[A] masterpiece. . . . The most thorough and rigorous account of the nature of reality to be published in a century.--James Matthew Wilson, World Magazine

In a blossoming garden located far outside all worlds, a group of aging Greek gods have gathered to discuss the nature of existence, the mystery of mind, and whether there is a transcendent God from whom all things come. Turning to Eros, Psyche asks, Do you see this flower, my love?

So begins David Bentley Hart's unprecedented exploration of the mystery of consciousness. Writing in the form of a Platonic dialogue, he systematically subjects the mechanical view of nature that has prevailed in Western culture for four centuries to dialectical interrogation. Powerfully rehabilitating a classical view in which mental acts are irreducible to material causes, he argues through the gods' exchanges that the foundation of all reality is spiritual or mental rather than material. The structures of mind, organic life, and even language together attest to an infinite act of intelligence in all things that we may as well call God.

Engaging contemporary debates on the philosophy of mind, free will, revolutions in physics and biology, the history of science, computational models of mind, artificial intelligence, information theory, linguistics, cultural disenchantment, and the metaphysics of nature, Hart calls readers back to an enchanted world in which nature is the residence of mysterious and vital intelligences. He suggests that there is a very special wisdom to be gained when we, in Psyche's words, devote more time to the contemplation of living things and less to the fabrication of machines.

David Bentley Hart's translation of the New Testament, first published in 2017, was hailed as a remarkable feat and as a strange, disconcerting, radical version of a strange, disconcerting manifesto of profoundly radical values. In this second edition, which includes a powerful new preface and more than a thousand changes to the text, Hart's purpose remains the same: to render the original Greek texts faithfully, free of doctrine and theology, awakening readers to the uncanniness that often lies hidden beneath doctrinal layers.

Through his startling translation, with its raw, unfinished quality, Hart reveals a world conceptually quite unlike our own. It was a world, he writes, in which the heavens above were occupied by celestial spiritual potentates of questionable character, in which angels ruled the nations of the earth as local gods, in which demons prowled the empty places, . . . and in which the entire cosmos was for many an eternal divine order and for many others a darkened prison house. He challenges readers to imagine it anew: a God who reigned on high, appearing in the form of a slave and dying as a criminal, only then to be raised up and revealed as the Lord of all things.

A scathing, vigorous, eloquent attack on those who hold that that there is such a thing as eternal damnation.--Karen Kilby, Commonweal

[A] provocative, informative treatise. . . . [Hart's] resounding challenge to orthodox Christian views on hell and his defense of God's ultimate goodness will prove convincing and inspiring to the open-minded.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The great fourth-century church father Basil of Caesarea once observed that, in his time, most Christians believed that hell was not everlasting, and that all would eventually attain salvation. But today, this view is no longer prevalent within Christian communities.

In this momentous book, David Bentley Hart makes the case that nearly two millennia of dogmatic tradition have misled readers on the crucial matter of universal salvation. On the basis of the earliest Christian writings, theological tradition, scripture, and logic, Hart argues that if God is the good creator of all, he is the savior of all, without fail. And if he is not the savior of all, the Kingdom is only a dream, and creation something considerably worse than a nightmare. But it is not so. There is no such thing as eternal damnation; all will be saved. With great rhetorical power, wit, and emotional range, Hart offers a new perspective on one of Christianity's most important themes.

Hart marshals powerful historical evidence and philosophical argument to suggest that atheists--if they want to attack the opposition's strongest case--badly need to up their game.--Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian

Despite the recent ferocious public debate about belief, the concept most central to the discussion--God--frequently remains vaguely and obscurely described. Are those engaged in these arguments even talking about the same thing? In a wide-ranging response to this confusion, esteemed scholar David Bentley Hart pursues a clarification of how the word God functions in the world's great theistic faiths.

Ranging broadly across Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Vedantic and Bhaktic Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, Hart explores how these great intellectual traditions treat humanity's knowledge of the divine mysteries. Constructing his argument around three principal metaphysical moments--being, consciousness, and bliss--the author demonstrates an essential continuity between our fundamental experience of reality and the ultimate reality to which that experience inevitably points.

Thoroughly dismissing such blatant misconceptions as the deists' concept of God, as well as the fundamentalist view of the Bible as an objective historical record, Hart provides a welcome antidote to simplistic manifestoes. In doing so, he plumbs the depths of humanity's experience of the world as powerful evidence for the reality of God and captures the beauty and poetry of traditional reflection upon the divine.

From one of the most-read religious and philosophical scholars in the United States comes a collection of creative, thought-provoking fables.

Alongside David Bentley Hart's widely read work in philosophy, theology, and religious studies there has always been the other side of his writing--the fiction, poetry, and literary essays--which has often enjoyed a separate, if equally appreciative, readership. In this, his most recent book, these two worlds draw near to one another in a new way.

