---
title: "1 Rational Realistic Quotes By David Bentley Hart"
description: "1 Rational Realistic quotes by David Bentley Hart. Plus more from David Bentley Hart and more Rational Realistic sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/david-bentley-hart-4691_habits_so-much-of-what-we-imagine-to-be-the-tes_578377.jpg"
---

> [“So much of what we imagine to be the testimony of reason or the clear and unequivocal evidence of our senses is really only an interpretive reflex, determined by mental habits impressed in us by an intellectual and cultural history.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/so-much-of-what-we-imagine-to-be-the-testimony-of-reason-or-the-clear/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/david-bentley-hart-4691_habits_so-much-of-what-we-imagine-to-be-the-tes_578377.jpg)

## More by David Bentley Hart

> [“What makes today’s popular atheism so depressing is neither its conceptual boorishness nor its self-righteousness but simply its cultural inevitability. It is the final,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/what-makes-today-s-popular-atheism-so-depressing-is-neither-its/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“The claim that there cannot be an infinite regress of contingent ontological causes raises a truly difficult challenge to pure materialism; but to imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-claim-that-there-cannot-be-an-infinite-regress-of-contingent/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“The very notion of nature as a closed system entirely sufficient to itself is plainly one that cannot be verified, deductively or empirically, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-very-notion-of-nature-as-a-closed-system-entirely-sufficient-to/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“naturalism, alone among all considered philosophical attempts to describe the shape of reality, is radically insufficient in its explanatory range.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/naturalism-alone-among-all-considered-philosophical-attempts-to/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [Christianity has from its beginning portrayed itself as a gospel of peace, a way of reconciliation (with God, with other creatures), and a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/christianity-has-from-its-beginning-portrayed-itself-as-a-gospel-of/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“clarity is a precious thing, to the degree it can be achieved, if only because it can spare us the effort of needless boring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/clarity-is-a-precious-thing-to-the-degree-it-can-be-achieved-if-only/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [Empiricism in the sciences is a method; naturalism in philosophy is a metaphysics; and the latter neither follows from nor underlies the former.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/empiricism-in-the-sciences-is-a-method-naturalism-in-philosophy-is-a/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“We trust, that is to say, that there is no substantial criterion by which to judge our choices that stands higher than the unquestioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/we-trust-that-is-to-say-that-there-is-no-substantial-criterion-by/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [For, after all, if it is from Christ that we are to learn how God relates himself to sin, suffering, evil, and death, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/for-after-all-if-it-is-from-christ-that-we-are-to-learn-how-god/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“All things are subject to time, moreover: they possess no complete identity in themselves, but are always in the process of becoming something else,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/all-things-are-subject-to-time-moreover-they-possess-no-complete/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [true philosophical atheism must be regarded as a superstition, often nurtured by an infantile wish to live in a world proportionate to one's own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/true-philosophical-atheism-must-be-regarded-as-a-superstition-often/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“It goes without saying that one generally should not try to dissolve disparate creeds into one another, much less into some vague, syncretistic, doctrinally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/it-goes-without-saying-that-one-generally-should-not-try-to-dissolve/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [God's pleasure--the beauty creation possesses in his regard--underlies the distinct being of creation, and so beauty is the first and truest word concerning all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/god-s-pleasure-the-beauty-creation-possesses-in-his-regard-underlies/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“The general argument from the contingent to the absolute, or from the conditioned to the unconditioned, is a powerful and cogent one. No attempt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/the-general-argument-from-the-contingent-to-the-absolute-or-from-the/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

> [“Simply said, one is contingent through and through, partaking of being rather than generating it out of some source within oneself; and the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/simply-said-one-is-contingent-through-and-through-partaking-of-being/)

[David Bentley Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bentley-hart/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-realistic/david-bentley-hart/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Rational Realistic Quotes By David Bentley Hart",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“So much of what we imagine to be the testimony of reason or the clear and unequivocal evidence of our senses is really only an interpretive reflex, determined by mental habits impressed in us by an intellectual and cultural history. Even our notion of what might constitute a “rational” or “realistic” view of things is largely a product not of a dispassionate attention to facts, but of an ideological legacy.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "David Bentley Hart"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bentley-hart/so-much-of-what-we-imagine-to-be-the-testimony-of-reason-or-the-clear/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/david-bentley-hart-4691_habits_so-much-of-what-we-imagine-to-be-the-tes_578377.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/david-bentley-hart-4691_habits_so-much-of-what-we-imagine-to-be-the-tes_578377.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/david-bentley-hart-4691_habits_so-much-of-what-we-imagine-to-be-the-tes_578377.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“So much of what we imagine to be the testimony of reason or the clear and unequivocal evidence of our senses…” — David Bentley Hart",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-realistic/david-bentley-hart/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-realistic/david-bentley-hart/",
            "name": "Rational Realistic Quotes by David Bentley Hart",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-realistic/david-bentley-hart/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4a/david-bentley-hart-4691_habits_so-much-of-what-we-imagine-to-be-the-tes_578377.jpg"
            },
            "description": "1 Rational Realistic quotes by David Bentley Hart. Plus more from David Bentley Hart and more Rational Realistic sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-realistic/david-bentley-hart/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-realistic/david-bentley-hart/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Rational Realistic",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-realistic/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "David Bentley Hart",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rational-realistic/david-bentley-hart/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```