Pluralism (AQA A-Level Religious Studies): Revision Notes
Pluralism
Introduction to John Hick
John Hick (1922-2012) was an English philosopher who made significant contributions to the study of religious pluralism. His influential work includes A Christian Theology of Religions: The Rainbow of Faiths (1995).
Hick's work represents a major shift in Christian theology, moving away from exclusivist views that only Christianity offers salvation toward a more inclusive understanding of God's universal saving activity across all religious traditions.
Key concept: Universalism
Universalism is the belief that all humans will be saved by God, regardless of their religious affiliation.
Hick's universalist position begins with an observation about religious geography. He argues that a person's religious identity is largely determined by their place of birth. Someone born in India is likely to be Hindu, whilst someone born in Saudi Arabia is likely to be Muslim. Hick contends that any credible religious faith must acknowledge this reality and relate it to God's universal nature.
Hick criticises traditional theology that restricts God's saving activity to a single religious tradition. He argues that if God is truly universal and loving, it would be unjust for salvation to depend primarily on the accident of where someone is born.
Hick's approach to religious claims
Hick distinguishes between two types of religious claims:
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Historical claims: These relate to factual events that can, in principle, be verified or disproved. For example, whether Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem by the Romans.
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Trans-historical questions: These concern matters beyond historical verification, such as what happens after death. These questions may have fundamentally different answers across religions that cannot be resolved through factual evidence alone.
The concept of the ultimately Real
When considering God or divine reality, Hick makes an important distinction between:
- The ultimately Real as it exists in itself
- The different human perceptions and understandings of this reality
This distinction allows Hick to suggest that different religions may be experiencing the same ultimate reality in culturally specific ways. Just as water can be experienced as ice, liquid, or steam depending on conditions, the same divine reality might be experienced differently across cultures and religious traditions.
Religion as transformation
For Hick, the essential purpose of religion is the transformation of human existence from self-centredness to Reality-centredness. He argues that religion is primarily about personal transformation rather than accepting specific truth claims or doctrines.
Based on this understanding, Hick suggests that the apparent incompatibilities between religions are not of genuine religious significance. If all religions aim at the same transformative goal, their different doctrinal expressions become less important.
This approach shifts the focus from "What is true?" to "Does this religion effectively transform people from self-centeredness to Reality-centeredness?" By this measure, multiple religions could be equally valid paths to the same ultimate goal.
Challenges to Hick's views
Paul Griffiths' criticism
Paul Griffiths challenges Hick's position by raising questions about extreme religious groups.
Griffiths' Key Arguments:
- Some religious groups support actions that contradict the spirit of mainstream religion, such as violence or suicide
- It is unrealistic to claim that differences between such groups and mainstream religions are merely superficial
- For example, Islamic State cannot be considered similar to mainstream Islam or other major religions because their beliefs and practices are fundamentally opposed
This criticism highlights a weakness in Hick's pluralism: if all religions are equally valid paths to transformation, how do we distinguish between authentic religious transformation and destructive extremism?
Practical challenges for society
Some religious practices conflict with societal norms, creating tensions:
- Jehovah's Witnesses reject blood transfusions, even when necessary to save life
- Some religious groups permit polygamy, which conflicts with western legal systems
- Islamic teachings from the Qur'an and Hadith may sometimes conflict with legislation in western democratic societies
These examples illustrate the difficulty of creating religiously neutral legislation that accommodates diverse religious views.
Future opportunities for salvation
Hick's view on post-mortem existence
Hick connects his theodicy (his explanation of evil) with his views on salvation. He describes life as a 'vale of soul-making', where human freedom and life's challenges provide opportunities for spiritual growth.
Since Hick rejects the concept of hell, he faces a question: what happens to those who do evil in this life? His solution is to propose that there must be further opportunities beyond death for people to grow spiritually and turn towards God. He suggests multiple lives or existences after death during which individuals can continue their spiritual development.
Comparison with Catholic purgatory
Hick's view shares some similarities with the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, but with important differences:
Catholic teaching: Purgatory is a state for those who die in God's friendship but still need purification before entering heaven.
