In July, 2022, Gerald McDermott wrote a negative review of Hart’s Tradition and Apocalypse in the pages of the First Things magazine, entitled “ Hart’s Turn to Heterodoxy.” Though not nearly as well known as Hart, McDermott might be one of the best contemporary interpreters of the theology of Jonathan Edwards. Alas, an essay from Gerald McDermott, another esteemed theologian, finally drew me into the challenge. I guessed I should try to give Hart another chance. But since I am not convinced by the exegetical Scriptural defense for a Christian universalism, in any dogmatic sense, I walked away from reading those comments as though I had been labeled a “moral cretin.” All of that for simply desiring to hold to a form of classic, historical Christian orthodoxy. For if indeed a compelling Scriptural case for a Christian universalism could be made, a Christian should gladly embrace such a doctrine. I have always considered myself as someone who would want universalism to be true, at least to a certain extent. I suppose Hart’s disciples believe that somehow Hart had finally stumbled on that “knock-out” punch to completely demolish any attack on universalism, that no one had ever considered before in 2,000 years of church history. I was castigated for not having read That All Shall Be Saved, despite having listened to several extended, hour-plus long interviews given by Hart about the book, and despite having read other attempts to fit some form of universalism into the Bible for a number of years.

I get a lot of benefit in reading Hart, even when I ultimately disagree with him.īut when a few years ago I blogged about a survey of reviews condemning That All Shall Be Saved as wholly unorthodox, and that Hart had gone rogue, I was greeted with scathing reviews left in the Veracity comment section by some of Hart’s disciples. Like him or not, David Bentley Hart makes for a stimulating read.

Now that this previous storm has passed, he has yet again triggered even more controversy.ĭavid Bentley Hart: Christian Universalist Who Wants to Help Christians Reframe the Judaeo-Christian “Tradition”Īs a lowly computer network engineer, I am certainly no match for the incredibly gifted rhetorical powers of Hart, not even close. Anyone who disagrees with him about universalism is effectively morally challenged, in his view, and he is not afraid to unload condescension on his critics. Like what former megachurch pastor and now California surfer and podcaster Rob Bell strongly hinted at, and what the author of the evangelical blockbuster novel, The Shack, William Paul Young finally came out and admitted, at least to a certain degree, the brilliant and exceedingly well-read David Bentley Hart has whole-heartedly endorsed a theological position that has historically been condemned by the vast majority of Christians. In exposing the fault lines of thinkers like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, Hart’s Atheist Delusions has been regarded as one of the finest polemical works against early 21st century atheism.Īlas, Hart’s star has since fallen after his That All Shall Be Saved, a bold and dogmatically absolutist defense of a Christian universalism, which argues that while there is still a future hell and divine judgment, that experience of hell is ultimately purgative and redeeming, such that none are ultimately lost in the very end. Hart has been one of the greatest theological voices undermining the pretentiousness of the New Atheist movement. The immensely erudite and (apparently recently) idiosyncratic Eastern Orthodox David Bentley Hart published an extended essay, Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief ( Listen to this summary in Hart’s own words). But one can learn a lot about the state of the church from such disputes. When two theological heavyweights clash with one another, the ensuing dialogue can be fireworks.

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