John Hick - philosopher of religion

Ranked #2,920 in Culture & Society, #63,874 overall

An explanation, with quotes, of his philosophy

An introduction into the philosophy of John Hick a noted religious philosopher using quotes.

Philosophers of religion know John Hick's pluralistic hypothesis for it's daring solution to conflict between religions. The basic idea: religion is based on spiritual experiences - but even in the best of us those experiences are experienced through the lens of our conditionings.

The Pluralistic Hypothesis

I understand the pluralistic hypothesis to be on the one hand a defense of the religious mind, and on the other a way of dealing with religious pluralism.

The main idea is that all religion is the cultural response to spiritual experience. The spiritual experiences of each of us, including people like Jesus and Buddha, is shaped by our cultural framework. At the same time those experiences are testimony of something divine which transcends our limited lives.
The effect of such an experience is to change our perception of life from self-centredness to what Hick calls 'Reality centred'.

Reality centred can be translated as compassionate, realistic, divinely inspired etc. All positive religious values can come into play here, partly dependent on the religious tradition the experience takes place in.

Or quoting John Hick himself:

'I want to explore the pluralistic hypothesis that the great world faiths embody different perceptions and conceptions of, and correspondingly different responses to, the Real from within the major variant ways of being human; and that within each of them the transformation of human existence from self-centredness to Reality-centredness is taking place.'



Perhaps the following quote is clearer:

'I suggest that these different conceptions of salvation are specifications of what, in a generic formula, is the transformation of human existence from self-centredness to a new orientation centred in the divine reality'.

Going back to William James?

John Hick owes William James an enormous debt.

While he goes further in a theoretical sense than James does, as far as facts go, John Hick could have built his whole case on William James' Varieties of Religious Experience.
Loading

From a Christian perspective

John Hick is a Christian at heart, because that is the tradition he grew up in. While his books are careful attempts to unite the main world religions in one philosophical framework, many of his articles start from the specifically Christian framework.

He asks (and I quote):

'Our next question is this: do we regard the Christian way as the only way, so that salvation is not to be found outside it; or do we regard the other great religions of mankind as other ways of life and salvation?'


'Can we be so entirely confident that to have been born in our particular part of the world carries with it the privilege of knowing the full religious truth?'


'Can we then accept the conclusion that the God of love who seeks to save all mankind has nevertheless ordained that men must be saved in such a way that only a small minority can in fact receive this salvation?'


'Can a world in which sadistic cruelty often has its way, in which selfish lovelessness is so rife, in which there are debilitating diseases, crippling accidents, bodily and metal decay, insanity, and all manner of natural disasters be regarded as the expression of infinite creative goodness? Certainly all this could never by itself lead anyone to believe in the existence of a limitlessly powerful God. And yet even in a world which contains these things innumerable men and women have believed and do believe in the reality of an infinite creative goodness, which they call God.'



From these questions he concludes:

'It is the weight of this moral contradiction that has driven Christian thinkers in modern times to explore other ways of understanding the human religious situation'.

A selection of books by John Hick

Loading

About religious experience

The 20th century is one in which religious experience has come to the fore again, partly because of the work of William James and in the realm of mysticism Evelyn Underhill.

Because of such work it has become impossible to deny that people all over the world have basically similar spiritual experiences. It has also become clear that such experiences are to a large extent determined by the cultural background of the person experiencing.

While Zen meditators claim that their training enables them to experience Satori (or enlightenment - The Real in John Hicks terminology) without the fetters of conditioning, John Hick feels that that very training ensures that conditioning IS present (p. 294, 'An Interpretation of Religion').

His main point is:

'Applying a kind of philosophical Golden Rule, it would be unreasonable not to grant to religious experience within other traditions what I affirm of it within my own tradition' (John Hick, "Who or What is God?" p.6)



Or in other words (quoting p. 295 of his 'an Interpretation of Religion'):

These observable facts suggest that mystics within the different traditions do not float free from their cultural conditioning. They are still embodied minds, rooted in their time and place. They bring their Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Muslim or Sikh sets of ideas and expectations with them on the mystical path and are guided by them towards the kind of experience that their tradition recognizes and leads them to expect.'

John Hick quote on compassion

'We have no good reason to believe that any one of the great religious traditions has shown itself to be more productive of love/compassion than another'.

Background of John Hick

John Hick has gathered an impressive amount of doctorates. These include: from Oxford (D.Phil) and Edinburgh (D.Litt), honorary doctorates from Uppsala University and Glasgow University. He is also an emiritus professor several universities: Birmingham University UK and the Claremont Graduate University, California. He is still a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Research in Arts and Social Sciences, University of Birmingham UK, and Vice-President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion and of the World Congress of Faiths.

Long list, but where did he come from?

Born in 1922 in a middle class family, an uncle who worked at a university stimulated him to get into academia. John Hick started out studying Law, but after converting to evangelical Christianity he turned to a different university for study.

World War two intervened and saw John Hick becoming a Conscientious Objector. So he spent the war on an ambulance unit instead of fighting.

After the war John Hick turned to the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which formed the basis of his PhD in 1948.

John Hick: An Autobiography

John Hick: An Autobiography

Amazon Price: $18.65 (as of 02/14/2012)Buy Now

John Hick about himself - his youth, how he came to question orthodox Christianity, his various studies etc.

How did this influential philosopher come to take the position he is famous for?

Religious claims about TRUTH

The hardest pill to swallow in all this is that the specific truth claims in each religion don't matter much. They are but the culturally dependent filter through which we see Reality - because reality itself can't be seen.

Quoting John Hick himself:

'My conclusion, then, is that the differences between the root concepts and experiences of the different religions, their different and often conflicting historical and trans-historical beliefs, their incommensurable mythologies, and the diverse and ramifying belief systems into which all these are built, are compatible with the pluralistic hypothesis that the great world traditions constitute different conceptions and perceptions of, and responses to, the Real from within the different cultural ways of being human.'


