Source: “GOD AND THE UNIVERSE OF FAITHS: Essays in the Philosophy of Religion”, By John Hick, Danforth Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, 1993.
6. The Reconstruction of Christian Belief.mp4
11. The Reconstruction And Essence Of Christian Belief.mp3
This podcast, "The Reconstruction And Essence Of Christian Belief," argues that Christian belief is a dynamic, evolving human construct rather than a static set of divinely revealed truths. It highlights significant challenges to traditional Christian theology from modern scientific understanding and the increasing awareness of other world religions. The author proposes that theology should be understood as a human effort to interpret revelatory events, primarily the "Christ-event"—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and his impact on early followers. The core of Christianity is presented not as fixed dogma, but as an "open-ended history" or a "way of salvation" initiated by the Christ-event, a way that has continually adapted and will continue to change in response to new cultural and intellectual contexts.
Topic 1: The Nature and Evolution of Christian Theology Christian theology is understood as a dynamic, human creation that continuously changes over time, rather than a fixed set of divinely revealed truths. It begins with religious experience, specifically encountering God in Christ and one's own life, and then systematically attempts to interpret this experience and relate it to broader human knowledge. Because the intellectual categories and contextual knowledge used in this process are part of the ongoing flow of human culture, theology is inherently subject to change. The Christian theological tradition has historically been one of change, with periods of rapid transformation (like the first four centuries A.D. and the present era) and periods of relative stability. Modern theology has largely moved beyond the metaphysical frameworks of Greek philosophy that previously underpinned Christian thought, necessitating a continuous revision of how religious experience is understood in light of contemporary knowledge about human nature and the environment. This ongoing adaptation means that Christianity, as a faith-response to Jesus, is open-ended and can continue to change without ceasing to be Christianity, as long as the person of Jesus is remembered and elicits a continuing faith-response.
Topic 2: The Challenges to Traditional Christian Beliefs Many aspects of traditional Christian theology are now considered either untenable or open to serious doubt by contemporary theologians. These include propositions such as the existence of divinely revealed truths (like the Trinity or the two natures of Christ), the creation of the physical universe by God out of nothing a specific number of years ago, the idea that humanity was originally perfect but fell from grace, or that Christ rescued humanity by buying restoration through his death. Other challenged beliefs encompass the virgin birth of Jesus, his performance of miracles that suspended natural laws, his physical resurrection from the grave, the necessity of responding to God through Jesus Christ for salvation, the irrevocable fixation of a person's relationship to God at death, and the existence of two distinct human destinies (heaven and hell). The source notes that the repudiation of these elements is not disturbing when one views Christian theology as an evolving historical phenomenon.
Topic 3: The Impact of Modern Science and Technology on Theological Understanding Modern scientific knowledge and technological capabilities exert significant pressure on Christian thought. Science is capable of forming a complete and consistent non-religious picture of the universe, including human existence, which describes the universe as unbounded in space and time, without an initial state, and with the emergence of life and humanity being intelligible through processes like evolution. Morality and religion, within this scientific view, can be understood as functional responses to human situations and anxieties. The theological response to this situation should not be to seek gaps in scientific understanding, as it is assumed these will eventually be filled. Instead, theology must propose a picture of the universe that remains coherent alongside scientific descriptions. Furthermore, technological advancements, such as controlling human heredity, cloning, or indefinite life prolongation, highlight humanity's increasing power over its own future. These developments emphasize human freedom and responsibility and raise new moral problems, such as the separation of sexual intercourse from procreation by contraception or the challenge to the "just war" doctrine by thermonuclear weaponry. They also challenge traditional theological concepts, for example, making the idea of God implanting a human soul into a fetus seem nonsensical, suggesting instead that God's creation of the person occurs through reproductive processes and human choices.
Topic 4: The Concept of Epistemic Distance and Human Freedom A key theological hypothesis for reconciling Christian belief with scientific understanding is the concept of "epistemic distance." This idea suggests that for finite personal beings to have genuine autonomy and freedom in relation to God, they must be created at a distance from their maker, not spatially, but in the dimension of knowledge. This means humans are brought into existence in a situation where they are not automatically conscious of God, but have the possibility of freely becoming aware of and relating to Him. The human condition, within a universe that functions autonomously and can be understood without direct reference to God, fits these specifications. Man's initial attention is directed towards survival in his natural environment, yet he also possesses an innate capacity for religious experience. This cognitive freedom, which has increased with the liberation of the individual mind from group mentality, allows for a free personal response of faith rather than a compulsory awareness of God. This framework proposes that the scientific description of the natural order, even without reference to God, is entirely compatible with the theological hypothesis that God deliberately created a universe in which He is not compulsorily evident.
