Disputed Questions in Theology and the Philosophy of Religion

By John Harwood Hick

Book Overview

When medieval theologians wrote their Quaestiones Disputatae, the disputed questions concerned relatively peripheral topics, for Christians agreed on all of the most basic matters. But today even the most central issues in Christianity are controversial, and Christian discourse itself is part of the wider dialogue that includes all the great religious and philosophical traditions of the world. In this book a leading philosopher of religion offers fresh insights into some of the disputed religious questions of our time. John Hick begins by addressing the most fundamental questions: whether religion is a wish-fulfilling projection or a human response to the Transcendent, and whether religious experience constitutes authentic awareness of a divine Reality. He then considers specifically Christian beliefs, such as the deity of Jesus and the problems encountered by attributing to Jesus both all divine and all human properties, and he suggests an alternative image of Jesus as a man extraordinarily open to and inspired by the divine spirit. Hick gives a personal account of how he has come to accept religious pluralism-that the major world faiths are different but equally valid responses to ultimate Reality. He considers how much Christians have to learn from Buddhism, discusses the ongoing dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and outlines a philosophy of religions-a conception of the relationship between world religions and between them and the ultimately Real. Finally he turns to the mystery of death and, using the resources of the world religions and of parapsychology, suggests a possible conception of life after death.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300065051
• ISBN13: 9780300065053
• Release Date: December 1995
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Fine, Brief Read

I am intimidated by writers who can express so much in not very many words. Hick is such a man, so was John A.T. Robinson, so was Paul Tillich (when he wanted to be). Hick has been called, "a man who knows how to poke a bear with a stick." This is quite right, his ideas are provocative. One cannot simply read them, nod, and move on. Virtually every paragraph of this book incites a vast array of thoughts in a vast number of directions. This is not the sort of book one can gallop through in an afternoon, despite its length. This is one of those pondering, ponderous reads. This was the first piece of Hick's that I ever read and he quickly jumped to the top of my short list of theologians. Best of all, the man is still going, there's more to come and we get to read it.

Profound Insights

I first encountered the theology of John Hick in his *The Metaphor of God Incarnate.* I was impressed and wanted to know more. In *Disputed Questions* Hick expounds on the same ideas in much greater detail: problems surrounding the traditional interpretations of the trinity, the atonement, and Christian exclusivism. The scope of this book is much broader, however, in that it also explores the nature of religious experience in general, suggests the applicability of Buddhist doctrines to the problem of pluralism, and theorizes about various life-after-death scenarios. I am not a person with a theological background--just a spiritual seeker--but I find Hick's writing to be highly accessible and his arguments to be exceedingly reasonable. This book was helpful to me in resolving some important issues in my personal Christian faith, and I would recommend it to anyone who finds traditional Christian doctrine untenable yet desires to remain within the Christian tradition.