An Interpretation of Religion: Human Responses to the Transcendent

by John Harwood Hick

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

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Nonfiction

464 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Phallus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Presents a profoundly interesting and, to my mind, highly reasonable thesis. His writing is clear and thoughtful, though at times the structure could be more clear and thought-about. Nevertheless, Hick’s argumentation is remarkably thorough, deeply informed, and impressively comprehensive. The work struck me as both profound and revolutionary—especially in how it reconceives the nature of religion as humanity’s diverse response to the transcendent Real. Incredibly more clear and outlines than the other comparative religious work I've read from Karen Armstrong. For me, it represents a turning point in the study of religion and will serve as the primary lens through which I approach the subject from now on. Here is a summary for the benefit of my own:

The Real and Religious Experience:

Hick’s central metaphysical construct, the Real, denotes “the noumenal ground” of all religious phenomena. The world’s great traditions apprehend and respond to this same transcendent reality through different culturally mediated conceptual schemes. The Real an sich—the Real as it is in itself—is ineffable: it “cannot be said to be one or many, person or thing, conscious or unconscious, purposive or non-purposive, substance or process.” Religious experience and language, therefore, are phenomenal manifestations shaped by human categories of thought, not literal descriptions of the noumenal Real. “We are thus led to affirm a noumenal ultimate reality of which the objects of religious experience are phenomenal manifestations.”

Because literal discourse about the Real is impossible, Hick rehabilitates myth as a legitimate mode of religious truth. “A myth,” he writes, “is a story or statement which is not literally true but which tends to evoke an appropriate dispositional attitude to its subject-matter.” True myths “rightly relate us to a reality about which we cannot speak in non-mythological terms,” by evoking attitudes and actions “appropriate to our situation vis-à-vis the Real.”

Religious Pluralism and the Soteriological Structure of Faiths

Drawing on the “axial” distinction between pre- and post-axial traditions, Hick argues that while early religions were “centrally concerned with the preservation of cosmic and social order,” the post-axial faiths focus on salvation or liberation—the transformation of human existence “from self-centredness to Reality-centredness.” This “soteriological structure” underlies all major world religions despite their doctrinal differences:

> “The great post-axial traditions... exhibit in their different ways a soteriological structure which identifies the misery, unreality, triviality and perversity of ordinary human life, affirms an ultimate unity of reality and value... and shows the way to realise that radically better possibility.”

Whether through “faith in Christ,” “submission to God” (Islam), “obedience to the Torah,” or “transcendence of the ego” in Hindu or Buddhist paths, each represents “variations within different conceptual schemes on a single fundamental theme.” Salvation or enlightenment involves not annihilation but transformation: “Beyond the death of the self comes its resurrection in a transformed state… ‘The spirit became joyful through the I-less I.’”. Essentielly the ego death. According to St Augustine, 'We had fallen through pride . . . We cannot return except through humility Interestingly enough he highlights the reverse for female sin is not self-assertion but self-abnegation and failure to achieve authentic selfhood; and the function of divine grace is not so much to shatter the assertive ego as to support a weak ego towards true self-realisation. For half the human race salvation will not bring a change from, but on the contrary a change to, self-centredness!"

Comparative Mysticism and the Unitive Knowledge of the Real

Hick interprets mystical traditions, particularly in Mahāyāna Buddhism and Sufism, as paradigmatic expressions of the transition from ego-centred to Reality-centred awareness. In Zen, “the human mind, in its ordinary functioning, obscures reality” through continual comparison and evaluation; enlightenment is “a rejoicing in the world as it is, undistorted by the false perspective of the perceiver’s ego.” Similarly, Madhyamaka philosophy holds that in satori “the intellect seeing itself is nothing other than reality becoming conscious of itself.” As Suzuki wrote, “Prajna is seeing into the essence of things as they are.” Such “unitive knowledge” represents the final stage of religious transformation, wherein “Knowledge and the Real coincide.”. "Christian saint can say 'It is not I, but Christ who lives in me', the Sufi saint likewise gives himself to God so totally that al-Hallaj could even utter ana 'l-haqq, I am the Real".

Ethics, Morality, and the Personal Realm:

Hick situates ethics within a theistic but non-theonomist framework. Morality arises from humanity’s “essentially inter-personal” nature: “We are gregarious creatures and it is our inherently social nature that has given rise both to law and to morality.” Ethics is thus autonomous, “and would hold if there were no God”; yet “according to theistic faith, the whole realm of human existence… is an aspect of the divine creation.” This integration preserves both moral autonomy and divine grounding: “Faith in the reality of God is combined with an acceptance of the autonomy of the moral life… But of course the cost of this solution is that we can no longer argue from morality to God.”

Conclusion:

Hick’s pluralistic hypothesis interprets the world’s religions as culturally conditioned but authentically salvific responses to the same transcendent Real. Religious myths, doctrines, and experiences are “phenomenal manifestations” of a single noumenal reality, whose ineffable nature transcends all human categories. In affirming “the transformation of human existence from self-centredness to Reality-centredness” as the shared goal of all faiths, Hick articulates a global theology of salvation rooted in epistemic humility, moral realism, and metaphysical pluralism.

[Malum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hick looks at the inner truth of religion as a plural phenomenon, with no one person or religion having the full picture of ultimate reality and various people coming up with myths and religions to explain the unexplainable (yet, to them and Hick, very real). If there really is something out there, I would like to think Hick is pretty close to the truth of the matter, but that's just my opinion.

One of those rare books that not only gave me some food for thought, but also sent me down a rabbit hole of looking at lots of the sources that Hick used in writing this. Also, I have a very low tolerance for books that are too technical, and many books like this are, but this was an easy read.

[Julian Olbinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The central premise: though the “letters” of the major world religions may be radically different from each other—at times even incompatible—the underlying “spirit” is essentially the same.

Argumentation: 10/10. The dude is brilliant!

My main take away: Salvation is something we all hunger for, so pick a direction and walk in it. Your neighbors road might look different, and so might their concept of what they’ll meet at its end—but maybe the fact that you both have an unshakeable desire to walk it is enough proof that it’s ultimately worthwhile.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great line of inquiry setting up not just an argument for pluralistic thought about religion, but a great framework for pursuing thought and discussion about religion in a pluralistic fashion. A bit dry and academic at times - which is what you get from an academic, I guess - it still felt refreshing and even inspiring.

[Renee Is A Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

So it completely shifted how I thought about religion. I wanted to watch the Netflix shows but I snoozed through the shows. I didn't snooze through the book.

[Andrew]

I hope I never have to read the phrase "an sich" ever again.