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Hart The Doors Of The Sea Summary

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David Bentley Hart’s, “The Doors of the Sea”, attempts to unravel a perplexity that has theologians at odds. In this work, Hart explores the horrible tsunami that occurred in 2004, which unfortunately devastated part of South East Asia. The result of this horrific act against humanity raises a few questions concerning the belief of a loving and divine being. Hart attempts to explain how a Christian God, who is all powerful and righteous, could allow such an evil act to claim the lives of so many innocent people. Some insist that the cruelty of this act is a sign that there is no God; while, others maintain that this horrid display of power proves without a doubt there must be a higher being. Hart tries to dismiss both of the previous notions …show more content…

First, Hart says this about all of Gods creations, “an endless sea of glory, radiant with the beauty of God in every part, innocent of all violence” (Hart, 60). Clearly, Hart is reiterating a foundational belief of the Christian faith, that God is dominant and virtuous. Later on, Hart asserts another well-known belief of the Christian faith, “that the will of God cannot ultimately be defeated…” (Hart, 66). Again, Hart argues that God is an all-powerful being that controls the entirety of everything. The problem with this is that Hart begins to stare away from these irrefutable truths. He begins to contradict his first claims and thus, raises some unanswerable questions. Hart starts his argument in the second section by claiming, “Nevertheless, and disturbing as it may be, it is clearly the case that there is a kind of “provisional” cosmic dualism… a conflict between a sphere of created autonomy that strives against God on the on hand and the saving love of God in time on the other” (Hart, 62). If God is all controlling and all powerful, how can their possibly be any other “provisional” source that contradicts his

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