(John Hick, An Interpretation of Religion, p.375-76.)

What do you think of John Hick?

submit

More on the philosophy of religion

Loading

More fascinating scientists

Loading

You may like some of my other pages about famous people

Spiritual Quotes
Khalil Gibran Quotes from The Prophet

Famous for 'The Prophet', Khalil Gibran was also a successful immigrant in the US (from Lebanon). This lens will show you his artwork as well as give...


Environment
Severn Suzuki - a famous environmental video: where is she now?

She's full of fire about the environment. She spoke to the UN at the age of 12. She's a scientist. I want to introduce you to Severn Suzuki. This lens...


quotes
List of Lao Tse quotes from the Tao Te Ching

According to tradition, the Tao Te Ching (or Dao De Djing) was written around the 6th century BC by the sage Laozi (or Lao Tzu, Lao Tse, "Old Master"),...


spiritual art
Alex Grey

Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953) is an American artist specializing in spiritual and visionary art. There is a clear connection with the world of alternative...


psychic readings
Best Edgar Cayce Books

Edgar Evans Cayce (March 18, 1877 - January 3, 1945) was a clairvoyant. He channeled answers to questions on subjects such as health or Atlantis, while in a...


buddhism
Thich Nhat Hanh quotes: Peace and Zen Buddhism

Monk and Vietnamese peace activist turned Zen Meditation teacher. Thich Nhat Hanh is an Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk. He is a teacher, author, and peace activist,...


Spiritual Quotes
What is the Tao Te Ching, Lao tzu, Taoism? Information, Introduction

Very inspiring. About leadership, living life and letting things be (that you can't control anyhow). This lens has quotes from the Tao Te Ching and information...


buddhism
The 14th Dalai Lama: Tibetan leader in exile

Nobel Peace Prize Winner, popularizer of Buddhism and head of the Tibetan Government in Exile. The Dalai Lama's life is a unique convergence of religion, politics...


sci-fi
Best Isaac Asimov Robot Books in Order

I love science fiction. Especially the works of Frank Herbert (the Dune universe) and Isaac Asimov. I've read he felt he was writing mainly for boys.. but...


art
Salvador Dali - religiously themed surrealistic art

A madman? A genius? A surrealist painter, but also a realist painter. An atheist, but later converted to Roman Catholicism. Despite the many developments in...


Spiritual teacher
Anthony De Mello quotes and Christian inspiration from India

Influenced the world through his powerful understanding of the human condition. Through the use of parables and teaching stories, de Mello pointed the way to...


Theosophy
Annie Besant, teacher, lecturer, secularist and theosophist...

Minister's wife, student of medicine, raised a prophet, reformer, secularist and more. Annie Besant (1847-1933) was many things in her lifetime - and living...


goddess
Susan Seddon Boulet Goddess Paintings

An artist whose art is still popular in the pagan scene, Susan Seddon Boulet will mostly be remembered for her goddess art. The mystical style of her paintings...

Buddhism
Gautama Buddha - Inspirer of Buddhism

Buddhism is the one world religion that everyone seems to respect. Many more people would like to call themselves Buddhists than actually are Buddhists by traditional...


Pema Chodron
Best Pema Chodron Buddhism Books

Buddhism is becoming more popular every day. Pema Chodron's books have a lot to do with that: they offer practical advice on how to deal with the troubles a...


philosophy
David Bohm: science and spirituality

Famous for his 'Implicate and Explicite Order', quantum physicist David Bohm combines a knowledge of current day physics with a spiritual vision of the...


Spiritual teachers
Jiddu Krishnamurti, world teacher

Jiddu Krishnamurti was famous in his lifetime for first being raised as a 'world teacher' and then renouncing the organisation founded in his honor. Paradox...


religion and spirituality
Elizabeth Clare Prophet Books

Spiritual teachers are often controversial. Elizabeth Clare Prophet is accused of the usual: not being very scientific, not being clear about her sources...


Spiritual teacher
Karen Armstrong: author, former nun and religious inspiration

Karen Armstrong is the embodiment of religious tolerance and spiritual transformation. A former Roman Catholic Nun, she got disillusioned about religion....


Spiritual teacher
Krishnamurti : Jiddu & U.G.

This is a disambiguation lens. There are two famous Krishnamurti's in the world of Spirituality. They knew each other. They had similar teachings. Both were...


hinduism
B.G. Sharma

Bhanwar lal Girdhari lal Sharma (B. G. Sharma) is an award-winning painter from Rajasthan, India. He is famous for his miniature devotional paintings and his...


clairvoyance
Geoffrey Hodson books on clairvoyance

Geoffrey Hodson (12 March 1886 in Lincolnshire, England - 23 January 1983 in Auckland, New Zealand) was a occultist, Theosophist, mystic, philosopher and ...


great quotes
Best Paul Brunton books and biography

Paul Brunton was an influential spiritual teacher in the first half of the 20th century. He was instrumental in making the Maharshi known in the West. His ...


Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg and Facebook

Chances are pretty high that you do have an ID on the biggest network on the Internet. With nearly 600 million users and 700,000 new ones added daily - Facebook...


zen buddhism
Steve Hagen

His book 'Buddhism Plain and Simple' is one of the best selling Buddhism books of our time. In it Steve teaches Buddhism as we many people love to see it: a...

Important!

Thanks for all your support!

A big thank you to all of you who've supported my online work by:

by

spirituality

I'm a webmaster and student of religion and spirituality. See my website on religion and spirituality: www.katinkahesselink.net or my spiritual blog: All... more »

Feeling creative? Create a Lens!