Hick illustrates this idea by appealing to Psuedo-Dionysius (the Real experienced as God) and Hinduism and Buddhism (the Real experienced as the Absolute). Building on the critical realist principle, the pluralist hypothesis refers “to the idea that the great world religions are different human responses to the same ultimate transcendent reality” (p. The third section summarizes Hick’s theory of religious pluralism.
To summarize, cosmic optimism offers us grace and hope in the context of liberation/salvation through identity/communion with the Ultimate Reality/God. 69) and Islam provides hope, “in the sense that all- and not only Muslims- can freely live so as to enter paradise” (p. Christianity highlights “the dominant theme … the gracious love of God” (p. Moving to the West, Jewish hope “consists in a special covenant relationship between the people and their God, and a faith in the people’s future welfare and ultimate fulfilment with the divine kingdom” (p.
57) while Buddhism leads to “a transcendence both from egoity and to…enlightenment, liberation, awakening, nirvana, sunyata” (p. Hindu optimism includes the desire to “identity with the infinite being-consciousness-bliss of Brahman, or loving communion with the infinite Person” (p. What is the meaning of life? In part two, Hick addresses this issue and surveys the cosmic optimism found in Eastern and Western religions. Finally, borrowing from Kant’s distinction between the noumena and phenomena, Hick highlights “the critical realist principle-that there are realities external to us, but that we are never aware of them as they are in themselves, but always as they appear to us with our particular cognitive machinery and conceptual resources” (p. Hick maintains that perception is the key to interpreting this reality while also noting that the cognitive freedom in religious awareness is the most complex. Thus, there exists an ‘epistemic distance’ between reality and the human interpretation of this reality. Each level increases the voluntary nature of interpretation and allows for a greater cognitive freedom than the previous level in interpreting reality. Hick’s epistemological framework has three levels of interpretation (physical, moral, and religious). In response to this predicament, Hick contends that we need to be aware of the spiritual realm, “the fifth dimension” (the other four being three dimensions of space and one dimension of time).
Consequently, the human potential will never be achieved during our lifetime. Due to physical, social, and emotional suffering “the human situation is irredeemably bleak and painful for vast numbers of people” (p.
Hick argues that scientific and humanistic interpretations of life are limited. Part one provides the big picture for Hick’s thesis. One of Hick’s latest works, The Fifth Dimension (1999), while less academic than the others may prove to be just as significant. John Hick, celebrated philosopher of religion and theologian, has written important works concerning Christianity’s relationship with other religions ( God and the Universe of Faiths, God Has Many Names, A Christian Theology of Religions, An Interpretation of Religion). Hick, John The Fifth Dimension: An Exploration of the Spiritual Realm. Oxford: Oneworld. A review of John Hick's, "The Fifth Dimension: An Exploration of the Spiritual Realm," by Ken Alan Jung.
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