Tradition and Apocalypse, David Bentley Hart
Tradition and Apocalypse, David Bentley Hart
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Tradition and Apocalypse
An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief

Author: David Bentley Hart

Narrator: Jim Denison

Unabridged: 6 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 02/08/2022

Synopsis

In the two thousand years that have elapsed since the time of Christ, Christians have been as much divided by their faith as united, as much at odds as in communion. And the contents of Christian confession have developed with astonishing energy. How can believers claim a faith that has been passed down through the ages while recognizing the real historical contingencies that have shaped both their doctrines and their divisions?

In this carefully argued essay, David Bentley Hart critiques the concept of "tradition" that has become dominant in Christian thought as fundamentally incoherent. He puts forth a convincing new explanation of Christian tradition, one that is obedient to the nature of Christianity not only as a "revealed" creed embodied in historical events but as the "apocalyptic" revelation of a history that is largely identical with the eternal truth it supposedly discloses. Hart shows that Christian tradition is sustained not simply by its preservation of the past, but more essentially by its anticipation of the future. He offers a compelling portrayal of a living tradition held together by apocalyptic expectation—the promised transformation of all things in God.

About David Bentley Hart

David Bentley Hart is a philosopher and Orthodox theologian whose work encompasses a wide range of subjects and genres. He has taught at the University of Virginia, the University of St. Thomas, Loyola College in Maryland, Providence College, and Saint Louis University. In 2015, he was granted a Templeton Fellowship at the University of Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study. Hart has written numerous books, including The Beauty of the Infinite, The New Testament: A Translation, The Devil and Pierre Gernet, Theological Territories, and That All Shall Be Saved.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Paul on April 02, 2023

Truly, awe-inspiringly terrible -- possibly the worst book that someone this intelligent is capable of writing. Honestly I don't even know where to begin; I have a bunch of notes in the margins and may try to shape them into a proper review at a later date, but I'm not sure if there's a point. Hart'......more

Goodreads review by David on February 14, 2022

Who Should Read This Book - Readers interested in the past and future of Christian faith and practice. What’s the Big Takeaway - Tradition is not about looking into the past to find some imaginary line of faith and practice that has never changed, the beauty of tradition is opening new paths and aven......more

Goodreads review by Scriptor Ignotus on March 11, 2024

Every religious tradition, in its historical-material aspect, undergoes profound disjunctions and radical transmutations as it passes through centuries of social disruption, political manipulation, intellectual disputation, and cultural ferment. But for Christianity, the question of tradition—unders......more

Goodreads review by Todd on February 08, 2022

The subject is tradition and its place in Christian faith. Hart develops a theology of tradition as a process of progressive revelation (apocalypse) toward truth. He contrasts this with "traditionalism", basically tradition for tradition's sake. His thesis is that behind Christian tradition there a......more

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