David Bentley Hart

David Bentley Hart
Hart in 2022
Born	February 1965 (age 59) Howard County, Maryland, U.S.
Education	University of Maryland (BA) University of Cambridge (MPhil) University of Virginia (PhD)
Occupations	Writer philosopher religious studies scholar critic theologian
Notable work	See bibliography
Awards	2011 Michael Ramsey Prize 2020 Religion Book of the Year (Publishers Weekly) 2021 Book of the Year (Times Literary Supplement) 2022 and 2020 Gold INDIES (Foreword Magazine) 2022 First place in "Escapism" (Catholic Media Association)
Philosophy career
School	Classical theism Neoplatonism Continental philosophy Idealism Vishishtadvaita Vedanta Sophiology
Institutions	University of Notre Dame
Thesis	Beauty, Violence, and Infinity: A Question Concerning Christian Rhetoric (1997)
Doctoral advisor	Robert Louis Wilken (on dissertation committee)
Main interests	Philosophy of mind
Website	davidbentleyhart.substack.com

David Bentley Hart (born February 1965) is an American writer, philosopher, religious studies scholar, critic, and theologian. Reviewers have commented on Hart's baroque prose and provocative rhetoric in over one thousand essays, reviews, and papers as well as nineteen books (including translations). From a predominantly Anglican family background, Hart became Eastern Orthodox when he was twenty-one. His academic works focus on Christian metaphysics, philosophy of mind, Indian and East Asian religion, Asian languages, classics, and literature as well as a New Testament translation. Books with wider audiences include The Doors of the Sea, Atheist Delusions, That All Shall Be Saved, and Roland in Moonlight.

Born and raised in Maryland, Hart regularly references his family roots and the Baltimore Orioles in his writing. Hart graduated with a BA in interdisciplinary study from the University of Maryland, completed an MPhil in theology at Cambridge University, and then a PhD in religious studies at the University of Virginia. Hart received the Templeton Fellowship at the University of Notre Dame 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, apocatastasis, theosis, fairies, film, and politics. Hart maintains a subscription newsletter called Leaves in the Wind that features original essays and conversations with other thinkers.