eerdmans and still independently owned with William's daughter-in-law Anita Eerdmans as presid ...
. Hart's academic books include ''The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth'' (Eerdmans, 2003), '' The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss'' (Yale, 2013), ''The Hidden and the Manifest: Essays in Theology and Metaphysics'' (Eerdmans, 2017), '' That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation'' (Yale, 2019), ''Theological Territories: A David Bentley Hart Digest'' ( Notre Dame, 2020), ''Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief'' (
Baker A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient histo ...
, 2022), and ''You Are Gods: On Nature and Supernature'' (Notre Dame, 2022). In April and May of 2024, Hart delivered the Stanton lectures at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
with presentations across five days entitled "The Light of Tabor: Notes Toward a Monist Christology". Hart's book ''All Things Are Full of Gods: The Mysteries of Mind and Life'' from Yale University Press released in August of 2024.


Literary writing

Hart is known as a cultural commentator and polemicist. Since the late 1990s, Hart has published hundreds of essays on varied subjects including
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...
,
Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...
,
Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...
,
Victor Segalen Victor Segalen (14 January 1878 – 21 May 1919) was a French naval doctor, ethnographer, archeologist, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic. He was born in Brest. He studied medicine and graduated at the Nav ...
,
Leon Bloy Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
,
William Empson Sir William Empson (27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an English literary critic and poet, widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to New Criticism. His best-known work is his firs ...
, David Jones, ''The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies'' (1893), and
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
. These often provocative essays have appeared in ''
First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is a journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society", focusing on theology, liturgy, history of religion, church history, culture, education, society, politics, literat ...
'' (2003 to 2020), '' The New Atlantis'', ''
Commonweal Commonweal or common weal may refer to: * Common good, what is shared and beneficial for members of a given community * Common Weal, a Scottish think tank and advocacy group * ''Commonweal'' (magazine), an American lay-Catholic-oriented magazin ...
'', ''
Aeon The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...
'', ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', and many other periodicals. Several of these have shaped future books such as '' The Doors of the Sea'', '' Roland in Moonlight'', and '' Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies'' (Yale, 2009). Since May 2021, Hart also writes regular essays for his ''Leaves in the Wind'' subscription newsletter. This newsletter also features conversations with other writers such as
Iain McGilchrist Iain McGilchrist (born 1953) is a British psychiatrist,, philosopher and neuroscientist who wrote the 2009 book '' The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World''. He is a Quondam fellow of All Souls Colle ...
,
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director. He starred as Dwight Schrute on NBC's American adaptation of ''The Office'' from 2005 to 2013, and received t ...
,
China Miéville China Tom Miéville ( , born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and Literary criticism, literary critic. He often describes his work as "weird fiction", and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called ...
,
Richard Seymour Richard Vershaun Seymour (born October 6, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders. He played college football for ...
,
Tariq Goddard Tariq Goddard (born 1975) is a British novelist and publisher. He has written seven novels, the first of which ''Homage to a Firing Squad'', was short-listed for the Whitbread Book Award for First Novel. He founded, and was the publisher of the i ...
, and Salley Vickers. Ed Simon writing for the ''
Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...
'' in 2022 said that "Hart is often difficult for some people to categorize" with his "thousands of essays, reviews, and papers" but that "what's agreed upon is that he's wide-ranging and deeply read in his seemingly limitless interests, and loquacious in his refreshingly baroque prose style" as well as "the rare theologian" who can "poetically invoke" beauty with descriptions of color and light. Simon also quoted as "an evaluation with merit" the claim by Matthew Walther that Hart is "our greatest living essayist." Hart's style has been praised for "its thought and humor and spleen" and called "extremely rude." Martyn Wendell Jones has said of Hart's style that, while it may "constantly verge on the immoderate" and rarely "make a point squarely without infusing a bit of accelerant," what might be seen as "needless indulgence" is also "an act of generosity toward his readership" because "his maximalist impulses ...enable him to consistently generate interest on the level of his individual sentences." His essays often mix humor and critical commentary as with "A Person You Flee at Parties: Donald and the Devil" (about
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
from May 6, 2011, for ''
First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is a journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society", focusing on theology, liturgy, history of religion, church history, culture, education, society, politics, literat ...
''). Hart's essays sometimes explored the boundaries between different religious traditions as with "Saint Sakyamuni" (2009) or the boundaries of orthodoxy as with "Saint Origen" (2015). In 2012, ''The Devil and Pierre Gernet'', a collection of his fiction, was released by
Eerdmans William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company is a religious publishing house based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1911 by Dutch American William B. Eerdmans and still independently owned with William's daughter-in-law Anita Eerdmans as presid ...
. Two of his books, ''A Splendid Wickedness'' in 2016 and ''The Dream-Child's Progress'' in 2017, are collections devoted to popular and literary essays that also include several short stories. His short stories have been described as "
Borgesian Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo ( ; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known wo ...
" 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 as well as accounts of his fictional great uncle Aloysius Bentley (1895–1987). Hart had written previously about both Roland and Aloysius in essays for ''
First Things ''First Things'' (''FT'') is a journal aimed at "advanc nga religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society", focusing on theology, liturgy, history of religion, church history, culture, education, society, politics, literat ...
'', with two about Aloysius 2011 and six about Roland from 2014 to 2016. Reviewing ''Roland in Moonlight'' for a review in ''Church Times'',
John Saxbee John Charles Saxbee (born 7 January 1946) is a retired Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England between 2001/2 and 31 January 2011.
(former Bishop of Lincoln) wrote that "sometimes, a book defies description or, rather, refuses to settle into a conventional genre" and compared ''Roland in Moonlight'' to ''
Sophie's World ''Sophie's World'' () is a 1991 novel by Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder. It follows Sophie Amundsen, a Norwegian teenager, who is introduced to the history of philosophy as she is asked "Who are you?" "Where does this world come from?" in a l ...
'' meets ''
Alice through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' is a novel published in December 1871 by Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, University of Oxford. I ...
'' or ''
Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...
'' meets ''
The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...
''.