Hick's view differs because:
- He believes everyone (not just those already in God's friendship) can achieve purification
- He focuses on future lives in this world or other worlds, rather than a single temporary state beyond death
This represents a much more expansive view of post-mortem salvation opportunities than traditional Catholic teaching allows.
Biblical tensions
The parable of the sheep and the goats
Hick's universalism conflicts with some biblical passages. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus teaches the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, where the goats are condemned to eternal punishment. The traditional interpretation is that some people are not saved.
Hick responds to this tension by suggesting:
- The parable may reflect the early Christian community's response to persecution
- Early Christians wanted to see their persecutors punished
- This makes the story less decisive as a foundation for Christian belief
Important feature of the parable: Judgement is based on behaviour towards others, not on religious commitment or even conscious recognition of Christ. Those who are saved are surprised to find themselves rewarded because they were not consciously acting for Christ. This emphasis on moral conduct over religious affiliation provides some biblical support for universalism.
However, the parable still indicates that those who fail to engage in good moral conduct face destruction, which doesn't fully support Hick's universalism.
Implications for interfaith and interdenominational relations
Key terms
Interfaith relations: Relationships between different faiths and their worshipping communities, such as between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
Interdenominational relations: Relationships between different Christian denominations, such as between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England.
Potential benefits of Hick's views
If widely accepted, Hick's ideas could potentially improve relationships between different religions and Christian denominations by:
- Emphasising religion as self-transformation rather than competing truth claims
- Promoting universal salvation that includes all faiths
- Encouraging dialogue and mutual understanding
However, his views face significant barriers to acceptance across faith communities.
Christian responses to Hick
Protestant Evangelicals: Reject his view of universal salvation, which contradicts their understanding of salvation through faith in Christ alone.
Roman Catholics: See his dismissal of specific beliefs, practices, and the Church's unique revealed truth as mistaken.
Liberal Christians: Even many liberal Christians view his universalism as incompatible with mainstream Christianity, particularly his ideas about multiple lives after death, which contradicts traditional Christian teaching about one life followed by judgement.
Practical limitation: Hick's ideas are complex and appeal more to scholars and theologians than to ordinary churchgoers, limiting their practical impact on community relations.
Responses from other faiths
Islam and Judaism:
- Depend on specific truth claims about God's nature
- Hick's concept of the 'ultimately Real' does not adequately represent their understanding of God
- His universalism challenges their claim to be the one true faith
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism:
- Naturally more inclusive than monotheistic faiths
- Their concept of ultimate reality is closer to Hick's understanding
- However, only Sikhism would generally accept that differences between faiths are insignificant
Atheist criticism
Atheists like Richard Dawkins argue that:
- The concept of God is unnecessary
- Self-transformation is a purely human process requiring no religious explanation
- Hick's theodicy overcomplicates what can be explained more simply without God
- Religion is worthless
Limited practical impact
Despite their theoretical interest, Hick's views have little impact on formal interfaith or interdenominational relationships. However, some individuals find his ideas helpful in reconciling different religious teachings with an inner sense of universal religious understanding. His view that culture and history shape the relationship between humans and ultimate reality resonates with those seeking universal understanding beyond specific religious contexts.
Key Points to Remember:
- Universalism is the belief that all humans will be saved by God, whatever their religion - John Hick is its key proponent
- Hick distinguishes between historical claims (verifiable facts) and trans-historical questions (matters beyond factual verification)
- For Hick, religion's primary purpose is transformation from self-centredness to Reality-centredness, not accepting specific truth claims
- Hick's views face significant criticism from multiple perspectives: Christians reject his ideas about multiple lives after death; other faiths object to his downplaying of specific truth claims; atheists see his position as unnecessarily complex
- Whilst Hick's pluralism has theoretical appeal for interfaith dialogue, it has limited practical impact on formal relationships between religions or Christian denominations
- Different Christian approaches to the Church's role in society lead to different views on religious freedom - evangelical Christians typically favour separation of Church and State, whilst others emphasise social engagement