In Prisms, Veils: A Book of Fables, Hart explores the elusive nature of dreams and the enduring power of mythologies. Moving over themes ranging from the beauty of the natural world to the very nature of consciousness itself, each narrative is threaded through with Hart's deep religious, cultural, and historical knowledge, drawing readers into an expertly woven tapestry of diverse allusions and deep meaning.

Prisms, Veils will appeal to fans of Hart's work, philosophers, theologians, and general readers of fiction. The collection affords a special opportunity to engage with the creative side of Hart, its pages sparkling with bright gems of short fiction that are enchanting, thought-provoking, and imbued with spiritual truth.

In The Doors of the Sea David Bentley Hart speaks at once to those skeptical of Christian faith and to those who use their Christian faith to rationalize senseless human suffering. He calls both to recognize in the worst catastrophes not the providential will of God but rather the ongoing struggle between the rebellious powers that enslave the world and the God who loves it wholly.

For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church is, according to Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, a mature and reasoned discourse about our engagement with the world and with each other for Orthodox Christians and all people of good will. This text offers to the reader, who is willing to listen, insight and guidance on how to participate in life in the world, while enjoying the life in the Spirit. It is a helpful roadmap--steeped in Orthodox wisdom--essential for navigating the many modern-day challenges we face.

As everyone knows, the bond between homo sapiens sapiens and canis lupus familiaris has traversed the ages. But few could have anticipated the remarkable exchange here recounted between David Bentley Hart and a noble beast named Roland.

Roland in Moonlight breaks new ground within Hart's already astonishingly wide-ranging body of work. Eschewing the rigidity of the human either/or, Roland's diagonal approach offers secret illuminations and hidden affinities, as all and sundry come into his purview: paganism, dreams, language, myth, politics, American Christianity, Indian metaphysics, Japanese aesthetics... But perhaps most of all, the book is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the nature of mind and consciousness.

Woven through all this is a candid memoir, a story of loss and recovery, of personal trials and tribulations, with Roland leading the way through the darkened rooms and the sporadic shafts of icy moonlight, his mottled coat a constantly fluctuating counterpoint of shadow and light-a strange and sure balm for the soul.

Roland in Moonlight is a wholly unforgettable reading experience-a journey into the possible upon the wings of a heavenly discourse between man and beast, and the singular-indeed, blessed-rapport that guides their lives. It is impossible not to be swept along as Roland takes flight.

As everyone knows, the bond between homo sapiens sapiens and canis lupus familiaris has traversed the ages. But few could have anticipated the remarkable exchange here recounted between David Bentley Hart and a noble beast named Roland.

Roland in Moonlight breaks new ground within Hart's already astonishingly wide-ranging body of work. Eschewing the rigidity of the human either/or, Roland's diagonal approach offers secret illuminations and hidden affinities, as all and sundry come into his purview: paganism, dreams, language, myth, politics, American Christianity, Indian metaphysics, Japanese aesthetics... But perhaps most of all, the book is a kaleidoscopic exploration of the nature of mind and consciousness.

Woven through all this is a candid memoir, a story of loss and recovery, of personal trials and tribulations, with Roland leading the way through the darkened rooms and the sporadic shafts of icy moonlight, his mottled coat a constantly fluctuating counterpoint of shadow and light-a strange and sure balm for the soul.

Roland in Moonlight is a wholly unforgettable reading experience-a journey into the possible upon the wings of a heavenly discourse between man and beast, and the singular-indeed, blessed-rapport that guides their lives. It is impossible not to be swept along as Roland takes flight.

David Bentley Hart offers an intense and thorough reflection upon the issue of the supernatural in Christian theology and doctrine.

In recent years, the theological--and, more specifically, Roman Catholic--question of the supernatural has made an astonishing return from seeming oblivion. David Bentley Hart's You Are Gods presents a series of meditations on the vexed theological question of the relation of nature and supernature. In its merely controversial aspect, the book is intended most directly as a rejection of a certain Thomistic construal of that relation, as well as an argument in favor of a model of nature and supernature at once more Eastern and patristic, and also more in keeping with the healthier currents of mediaeval and modern Catholic thought. In its more constructive and confessedly radical aspects, the book makes a vigorous case for the all-but-complete eradication of every qualitative, ontological, or logical distinction between the natural and the supernatural in the life of spiritual creatures. It advances a radically monistic vision of Christian metaphysics but does so wholly on the basis of credal orthodoxy.

Hart, one of the most widely read theologians in America today, presents a bold gesture of resistance to the recent revival of what used to be called two-tier Thomism, especially in the Anglophone theological world. In this astute exercise in classical Christian orthodoxy, Hart takes the metaphysics of participation, high Trinitarianism, Christology, and the soteriological language of theosis to their inevitable logical conclusions. You Are Gods will provoke many readers interested in theological metaphysics. The book also offers a vision of Christian thought that draws on traditions (such as Vedanta) from which Christian philosophers and theologians, biblical scholars, and religious studies scholars still have a great deal to learn.

