Kingdoms of God

What did Jesus mean by the expression, the Kingdom of God? As an answer, Kevin Hart sketches a "phenomenology of the Christ" that explores the unique way Jesus performs phenomenology. According to Hart, philosophers and theologians continually reinterpret Jesus's teaching of the Kingdom so that there are effectively many Kingdoms of God. Working in, while also displacing, a tradition inaugurated by Husserl and continued by philosophers such as Heidegger, Marion, and Lacoste, Hart puts forward a new phenomenology of religion that claims that ethics and religion are not always unified or continuous.

Kingdoms of God is a pleasure to read. In it a leading contemporary theologian writes in a manner which can only challenge philosophers and theologians engaged in phenomenology's ongoing encounter with theological and religious thought., Hart's display of erudition is impressive as he draws from a wide variety of texts and, not surprising for an accomplished poet, his prose is a pleasure to read. . . . Highly recommended., Kingdoms of God is a worthwhile read for scholars and advanced students already well versed in the basics of the field of phenomenology and eager to join an ongoing conversation about the possible theological uses to which this peculiar philosophical approach may be put., Kevin Hart's work is distinctive for the adroit use it makes of phenomenological and literary modes of analysis to illuminate, sharpen, and sometimes shape theological reflection. This book gathers an important series of his essays around the topic of what the New Testament calls the . . . 'Kingdom of God.' It includes work the author has carried out over the last two decades, some of which has been published elsewhere, but the revisions and developments he has made for this volume form a cohesive whole that is worthy of attention in its own right.

Kevin Hart is Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies at the University of Virginia and Eric D'Arcy Professor of Philosophy at the Australian Catholic University.