Below is a comprehensive summary of John Hick’s “Philosophy of Religion”
John Hick’s Philosophy of Religion stands as one of the most influential introductions to the analytic study of religion. In this work Hick aims to show that religious questions can be explored with the same intellectual rigor as questions in ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. His approach is careful, balanced, and accessible, guiding the reader through the major themes that shape contemporary discussions about religious belief.
Hick begins by presenting the basic character of religious thought. Religion, he explains, is not merely a collection of customs but a multidimensional human response to what is perceived as a transcendent reality. To analyze this response, one must consider what believers claim about God, the world, and human destiny.
Hick’s early chapters therefore concentrate on the concept of God as understood within classical theism. He examines the traditional divine attributes such as omnipotence, omniscience, and perfect goodness, and reflects on how these attributes form a coherent picture of the divine. Much of Hick’s narrative here involves testing whether philosophical reasoning can sustain this picture without contradiction.
From this foundation Hick moves to the central epistemological problem in the philosophy of religion. Can belief in God be rational? To answer this, he reviews classic arguments for the existence of God: the cosmological argument, the teleological argument, the ontological argument, and the moral argument.
Hick does not simply rehearse these arguments but evaluates their strength, showing where they illuminate aspects of reality and where they fall short of demonstration. He treats the arguments as cumulative pointers rather than absolute proofs. He maintains that while none of them forces assent, together they reinforce the possibility that the universe is grounded in a divine source.
The heart of the book is Hick’s analysis of the problem of evil. This topic becomes a sustained inquiry into whether the existence of suffering can be reconciled with belief in an all powerful and perfectly good God. Hick’s treatment is shaped by the soul making tradition associated with thinkers like Irenaeus.
He argues that human moral and spiritual growth requires an environment in which real challenges, dangers, and opportunities for responsibility are present. If the world were free of struggle, no genuine development of character would be possible. Hick does not claim this explanation answers every difficulty, but he proposes it as a philosophically credible interpretation of why a good God might allow a world that contains suffering.
The book then turns to religious experience, which Hick views as a primary mode through which people claim awareness of the divine. He surveys different forms of experience ranging from mystical encounters to the quiet sense of presence that often shapes devotional life. Hick considers how such experiences can be interpreted and how they can be assessed philosophically. He does not regard them as decisive proof of God but sees them as significant personal data that fit naturally within a theistic worldview.
Revelation and religious language receive detailed treatment as well. Hick asks how the finite human mind can speak about what is believed to be infinite. He introduces the idea of symbolic and analogical language, arguing that religious expressions are not literal descriptions of God but meaningful gestures that point beyond the limits of ordinary speech. This leads him to examine scriptures, doctrines, and traditions, which he regards as culturally shaped but still capable of conveying genuine insight into the ultimate.
Hick also addresses the relationship between science and religion. He argues that the two are not adversaries but operate within different explanatory spheres. Science investigates the structures and laws of the natural world, while religion seeks to understand the purpose and meaning that may lie behind that world. Conflicts arise only when one side overreaches its proper domain. Hick emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between methodological naturalism in science and metaphysical naturalism, which is a philosophical stance rather than a scientific requirement.
One of Hick’s most distinctive contributions is his sustained reflection on religious pluralism. He observes that virtually every culture has developed religious traditions that shape human life in profound ways. Rather than dismissing this diversity as purely human invention, Hick suggests that the world’s religions may be culturally conditioned responses to the same ultimate reality.
This idea leads him to explore whether salvation or liberation might take different forms in different traditions. Hick’s pluralistic approach encourages a broadened theological imagination without erasing the distinctiveness of particular faiths.
The book concludes with a discussion of immortality. Hick surveys traditional arguments for and against life after death and considers the philosophical possibility of continued personal existence.
He entertains hypothetical models, including resurrection through divine re creation. He does not attempt to prove immortality but argues that belief in life beyond death can be seen as a rational extension of a theistic worldview that values the ultimate meaning of persons.
Throughout th book Hick’s narrative voice remains calm, deliberate, and fair minded. He introduces complex arguments with clarity, always acknowledging objections and counterarguments.
His goal is not to compel belief but to demonstrate that religious belief is a serious intellectual option. Philosophy of Religion ultimately invites readers into a disciplined exploration of the deepest questions concerning God, the human condition, and the purpose of existence.