Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by David Bentley Hart

Quote by David Bentley Hart

“Really, on the whole, Christians rarely pay particularly close attention to what the Bible actually says, for the simple reason that the texts defy synthesis in a canon of exact doctrines, and yet most Christians rely on doctrinal canons. Theologians are often the most cavalier in their treatment of texts, chiefly because their first loyalty is usually to the grand systems of belief they have devised or adopted; but the Bible is not a system. A very great deal of theological tradition consists therefore in explaining away those aspects of scripture that contradict the finely wrought structure of this or that orthodoxy.”

Quote by David Bentley Hart

Work

That All Shall Be Saved: Heaven, Hell, and Universal Salvation

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

David Bentley Hart
David Bentley Hart

David Bentley Hart is an American writer renowned for his profound theological reflections and unique insights into religious philosophy. Born in 1965, he graduated from Harvard University with a Ph.D. in philosophy. Hart's work spans a wide range of subjects, including theology, philosophy, literature, and art criticism. His writing style is distinctive, often captivating readers with his deep insights and elegant prose. more

You May Also Like

“What some people say on earth is that the final loss of one soul gives the lie to all the joy of those who are saved." "Ye see it does not." "I feel in a way that it ought to." "That sounds very merciful: but see what lurks behind it." "What?" "The demand of the loveless and the self-imprisoned that they should be allowed to blackmail the universe: that till they consent to be happy (on their own terms) no one else shall taste joy: that theirs should be the final power; that Hell should be able to veto Heaven." "I don't know what I want, Sir." "Son, son, it must be one way or the other. Either the day must come when joy prevails and all the makers of misery are no longer able to infect it: or else for ever and ever the makers of misery can destroy in others the happiness they reject for themselves. I know it has a grand sound to say ye'll accept no salvation which leaves even one creature in the dark outside. But watch that sophistry or ye'll make a Dog in a Manger the tyrant of the universe.”