Topic 5: The Challenge and Integration of Other World Religions The increasing contact between different forms of human religious life creates a new and important context for theological work, challenging the past's intellectual and religious isolationism. Traditional Christian theology, developed in essential unawareness of other world religions, often ignored the vast majority of humanity and its historical relationship with the divine, functioning more as a henotheistic rather than truly monotheistic system. The common problem of different religions each claiming to be true, leading to the dilemma of either one being true and others false, or all being subjectively true, is deemed insoluble. The latter view implies religion is an illusion, while the former (Christianity as the only true faith) is ultimately ruled out by the Christian understanding of God's universal love and lordship over all life. If God's love is universal, His saving encounter cannot be restricted to one historical strand. Therefore, it must be presumed that the entire religious life of mankind is part of a continuous and universal relationship to the divine.
Topic 6: "Religion" as a Human Phenomenon and Dynamic Continuum The source suggests that "religion" as an empirical, distinct, and bounded historical phenomenon is largely a Western invention that has been exported globally. Instead of viewing religions as mutually exclusive systems, it is proposed that human religious life should be understood as a dynamic continuum. Within this continuum, major "disturbances" or creative religious moments throughout history (such as the lives of Christ, Mohammed, or the insight of the Buddha) have set up new fields of force, leading to the development of distinguishable religious traditions. These moments are seen theologically as intersections of divine grace and truth with human faith and response. Religions, as historical-cultural phenomena, are shaped by complex interactions between religious and non-religious factors (e.g., Greek philosophy, Roman law, cultural temperaments in Christianity). Consequently, it is deemed inappropriate to speak of a "religion" as being true or false, just as one would not speak of a civilization as such; rather, they are expressions of diverse human types, temperaments, and thought-forms.
Topic 7: The Vision of a Global or Human Theology Given the increasing global interconnectedness, theological thinking is called to transcend cultural-historical boundaries. The source advocates for the development of "human theologies" (plural) that are global in scope rather than sectional (e.g., Christian, Islamic, Buddhist). This program involves two main tasks: first, the critical sifting of various accumulated religious traditions to reveal the forms of religious experience living within them; and second, the construction of theologies based on the full range of humanity's religious awareness. Christian theology is seen as being furthest along in this preliminary sifting process due to its long engagement with modern science, which has helped distinguish the gospel's central message from obsolete thought forms and acknowledge the presence of myth in tradition. The new understanding of theology as human reflection on religious experience makes restricting it to a single culture's data artificial. This approach also requires taking into account aspects of Eastern religion, such as the experience of the divine as impersonal, alongside Western personalistic views, recognizing that God's infinite reality may be greater and more many-sided than any single experience or community's apprehension of Him. A global theology is compatible with the continued existence of a plurality of religions as concrete cultural forms of religious life, where different styles of worship and apprehensions of God can coexist without being mutually exclusive.
Topic 8: The Essence of Christianity as "The Way" The most important aspect, or "religious heart," of Christianity is identified not as its unique historical peculiarities or specific doctrines, but as "the Way." Early Christians and their opponents referred to Christianity as "the Way," signifying a distinctive way of life arising from allegiance to Jesus as Lord. More profoundly, it is described as a "way of salvation," leading to man's ultimate good, variously conceptualized as eternal life, heaven, the Kingdom of God, or the full realization of human potential. Jesus himself spoke of a narrow road leading to life. While the Christian Way is deeply practical and ethical (e.g., the Sermon on the Mount, acting rightly towards neighbors), it is not simply an ethic. Its moral teaching is inseparable from its religious teaching, implying that human behavior should imitate God's universal love and mercy. Therefore, the way of life and the context of belief that makes it rational form an integral whole, meaning that belief or faith, along with worship, are also essential components.
Topic 9: The "Christ-Event" as the Unchanging Foundation of Christianity Despite the continuous change and diversification throughout Christian history in its forms of belief, worship, and organization, there is a permanent and unchanging basis: the "Christ-event." This term refers to the complex of happenings constituting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the subsequent birth of the enduring community that responded to him. Christian faith understands this complex event as God acting self-revealingly for the salvation of the world. These events are seen as having actually occurred and cannot be undone, thus forming Christianity's permanent foundation. The Christ-event is characterized as a "revelatory event" rather than an ordinary item of secular history. Revelation involves both a divine act of communication and a human reception of that communication through faith. For Jesus' disciples, his presence mediated the presence and claim of the transcendent God, a faith response focused by the Jewish idea of the Messiah. While Jesus of Nazareth was a figure in public history, Jesus the Christ—Jesus as mediating God's presence—exists within the "religious field of vision" and is known through faith. The New Testament documents are considered reflections of this faith event.