Reception

Hart's first major work, ''The Beauty of the Infinite'' (2003), an adaptation of his doctoral thesis, received acclaim from the theologians
John Milbank Alasdair John Milbank (born 23 October 1952) is an English Anglo-Catholic theologian and is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham, where he is President of the Centre of Theolo ...
,
Janet Soskice Janet Martin Soskice (born 16 May 1951) is a Canadian-born English Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher. Soskice was educated at Somerville College, Oxford. She is currently the William K. Warren Distinguished Research Professor of Catholic ...
, Paul J. Griffiths, and
Reinhard Hütter Reinhard Hütter (born 1 November 1958 in Lichtenfels, Bavaria) is a German Roman Catholic theologian. He is currently Visiting Professor of Catholic Theology at Duke Divinity School and Professor Emeritus of Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology at C ...
.
William Placher William Carl Placher (1948–2008) was an American postliberal theologian. He was LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities at Wabash College until his death in 2008. He was a leader at Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church. Publications ...
said of the book, "I can think of no more brilliant work by an American theologian in the past ten years."
Geoffrey Wainwright Geoffrey Wainwright (1939 – 17 March 2020) was an English theologian. He spent much of his career in the United States and taught at Duke Divinity School. Wainwright made major contributions to modern Methodist theology and Christian liturgy, ...
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." In 2020, ''Theological Territories: A David Bentley Hart Digest'' was named Best Religion Book of the Year by ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' as well as winning Gold in the 2020 INDIES with ''Foreword Magazine''. In 2011, Hart's book '' Atheist Delusions'' was awarded the Michael Ramsey Prize in Theology by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...
. It was also praised by the agnostic philosopher
Anthony Kenny Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny (born 16 March 1931) is a British philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of Wittgenstein of whose literary est ...
in ''
The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'': "He exposes his opponents' errors of fact or logic with ruthless precision."
Oliver Burkeman Oliver Burkeman (born 1975) is a British author and journalist, formerly writing the weekly column ''This Column Will Change Your Life'' for the newspaper ''The Guardian''. In 2021, he published '' Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Morta ...
, writing in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' in January 2014, praised Hart's book ''The Experience of God'' as "the one theology book all atheists really should read." ''You Are Gods'' won Gold in the 2022 INDIES with ''Foreword Magazine'' for the Religion (Adult Nonfiction) category. '' 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 The Catholic Media Association, formerly the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, is an association of American and Canadian newspaper and media specialists specialized on reporting on the Catholic Church. Founded in 1911, it ...
awarded a first place prize to ''Kenogaia (A Gnostic Tale)'' in the category of "Escapism" for authors from other traditions. In addition to these accolades, Hart has been criticized by some scholars including
N. T. Wright Nicholas Thomas Wright (born 1 December 1948), known as N. T. Wright or Tom Wright, is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham and Lord Spiritual in the UK Parliament from 200 ...
,
Peter Leithart Peter James Leithart (born 1959) is an American author, minister, and theologian, who serves as president of Theopolis Institute for Biblical, Liturgical, & Cultural Studies in Birmingham, Alabama. He previously served as Senior Fellow of Theolog ...
,
Edward Feser Edward Charles Feser (; born April 16, 1968) is an American Catholic philosopher. He is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California. Education Feser holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Ca ...
, and others, especially after his 2019 publication of ''
That All Shall Be Saved ''That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation'' is a 2019 book by philosopher and religious studies scholar David Bentley Hart published by Yale University Press. In it Hart argues that "if Christianity taken as a whole is ind ...
''. Other Christian scholars praised the book including Robert Louis Wilken who wrote that "Hart shows why most Christian thinking about eternal damnation is unbiblical" and
John Behr John Behr (born 16 October 1966) is a British Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian. Since 2020, he has served as the Regius Professor of Humanity at the University of Aberdeen. He is the former dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Se ...
who described the book as "a brilliant treatment—exegetically, theologically, and philosophically—of the promise that, in the end, all will indeed be saved, and exposing the inadequacy—above all moral—of claims to the contrary." Archbishop Alexander Golitzin of the
Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...
recorded a public interview on January 14, 2022, in which he named Hart's book ''That All Shall Be Saved'' and said that it "draws upon some very prominent and worthy and holy teachers" in the early church who held that the "love of God will ultimately overcome the capacity of the creature to say no to God." In February 2022, the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOArch; ), headquartered in New York City, is an eparchy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its current Primate (bishop), primate is Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. The Greek Orthodox ...
(in collaboration with the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
) invited Hart to deliver a public homily for the Sunday of the Publican & the Pharisee as part of their "Orthodox Scholars Preach" series. In 2017, Hart served on a special commission of Orthodox theologians for the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew I of Constantinople Bartholomew (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox ...
to help compose "" and to coauthor the preface.


