Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief

by David Bentley Hart

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2022

Overview

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 and practice that has been passed down through the ages while recognizing the real historical contingencies that have shaped both those doctrines and those 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.

Key Features

• Puts forth a convincing new explanation of Christian tradition
• Shows how Christian tradition is more essentially sustained by its anticipation of the future
• Offers a compelling portrayal of a living tradition held together by apocalyptic expectation

Contents

Top Highlights

“what until now had been known, and the will to let the present be shaped by a future yet to be revealed” (Page 188)

Product Details

• Title: Tradition and Apocalypse: An Essay on the Future of Christian Belief
• Author: David Bentley Hart
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 192
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: Tradition (Theology)
• ISBNs: 9781493434794, 9780801039386, 9781493434770, 9781493434787, 1493434799, 080103938, 1493434772, 1493434780, 080103938X
• Resource ID: LLS:TRDTNPCLYPSCBLF
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-11-14T18:58:16Z

About David Bentley Hart

David Bentley Hart is an Eastern Orthodox theologian and philosopher. He is visiting professor at Providence College, having previously held the Robert J. Randall Chair in Christian Culture there. Hart previously taught at the University of Virginia, the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), Duke Divinity School, and Loyola College in Maryland. He was trained at the University of Cambridge and the University of Virginia.

(From Theopedia.com. Freely redistributable under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.)