Not much time has passed since the thrilling adventure surrounding the stolen treasure of Castle MacGorilla, but our three intrepid investigators-Teddy, Porculina, and Gorilla-are once again called upon to solve a baffling mystery. On this occasion, the action moves from the stark, cold highlands of Scotland to the lush and warmly sunlit Loire Valley in France, but the perils encountered by the trio are no less daunting and the puzzle is, if anything, all the more perplexing. Indeed, it is a puzzle that stretches into the remotest reaches of history, all the way back to ancient Egypt. There are chases, secret doors, samples of Eastern wisdom and French poetry, and biscuits. And then, too, there is the little matter of a recurrent ghostly apparition. Can a small teddy bear detective, however seasoned, aided only by an even smaller plush pig and an easily distracted toy ape-with the occasional assistance of a wise and longsuffering dog-discover the terrible truth before the all-important day of the Cider Festival?

Why has Don Juan become so passé of late? What's the trouble with Ayn Rand? How did the Doge of Venice come to venerate the counterfeit remains of Siddhartha Gautama? Why does the Bentley family's collection of ancestral relics include a bronzed human thumb? And what, exactly, is the story behind Great Uncle Aloysius, who was born a Quaker but died a pagan?

This collection of occasional essays brings us David Bentley Hart at his finest: startlingly clear and deliciously abstruse, coolly wise and burningly witty, fresh and timeless, mystical and concrete -- often all at once. Hart's incisive blend of philosophy, moral theology, and cultural criticism, together with his flair for both the well-told story and the well-turned phrase, is sure to delight.

Spanning Hart's career both topically and over time, these essays cover such subjects as the Orthodox understanding of Eucharistic sacrifice; the metaphysics of Paradise Lost; Christianity, modernity, and freedom; death, final judgment, and the meaning of life; and many more.

Publishers Weekly Best Book in Religion 2020

Foreword Review's INDIES Book of the Year Award, Religion

In Theological Territories, David Bentley Hart, one of America's most eminent contemporary writers on religion, reflects on the state of theology at the borders of other fields of discourse--metaphysics, philosophy of mind, science, the arts, ethics, and biblical hermeneutics in particular. The book advances many of Hart's larger theological projects, developing and deepening numerous dimensions of his previous work. Theological Territories constitutes something of a manifesto regarding the manner in which theology should engage other fields of concern and scholarship.

The essays are divided into five sections on the nature of theology, the relations between theology and science, the connections between gospel and culture, literary representations of and engagements with transcendence, and the New Testament. Hart responds to influential books, theologians, philosophers, and poets, including Rowan Williams, Jean-Luc Marion, Tomás Halík, Sergei Bulgakov, Jennifer Newsome Martin, and David Jones, among others. The twenty-six chapters are drawn from live addresses delivered in various settings. Most of the material has never been printed before, and those parts that have appear here in expanded form. Throughout, these essays show how Hart's mind works with the academic veneer of more formal pieces stripped away. The book will appeal to both academic and non-academic readers interested in the place of theology in the modern world.

These stories -- The Devil and Pierre Gernet, The House of Apollo, A Voice from the Emerald World, The Ivory Gate, and The Other -- beguile and entrance the reader through Hart's engrossing, opulent writing style and the complex characters he evokes and explores.

Often bedazzling, sometimes heartbreaking, and ultimately mesmerizing, Hart's wide-ranging stories are united by a common thread of haunting religious and philosophical questions about this life and the next. Here is fiction to fully engage both the mind and the heart.

The book begins by tracing the shifting use and nature of metaphysics in the thought of Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Lyotard, Derrida, Deleuze, Nancy, Levinas, and others. Hart pays special attention to Nietzsche's famous narrative of the will to power -- a narrative largely adopted by the world today -- and he offers an engaging revision (though not rejection) of the genealogy of nihilism, thereby highlighting the significant interruption that Christian thought introduced into the history of metaphysics.

This discussion sets the stage for a retrieval of the classic Christian account of beauty and sublimity, and of the relation of both to the question of being. Written in the form of a dogmatica minora, this main section of the book offers a pointed reading of the Christian story in four moments, or parts: Trinity, creation, salvation, and eschaton. Through a combination of narrative and argument throughout, Hart ends up demonstrating the power of Christian metaphysics not only to withstand the critiques of modern and postmodern thought but also to move well beyond them.

Strikingly original and deeply rewarding, The Beauty of the Infinite is both a constructively critical account of the history of metaphysics and a compelling contribution to it.