Some noted ideas

As indicated by the wide range of topics covered in his essays, Hart has diverse interests such as
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
, comparative religious studies,
Gnosticism Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced ...
,
metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
,
The Dreaming The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by hi ...
,
philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of the mind and its relation to the Body (biology), body and the Reality, external world. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a ...
, theological aesthetics, and
world literature World literature is used to refer to the world's total national literature and the circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country of origin. In the past, it primarily referred to the masterpieces of Western European literature. ...
. Hart writes often about
fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...
and has commented several times about his belief in them and related creatures such as
mermaids In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...
. As an outspoken advocate of
classical theism Classical theism is a theological and philosophical form of theism that conceives of God as the ultimate reality, ultimate reality, characterized by attributes such as omnibenevolence, omnipotence, and omniscience. Rooted in the ancient Greek p ...
as seen, for example, in his book ''The Experience of God'' who is also, more generally, engaged with the schools of
continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a group of philosophies prominent in 20th-century continental Europe that derive from a broadly Kantianism, Kantian tradition.Continental philosophers usually identify such conditions with the transcendental subject or ...
,
idealism Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, Spirit (vital essence), spirit, or ...
, and
neoplatonism Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...
, Hart also affirms
monism Monism attributes oneness or singleness () to a concept, such as to existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., in Neoplatonis ...
. He said in a November 17, 2020, interview about a pre-release reading of his book ''You Are Gods'' that "at the end of the day, I'm a monist as any sane person is" and that "we can play games with it, but any metaphysics that is coherent is ultimately reducible to a monism." In the text of ''You Are Gods'', Hart describes variations of both dualism and monism that he calls grim and monstrous:
An absolute dualism, of course, is a very grim thing indeed; but a narrative monism unqualified by any hint of true gnostic detachment, irony, sedition, or doubt—by any proper sense, that is, that the fashion of this world is horribly out of joint, that we are prisoners of delusion, that not every evil can be accounted for as part of divine necessity—turns out to be at least as monstrous.
During an April 2022 conversation with Hart about ''You Are Gods'', John Milbank said we "agree that in fact neoplatonism and Vedanta and Islamic mysticism are monistic" and "that, actually, an emanationism, a monotheism, these are actually the more monistic visions and that, if we've got all these things in Christianity like Trinity, incarnation, grace and deification and so on, these aren't qualifying monism." Instead, Milbank said that Hart's book ''You Are Gods'' shows that Christianity is spelling out or expounding monism and monotheism.
Robert Lawrence Kuhn Robert Lawrence Kuhn (born November 6, 1944) is an American public intellectual and investment banker. He is also an author, TV-producer, columnist and commentator, especially on topics related to China. Kuhn is the creator of the PBS series ''C ...
, concludes that Hart "constructs an ultimate unified monism, first by showing that consciousness/mind and being/existence are profoundly inseverable" and then by "taking consciousness and being, already one and the same, and unifying it with God, to become, all together, the ultimate one and the same." Kuhn maintains, however, that "this is not pantheism (or panentheism), but based on Hart's Orthodox Christian convictions, a Christological monism". Hart's book ''
That All Shall Be Saved ''That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation'' is a 2019 book by philosopher and religious studies scholar David Bentley Hart published by Yale University Press. In it Hart argues that "if Christianity taken as a whole is ind ...
'' was published on September 24, 2019, and makes the case that
universalism Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept within Christianity that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is se ...
is the only coherent version of the Christian faith. Although grounded primarily in arguments from Christian metaphysics and moral philosophy, the book also considers biblical exegesis, systematic theology, and historical theology (with extensive references to universalist ideas among Christian patristic figures such as
Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( or Γρηγόριος Νυσσηνός; c. 335 – c. 394), was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 394. He is ve ...
). Hart, with his characteristic rhetorical provocations, uses terms such as "infernalists" to describe his opponents. This grounding in Christian metaphysics, insistence on universalism being the only true articulation of the Christian gospel, and use of combative rhetoric all combine to make Hart's case for universalism more uncompromising than most previous Christian arguments, and this has led to the use of the term "hard universalism" to describe Hart's position. Hart refers to the idea of an atemporal fall (also called meta-historical fall) in his 2005 book '' The Doors of the Sea'' as well as in "The Devil's March: ''Creatio ex Nihilo'', the Problem of Evil, and a Few Dostoyevskian Meditations":
The fall of rational creation and the conquest of the cosmos by death is something that appears to us nowhere within the course of nature or history; it comes from before and beyond both. We cannot search it out within the closed totality of the damaged world because it belongs to another frame of time, another kind of time, one more real than the time of death. ...It may seem a fabulous claim that we exist in the long grim aftermath of a primeval catastrophe—that this is a broken and wounded world, that cosmic time is a phantom of true time, that we live in an umbratile interval between creation in its fullness and the nothingness from which it was called, and that the universe languishes in bondage to the "powers" and "principalities" of this age, which never cease in their enmity toward the kingdom of God—but it is not a claim that Christians are free to surrender.
Hart has recommended Sergei Bulgakov's 1939 book ''The Bride of the Lamb'' as the best exposition of an atemporal fall.


