John Hick

John Hick's book Christianity at the Centre has long been valued for the way in which it presents many of the central questions of Christian belief simply and clearly, considering Jesus and the God in whom he believed, the way in which religious beliefs may be said to be knowledge, their practical implications, and the major intellectual difficulties presented by them. At the same time, it has provided a convenient introduction to, and summary of, his own thinking. However, over a decade this thinking has changed, and an opportunity has been taken of revising the book for this new edition. The title itself indicates one of the changes. Christianity at the Centre might have seemed to imply some superiority of Christianity over other religions and would not reflect clearly enough Professor Hick's current views on the relationship between faiths; the new title keeps close to the old to indicate that the book is not completely new but it does carry a different emphasis. The new material also covers areas in which Professor Hick has been engaged in further study, particularly the question of life after death and personal survival.

Many of us today are all too willing to accept a humanist and scientific account of the universe which considers human existence as a fleeting accident. The triumph of John Hick’s gripping work is his exposure of the radical insufficiency of this view. Drawing on mystical and religious traditions ancient and modern, and spiritual thinkers as diverse as Julian of Norwich and Mahatma Ghandi, he has produced a tightly argued and thoroughly readable case for a bigger, more complete, picture of reality in which a fifth, spiritual dimension, plays a central role. ‘Essential reading for anyone concerned with spirituality in the modern world’ Professor Keith Ward, University of Oxford Erudite, provocative and deeply moving, Hick’s persuasive narrative will prompt all curious readers to re-examine their own spiritual horizons.‘This stimulating book opens up many fundamental issues that must concern everyone. It deserves to be widely read. ‘ Expository Times ‘Learned, lucid and engaging, easy to read and easy to applaud for its sheer clarity of style and its breadth of interest, even when one disagrees with it!’ Anvil

For many people, the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ is the essence of Christianity. Without the incarnation, Christianity would be something else. Yet this assumption is open to a great many questions, and in one of the most exciting and provocative collections of studies to appear for a long time, a group of theologians asks whether the idea of the incarnate God is not another of those patristic doctrines which need to be criticized and interpreted afresh in the modern world. The prospect may sound sensational and destructive, but this volume has neither characteristic. It has been produced by distinguished scholars, who examine the evidence from the New Testament onwards with care and thoroughness. And as they ask their questions, they are at the same time concerned with the consequences of their findings for a full and living Christian faith today. Their work is something that no thinking Christian can ignore. There are ten essays in all, written by the editor, and by Don Cupitt, Michael Goulder, Leslie Houlden, Dennis Nineham, Maurice Wiles and Frances Young.

Faith and Knowledge: A Modern Introduction to the Problem of Religious Knowledge is a book written by John Hick. The book explores the relationship between faith and knowledge in religion, and how these two concepts are often in conflict with each other. Hick argues that religious knowledge is not based on empirical evidence, but rather on faith and personal experience. He also discusses various religious traditions and their views on the nature of religious knowledge. The book is designed to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of the problem of religious knowledge and how it relates to faith and reason. It is written in a clear and accessible style, making it suitable for both students and general readers who are interested in exploring the intersection of faith and knowledge. Overall, Faith and Knowledge is a thought-provoking and insightful book that challenges readers to think critically about their own beliefs and the nature of religious knowledge. This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

""Canonical criticism"" is not a recognized branch of biblical studies--granting new focus to questions of the authority and truth of the scriptural writings. Developed within a critical sense of the dominant historical-critical tone of biblical studies, canonical criticism as it has been pursued by the American scholars Brevard S. Childs and James A. Sanders stands as witness to the theological necessity of a more literary approach to the Bible. This book both criticizes the ""canonical"" enterprise, and takes it much further into readings of the canon from the perspective not only of literature, but also art, and in particular the biblical art of Rembrandt. In addition, it remains acutely conscious of the contemporary environment of our reading within the political concerns of feminist criticism, popular absorption in film and the narratives of the screen, and finally the crisis, or crises, which characterize the so-called ""postmodern condition."" What emerges is at once highly critical of traditional strategies of canonization, and at the same time constructive and concerned to recover the Bible for our own time in readings which move outside the limited academic concerns of the biblical critic or the institutions of the church and religious community.

In the contemporary world, John Hick argues, there are two Christianities. In one the Bible is seen as uniquely inspired and authorative, and the Christian worldview is accordingly identified with that of the late first-century church. The gospel is an offer of personal salvation and often a call to us-against-them religious patriotism. In the other, there is an overriding concern for our one world and our common humanity, leading to preoccupation with the global problems of nuclear destruction, the squandering of precious energy resources, the divide between rich and poor in the world and the population explosion. The great religious traditions are seen as representing different awarenesses of and different responses to a divine Reality which transcends all our human thoughts and images, scriptures and cults. Hick's book describes the religious core of this 'second Christianity', the Christianity which is not the tribal religion of one section of humanity over against the rest, but rather one way amongst others of living out our common humanity in relation to a divine Presence which grasps us all. It has grown out of two earlier works, Christianity at the Centre and The Centre of Christianity.

