John Hick's philosophy of religious pluralism - A Critical Examination

Janusz Salamon

doi:10.35765/forphil.2003.0801.9

Abstract

The philosophical challenge that religious diversity poses for religious belief has become in recent years the focal point of a very engaging theological and philosophical debate. The debate began in the Christian context and it would be fair to say that its main issue remains the relationship of Christianity to other major religions. Traditionally Christian thinkers faced with the fact of religious plurality have assumed that Christianity is the only way to salvation, and the truth-claims of other religions can be refuted by way of argument. This position is described today as 'exclusivist'. John Hick's name has become synonymous with a radically different approach to the whole issue. Hick argues that all religious traditions make contact with the same Ultimate Reality ('the Real'), each encountering it through a variety of culturally shaped forms of thought and experience, but all offering equally effective paths to 'salvation/liberation'. Hick's pluralistic hypothesis, although very popular in some quarters, appears to many Christian and non-Christian thinkers as highly controversial.

Highlights

The philosophical challenge that religious diversity poses for religious belief has become i n recent years the focal point of a very engaging theological and philosophical debate
Obvious problem for the pluralistic hypothesis}^ Y e t he thinks he is able to show that conflicting truth-claims do not falsify his theory because as far as essential religious beliefs are concerned he can not see contradiction between them
Hick seems to assume that because such disputes as that about the nature of the universe, or the fate of humans at death, or the nature of the Real can not be settled historically or empirically, conflicting beliefs about those issues do not pose a problem for his pluralistic hypothesis

Summary

Introduction

The philosophical challenge that religious diversity poses for religious belief has become i n recent years the focal point of a very engaging theological and philosophical debate. Obvious problem for the pluralistic hypothesis}^ Y e t he thinks he is able to show that conflicting truth-claims do not falsify his theory because as far as essential religious beliefs are concerned he can not see contradiction between them.

Results

Conclusion