Some influences

Hart has cited a wide variety of inspirations and influences in his writing as well as across his various areas of scholarship in religious studies, philosophy of mind, and Christian metaphysics. With his essay style, Hart has often referenced
H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...
as an influence. As literary influences, Hart and others have noted
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...
and
Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer. He is best remembered for the classic of children's literature ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908). Born in Scotland, he spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in ...
. As "exemplars" in writing English prose, Hart has noted:
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
,
Sylvia Townsend Warner Sylvia Nora Townsend Warner (6 December 1893 – 1 May 1978) was an English novelist, poet and musicologist, known for works such as '' Lolly Willowes'', '' The Corner That Held Them'', and '' Kingdoms of Elfin''. Her paternal grandfather, The ...
, J. A. Baker,
Patrick Leigh Fermor Sir Patrick Michael Leigh Fermor (11 February 1915 – 10 June 2011) was an English writer, scholar, soldier and polyglot. He played a prominent role in the Cretan resistance during the Second World War, and was widely seen as Britain's greate ...
, and
Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...
. An
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
convert to
Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...
, Hart has praised Orthodox thinkers such as
Kallistos Ware Metropolitan Kallistos (born Timothy Richard Ware, 11 September 1934 – 24 August 2022) was an English bishop and theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church. From 1982, he held the titular bishopric of Diokleia in Phrygia (), later made a titu ...
,
Alexander Schmemann Alexander Dmitrievich Schmemann (; 13 September 1921 – 13 December 1983) was an influential Orthodox priest, theologian, and author who spent most of his career in the United States. Born in Estonia to émigrés from the Russian Revolution, ...
,
John Meyendorff John Meyendorff (; ; February 17, 1926 – July 22, 1992) was a leading theologian of the Orthodox Church of America as well as a writer and teacher. He served as the dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States unt ...
, and
Olivier Clément Olivier-Maurice Clément (17 November 1921 – 15 January 2009) was a French Eastern Orthodox theologian who taught at St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, France. He actively promoted the reunification of Christians (he was fri ...
. Hart has also called
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Bartholomew (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox ...
"one of the hopes of Orthodoxy" and
Sergei Bulgakov Sergei Nikolayevich Bulgakov (, ; – 13 July 1944) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, priest, philosopher, and economist. Orthodox writer and scholar David Bentley Hart has said that Bulgakov was "the greatest systematic theologian of the tw ...
"the greatest systematic theologian of the twentieth century." Hart has expressed his admiration for
sophiology Sophiology (; by detractors also called ''Sophianism'' () or ''Sophism'' ()) is a controversial school of thought in the Russian Orthodox tradition of Eastern Orthodox Christianity that holds that Divine Wisdom (or '' Sophia''—Greek: σοφί� ...
and summarized his own understanding of it in his 2010 foreword to Vladimir Solovyov's ''Justification of the Good''. Among American theologians, Hart has called
Robert Jenson Robert William Jenson (August 2, 1930 – September 5, 2017) was a leading American Lutheran and ecumenical theologian. Prior to his retirement in 2007, he spent seven years as the director of the Center for Theological Inquiry in Princeton, NJ. H ...
the theologian with whom it is "most profitable to struggle." Among contemporary thinkers, Hart's friendship and substantial intellectual common ground with
John Milbank Alasdair John Milbank (born 23 October 1952) is an English Anglo-Catholic theologian and is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham, where he is President of the Centre of Theolo ...
