Nationality American Religion Christian | Name D. Hart | |
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Alma mater Temple University
Johns Hopkins University
Harvard Divinity School
Westminster Theological Seminary Occupation American Religious Historian Known for Biography of John Gresham Machen Denomination Orthodox Presbyterian Church Education Temple University, Johns Hopkins University, Westminster Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School Books Calvinism: A History, Defending the Faith: J Gresham, A Secular Faith, From Billy Graham to Sarah Pal, The Lost Soul of American Similar People John Gresham Machen, Mark Noll, Harry Stout, David N Livingstone | ||
Darryl G. Hart is a religious and social historian. Hart is Distinguished Visiting Professor of History at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. He previously served as dean of academic affairs at Westminster Seminary California from 2000 to 2003, taught church history and served as librarian at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, directed the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College, and was Director of Partnered Projects, Academic Programs, and Faculty Development at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Wilmington, Delaware. He is an elder in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
In a Wall Street Journal review of Hart's 2013 book, Calvinism: A History; Barton Swaim describes him as, "a cantankerous conservative, a stalwart Presbyterian and a talented polemicist with a delightfully perverse sense of humor."
Stephen J. Nichols states that, like many other theologians, Hart is of the opinion that "theology, like nature, abhors a vacuum," in that theologizing is influenced by culture.
Hart follows in the tradition of J. Gresham Machen (to whom he dedicated his book Secular Faith) in espousing an approach to politics that engages at the level of the individual rather than that of the church. Hart makes the observation that "[e]fforts to use Christianity for public or political ends fundamentally distort the Christian religion." In Secular Faith Hart argues for the church to follow its mission by standing apart as a witness, suggesting that the nature of Christianity is "otherwordly", and criticizing those who "have tried to use their faith for political engagement".
In 1998 Christianity Today described him as "the prolific writer-librarian at Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia". He is also co-editor (along with John Muether) of the Nicotine Theological Journal.
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