Source: “The Fifth Dimension: An Exploration Of The Spiritual Realm”, By John Hick, Danforth Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, 2013.
The Big Picture - Beyond A Scientific Worldview.mp4
0. Beyond the Blinders - Unpacking Humanity's Innate Quest for Meaning and Transcenden _Reality.m4a
This topic, "The Big Picture," explores humanity's inherent need to construct a "big picture" of the universe, whether consciously or unconsciously, emphasizing that we always live by faith in areas where certain knowledge is impossible. It challenges the modern Western assumption that a scientific worldview is the only valid one, arguing for a broader perspective that integrates both science and a transcendent dimension. The text proposes that humans are "religious animals" with a "fifth dimension" to their nature, evidenced by universal religious practices like burial rituals, which suggest an innate tendency to experience the natural in terms of the supra-natural. It then discusses the "Axial Age," a period of profound spiritual and philosophical transformation where individuals began questioning existing societal frameworks and pursuing a deeper understanding of human existence, which was seen as incomplete. Finally, the author suggests that the "Ultimate Reality" is "transcategorial" and beyond human conceptualization, meaning the diverse descriptions of God or the Divine across different religions are not literal definitions but rather different human conceptions and experiences of this ineffable truth.
This document summarizes the core themes and essential facts presented in "0. The Big Picture.pdf," focusing on its central arguments regarding human nature, religious understanding, and the concept of ultimate reality.
The text begins by asserting that humans, as "finite, fallible, fragile fragments of the universe," possess an "inbuilt need to find meaning." This leads us to inhabit the universe through "a conception of its character - a big picture - either consciously adopted or unconsciously presupposed." A critical point is that we are always "living by faith," meaning we operate in areas without certain knowledge and risk being "seriously mistaken."
A significant error highlighted is the "naturalistic assumption" prevalent in Western culture, which posits that "a scientific account of anything and everything constitutes the full story, and that the supposed transcendent realities of which the religions speak must therefore be imaginary." This assumption has overshadowed "contrary hopes, dreams, intuitions, sensings of transcendence, intimations of immortality or mystical experiences." The author emphasizes that "it is a fundamental error to think that the assumptions that our culture has instilled into us, and which we take for granted, are necessarily true." Wisdom, therefore, begins by recognizing our presuppositions as "options that can be examined and questioned," to avoid "wearing mental blinkers without even being conscious of them."
The document proposes a comprehensive range of "big pictures," including naturalism, various specific religious cosmologies, and a "new and yet very old global religious vision." This global vision, increasingly prominent, reconciles modern science with transcendent dimensions, arguing that "a more complete picture must include the truth within each." It accepts "modern science in its entirety, as our current and ever-developing exploration of the physical universe, but it must also acknowledge the inherent limitations of the scientific method and be open to the transcendent dimension witnessed to by the global religious life of humanity."
The text introduces the concept of a "fifth dimension of our nature," referring to our "spiritual" being. This dimension enables us to "respond to a fifth dimension of the universe," aligning us with or being "akin to and in tune with, the ultimate reality that underlies, interpenetrates and transcends the physical universe."
Humans are described as "religious animals with an inbuilt tendency to experience the natural in terms of the supra-natural," a concept first suggested by anthropologist R.R. Marett, who proposed "homo sapiens could better be called homo religiosus." This innate human religiousness is supported by anthropological evidence, noting that "until the emergence of Communist societies we know of no human groups without religion." Mircea Eliade is quoted stating that "the 'sacred' is an element in the structure of consciousness and not a stage in the history of consciousness."
Early evidence of this religious concern is found in ancient human behaviors, such as the deliberate disposal of corpses by Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, often with grave goods, which "clearly express some notion of an afterlife." These practices are considered "the earliest surviving expressions of humanity as a religious animal." However, the author cautions that "this innate human religiousness leaves entirely open the crucial question of whether or not there is a transcendent reality to which religion is a response. That people have always believed in such realities does not prove that they exist."