John Hick has long argued that the widespread realization that Christianity is only one among several great world religions calls for a need to rethink Christian doctrine. He himself see the great world faiths as very different and (so far as we can tell) equally valid ways of conceiving, experiencing and responding in life to ultimate reality that we call God, The rainbow, as the sun's light refracted by the earth's atmosphere into a glorious spectrum of colours, is a metaphor for the refraction of the divine Light by human religious cultures.

The essays in this book cover a wide range of issues centred on two themes, the search for truth, and the search for justice and peace. The search for truth concerns the ultimate reality to which the world's great religions point, involving discussion of religious experience, religious language, the relations between religions, life and death, and Christian belief. The search for justice and peace is pursued in the quest for a global ethic and in the life and thought of Mahatma Gandhi and again in South Africa during the apartheid era. Who or What is God? begins with the ordinary concept of God found today in most churches and in common discourse - the God whom such writers as Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchins in God is Not Great reject. Hick also rejects this concept, but not the experience of transcendent reality that it so inadequately expresses. This leads to a distinction, drawn in different ways within each of the world faiths, between God or the Ultimate in itself and that reality as humanly known in terms of human concepts and in historically and regionally different forms.

New content for this new edition includes a new chapter on the nature of Christology according to the Catholic theologian, Roger Haight and a new chapter on John Macquarrie's Christology in Jesus Christ in Christian Thought, and Christology Revisited. It aims to offer a less pretentious and more credible Christology than traditional orthodoxy.

From Yorkshire schoolboy to philosopher and theologian of International renown, John Hick tells his life story in this warm and absorbing autobiography. Painting a vivid picture of Twentieth-century soceity, from 1950s America to racial tensions in England and in apartheid-era South Africa, he recounts the events that have shaped his life, including his early conversion to evangelical Christianity, his role as a conscientious objector in the Second World War, and his gradual often controversial- move towards a religious pluralism embracing all the world faiths. This thoughtful reflection on the changing face of religion and insight into one man's spiritual and intellectual journey will appeal to any concerned with the great human questions, from belief in the Transcendent, to the role of faith, and the nature of death and beyond.

In this classic work, prominent religious philosopher John Hick presents a global interpretation of religion, arguing for a religious response to our ambiguous universe and showing how the world's different religions are culturally conditioned forms of that response. For this Second Edition, Hick addresses the major critics of his interpretation of religion, thereby enabling fresh discussion of his work. Praise for the first edition: "This book strengthens Hick's position as one of the most significant thinkers of the second half of the twentieth century. . . . I highly recommend it] to students of philosophy, history of religions, and comparative studies, as well as theology."--Chester Gillis, Journal of Religion "The most persuasive philosophical advocacy for religious pluralism ever written."--Yandall Woodfin, Southwestern Journal of Theology " This work] evinces Hick's many virtues: ingenuity; fairness toward all arguments; deference to the standards of analytic philosophy; familiarity with Eastern as well as Western religions; and, not least, a clean, clear prose."--Robert A. Segal, Christian Century "A leader in interfaith interpretation of religion, Hick has written what will probably become a classic. . . . Clear, readable, and comprehensive."--Library Journal "Should be read by the adherents of all faiths."--Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok

Edited by two of the most prominent names in interfaith dialogue, this is an introduction to the complex relationships between Christianity and the other world faiths. Featuring essays from some of the key thinkers in the Christian faith. It covers both Catholic and Protestant approaches, and features all the rival points of view, including the uncompromising absolutism of Karl Barth and Pope John Paul II, the more ecumenical approaches of Karl Rahner and Hans Kung, and the religious pluralism of Wilfred Cantwell Smith and John Hick, among others.

Renowned theologian and philosopher of religion John Hick takes a hard look at an important intellectual problem facing Christians today: where exactly does Christianity fit into the scheme of the world in light of other world religions? And is it possible to remain Christian while accepting the truth of other beliefs? Offering good reasons for why the traditional stance that Christianity is the only true religion is no longer workable, Hick puts forth a cogent defense of Christianity in the global context of other religions.

In this cross-cultural, interdisciplinary study, John Hick draws upon major world religions, as well as biology, psychology, parapsychology, anthropology, and philosophy, to explore the mystery of death. He argues that scientific and philosophical objections to the idea of survival after death can be challenged, and he claims that human inadequacy in facing suffering supports the basic religious argument for immortality.

Hick addresses many of the major issues posing challenges to contemporary Christian belief, and offers his much-debated proposal for a Copernican revolution in our understanding of Christianity and the wider religious life of humanity.

Deals with today's disputed religious questions - whether religious language refers to a transcendent divine reality or only reflects our own ideals, whether religious experience is a proper ground of religious belief, and whether Jesus was God incarnate or a man especially open to God's spirit.