has been noted several times by both thinkers. More broadly, Hart and commentators have noted many other influences and inspirations (some of whom Hart can also criticize severely in certain respects). Among New Testament authors, Hart most frequently references
Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...
. Greek fathers most often referenced by Hart include
Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( or Γρηγόριος Νυσσηνός; c. 335 – c. 394), was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 394. He is ve ...
,
Isaac of Nineveh Isḥaq of Nineveh (; Arabic: إسحاق النينوي ''Ishaq an-Naynuwī''; – c. 700), also remembered as Saint Isaac the Syrian (), Isaac of Nineveh, Abba Isaac, Isaac Syrus and Isaac of Qatar, was a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop o ...
,
Maximus the Confessor Maximus the Confessor (), also spelled Maximos, otherwise known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople ( – 13 August 662), was a Christianity, Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, Maximus was a civil se ...
, and
Symeon the New Theologian Saint Symeon the New Theologian (; 949–1022) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and poet who was one of the four saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church and given the title of "Theologian" (along with John the Apostle, Gregory of Nazianzus, ...
. Among medieval thinkers,
Eriugena John Scotus Eriugena, also known as Johannes Scotus Erigena, John the Scot or John the Irish-born ( – c. 877), was an Irish Neoplatonist philosopher, theologian and poet of the Early Middle Ages. Bertrand Russell dubbed him "the most ...
,
Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart (), Master Eckhart or Eckehart, claimed original name Johannes Eckhart,
and
Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic bishop and polymath active as a philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first Ger ...
are often extolled by Hart, especially in his 2022 book ''You Are Gods''. Among more recent Christian thinkers, Hart has noted a high regard for
George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow-writer Lewis Carrol ...
. Russian religious philosophers such as Vladimir Solovyov and
Nikolai Berdyaev Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev (; ;  – 24 March 1948) was a Russian Empire, Russian philosopher, theologian, and Christian existentialism, Christian existentialist who emphasized the existentialism, existential spiritual significance of Pe ...
are often praised by Hart along with Russian literary figures like
Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...
and
Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...
. Among Indian religious philosophers, Hart has most regularly referenced
Ramanuja Ramanuja ('; Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmānuja; 1077 – 1157), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and social reformer. He is one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavi ...
and Shankara. In an August 2023 interview in ''
The Christian Century ''The Christian Century'' is a Christian magazine based in Chicago, Illinois. Considered the flagship magazine of US mainline Protestantism, the monthly reports on religious news; comments on theological, moral, and cultural issues; and reviews ...
'', during a series of questions related to German higher criticism and modern theology, Hart said that although the "early church fathers were in many respects historical critical readers, to the degree they could be", Hart himself is not engaging in demythologization along the lines of
Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (; ; August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German and American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran theologian who was one of the most influential theologians of the twenti ...
or
Rudolf Bultmann Rudolf Karl Bultmann (; ; 20 August 1884 – 30 July 1976) was a German Lutheran theologian and professor of the New Testament at the University of Marburg. He was one of the major figures of early 20th-century biblical studies. A prominent c ...
:


Personal life

Hart is married and has one grown son, Patrick, with whom he co-wrote the children's book ''The Mystery of Castle MacGorilla'' (Angelico Press, 2019); his wife is British. 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, North Carolina). As of 2022, Hart lives in
South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...
and is asked to serve and contribute by leaders in his Eastern Orthodox tradition such as the
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople () is the List of ecumenical patriarchs of Constantinople, archbishop of Constantinople and (first among equals) among the heads of the several autocephalous churches that comprise the Eastern Orthodox ...
. He follows contemporary concerns in Eastern Orthodox Christianity such as providing signature number 32 on a "Declaration on the 'Russian World' (Russkii mir) Teaching" criticizing theological justifications for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During a September 16, 2022, conversation with
Rainn Wilson Rainn Percival Dietrich Wilson (born January 20, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, podcaster, producer, writer, and director. He starred as Dwight Schrute on NBC's American adaptation of ''The Office'' from 2005 to 2013, and received t ...
, Hart shared briefly about an "indescribable" past experience of his own on
Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...
:
I was in this state of spiritual despair, and I also had an encounter. ...So I understand both the difficulty of explaining it and the impossibility of forgetting it, at once, and how it can change your life. But it doesn't come as a set of instructions. It sure as hell didn't turn me into a saint but did actually make me realize that the spiritual dimension of reality is reality.
Even though he identifies with the tradition of Eastern Orthodoxy, Hart recently said that "the best designation I seem able to come up with for describing my general spiritual sensibility is that of '
irreligious Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, rationa ...
Christian'," by which he means "the faith of someone—myself, that is—who has little or no natural aptitude for religious sentiment, enthusiasm, devotion, or ritual observance." Hart is a
Christian socialist A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...
and a
democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...
and has been a member of the
Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a political organization in the United States and the country's largest Socialism, socialist organization. Sitting on the Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left of the politic ...
. 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.
With a few more specifics, Hart wrote on April 3, 2022:
In my heart of hearts, I want to vote for someone whose entire political philosophy is derived from
John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...
by way of Kenneth Grahame, with lashings of
William Cobbett William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an Agrarianism, agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restr ...
,
Gilbert White Gilbert White (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a "parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his '' Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on 18 Jul ...
, and
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
; failing that, I want to enjoy the luxury of writing in
Wendell Berry Wendell Erdman Berry (born August 5, 1934) is an American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer. Closely identified with rural Kentucky, Berry developed many of his agrarian themes in the early essays o ...
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.


References


External links


Leaves in the Wind
Hart's subscription newsletter
Eclectic Orthodoxy
where Hart has been a long-time commenter {{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 Continental philosophers Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Anglicanism American 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 American philosophers of mind University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Virginia alumni University of Virginia faculty 21st-century American male writers Classical theism 20th-century Anglican theologians 21st-century Anglican theologians