Almost Thou Persuadest Me . . .To Be a Universalist, But Not Quite

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

Author: David Bentley Hart

Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2019

Full disclosure: this book was sent to me by the publisher for review. As always, “I call them as I read them” and this review is no exception.  Read on.

There are three ways to review this book on Universalism. One is as an English teacher (I used to be one). The other is as a relational human being (some say I have a long way to go here). And the third is as a Christian (I know I am).

Let me cut to the chase, covering all three types of reviews very quickly with respect to David Bentley Hart’s book. I read the book very carefully.  You should see my margin notes.  

As a literary work and as a position paper, Hart deserves an A+. He goes about his work with passion throwing every argument he can possibly come up with at his adversaries (those who disagree with him on the issue of universalism). As you will see from my comments and quotes below, Hart is a master of the English language. For this I would give the book 5 stars.

Viewing this book from a human perspective, I found it fell extremely short on all counts. I am sure I am not alone in finding the author’s style to be very patronizing (and all the synonyms that fit). The author goes so far as to claim his own version (translation) of Scripture. Wonderful if that’s what we’re studying, but not so apropos if one uses this as one of his tools for arriving at his conclusions. Hart admits to writing a book “that is at odds with a body of received opinion so invincibly well-established that I know I cannot reasonably expect to persuade anyone of anything, except perhaps of my sincerity.” He is correct on the former premise, and wrong on the latter. From his introduction and throughout his book, this reader feels that the author does not give two hoots for anyone who picks up his book and disagrees with him. Early on he writes, “Not that I am accusing anyone of consciously or cynically seeking to manipulate the minds of faithful Christians” but he does exactly that and worse still, he, in my humble opinion, is guilty of the same crime.  He has no trouble at all taking some fundamental Christian tenets and commenting on them with a wave of his pen as “Happily, all of that is degrading nonsense.” Elsewhere he tells us that we need to guard against the “…relative rhetorical gifts of the author” when considering traditional thinking, to which I respond, “You’re one to talk, Doctor.” Do you get the idea? For all of the above, as a reader- or people-friendly work, I would only give the book 1 star.

That leaves us with the content perspective as I view it from the point of view of a western hemisphere modern Evangelical Christian – the group that Hart has little use for when it comes to what he believes about salvation and those that will be granted it. One of Hart’s major arguments throughout seems to be found in the phrase (and I paraphrase here) – “how can one believe in a God who creates a reality in which the eternal suffering of any being is possible, and if He can, how could He be the God of love that Christianity says He is.” May I respectfully suggest that the author’s failure to accept that possibility is not a problem with God, but rather the limitations he places on God based on his own limited human understanding. He writes, “God, of course, ought not to be measured by the moral imagination of even as great a poet as Dante – or, for that matter, by anyone else’s.” Yet he seems to be doing exactly that. His view of God is limited by his own imagination, albeit, supported in his mind and perhaps by those that would agree with him, with some creative arguing.  Hart does, throughout his book, present some good arguments and suppositions. [The average review length will not permit me to make reference to them. I am all but tempted to write a lengthy critique of his book, but I’ll save that for a later time. For me the issue at hand is best addressed, not so much by what I have been taught over the years on one end of the spectrum, and what Hart believes on the other – but rather, on two points – a) God, because He is the ‘Unquestionable I AM’ can do whatever He wants with His creations and b) knowing what He will do should not make any difference to the way that one of His children lives their life.]

Allow me to make some final points. Hart provides the reader with ten pages of Scripture verses he believes support Universalism and he goes to the great trouble of quoting those verses not only in English, but also in the original (koine) Greek. Admittedly, I am not a Greek scholar, but I (as a Greek) can understand it enough to boldly suggest that the interpretations the author makes are often not the only ones that someone can make from the original text. Secondly, Hart renders the book of Revelation an almost useless work as far as assisting us in getting a handle on what God may have in mind for the “end times”. Thirdly, Hart seems to rely more on the writings of both believers (early Christians) and non-believers (poets, etc.) than he does on Scripture itself. I believe most of Hart’s readers (especially Christian readers) would find one or all of these positions untenable. For all of the above and much more (with which I could write my own book), I would give the book 3 stars with respect to his contentions.

In conclusion, and using my limited statistical capabilities, the overall rating I would assign to Hart’s book is 3 stars.  It’s a good read.  He may have intended it to support Universalism, but in many cases his readers will use it (primarily due to his attitude and his own arguments limited by his own human intellect) as a means by which their own more traditional beliefs are upheld.

The book is clearly written for those used to hearing post-graduate university lectures. For any sharp individual, however, who is courageous enough to stand up for what he/she thinks or believes, this book will either make your blood boil or you will find comfort for something you thought or felt but were afraid to state publicly.

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n  Ken B. Godevenos, President, Accord Resolutions Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, November 8, 2019, www.accordconsulting.com

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