Source: “GOD AND THE UNIVERSE OF FAITHS: Essays in the Philosophy of Religion”, By John Hick, Danforth Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, 1993.
7. The Copernican Revolution in Theology.mp4
12. Theologys Copernican Revolution And The Universe Of Faiths.mp3
This podcast explores the historical shift in Christian theology regarding salvation, moving from an exclusive claim that salvation is only found within the Church to a more inclusive understanding. The author likens the traditional "outside the church there is no salvation" dogma to the Ptolemaic model of the universe, where Earth is the fixed center. Just as astronomers added "epicycles" to the Ptolemaic system to reconcile it with new observations, Christian thinkers developed supplementary theories like "invincible ignorance" or "anonymous Christianity" to accommodate the existence of salvation outside the institutional church while retaining the original dogma. The text argues that a Copernican revolution in theology is needed, shifting the focus from Christianity as the center to God as the ultimate center, with all religions serving and revolving around Him. This revolution acknowledges that different faiths represent genuine, though partial, encounters with the same infinite divine reality, potentially leading to future convergence and a greater understanding of shared truth.
Topic 1: Traditional Christian Exclusivism This topic details the historical and theological stance within Christianity that traditionally held that salvation is found solely within the Christian way of life and salvation. For at least fifteen centuries, the Christian position, particularly within Roman Catholicism, was that all people, regardless of race or culture, must become Christians to be saved. This was famously articulated by Pope Boniface VIII in 1302 with the declaration that "outside it [the one holy, catholic and apostolic Church] there is neither salvation nor remission of sins," and that submission to the Roman Pontiff is an "utter necessity of salvation." The Council of Florence (1438-45) further affirmed that "no one remaining outside the Catholic Church... can become partakers of eternal life." This deeply entrenched Roman Catholic teaching is encapsulated in the dogma, extra ecclesiam nulla salus, meaning "outside the church there is no salvation." Protestant traditions, while not always explicitly stating it as an article of faith, maintained an equivalent assumption that outside Christianity there is no salvation. This is evident in older missionary statements and recent declarations from fundamentalist evangelical groups, which challenge non-Christians to believe in Jesus Christ and be baptized for eternal salvation, emphasizing that adherents of non-Christian religions "must let themselves be freed from their former ties and false hopes." The underlying assumption in both medieval Catholic and modern Protestant evangelical utterances is consistently that salvation is exclusively within the Church or Christianity.
Topic 2: The Moral Dilemma of Exclusivism This topic highlights a profound moral contradiction arising from the traditional exclusivist view of salvation when confronted with the broader reality of humanity. As Christians, there is a fundamental belief that God is the God of universal love, the creator and Father of all mankind, and that He wills the ultimate good and salvation of all people. However, traditional Christian doctrine simultaneously asserts that the only path to salvation is the Christian way. The disturbing paradox emerges when considering that the vast majority of human beings who have lived and died throughout history have done so either before the advent of Christ or outside the geographical and cultural boundaries of Christendom. The question then becomes: Can a God of universal love, who desires the salvation of all, truly ordain a method of salvation that, by historical and geographical circumstance, only a small minority of the human race can actually receive? This significant moral dilemma and its heavy weight have been a primary impetus for modern Christian thinkers to seek new ways of understanding the human religious situation, leading them to explore alternative theological frameworks.
Topic 3: The "Epicycle" Approach to Dogma This topic describes a strategy employed by Christian theology, particularly within Roman Catholicism, to address the moral dilemma of exclusivism without explicitly abandoning deeply entrenched dogmas like "outside the church there is no salvation." This approach involves introducing "epicycles" – subsidiary theories that modify the practical effect of the original dogma while leaving its verbal formulation intact. Pope Pius IX began this process in 1854 by introducing the concept of "invincible ignorance." This theory posits that individuals who are genuinely unaware of the truth of the Catholic faith, through no fault of their own, are not subject to guilt and may still be saved even if they die outside the visible Church. Only God knows to whom this doctrine applies. Related "epicycles" include the ideas of "implicit faith" and "baptism by desire," which suggest that people who are consciously outside the Church may, in a sense, be unconsciously within it. This happens if they possess a sincere desire to do God's will and genuinely seek the truth, even if they haven't explicitly encountered or accepted Christian revelation. These modifications, as summarized in a 1949 letter from the Holy Office, mean that actual incorporation into the Church is not always required for eternal salvation, but rather "belonging to it at least in desire and longing," which can be implicit if ignorance is invincible and the soul is well-disposed to God's will. While these "epicycles" served a useful purpose in acknowledging salvation outside the Church, they are seen as fundamentally weak arguments, adopted for an intuitively accepted conclusion until better arguments can be found. They are limited in scope, as they may not extend to adherents of non-theistic faiths, and if stretched too far to imply salvation through a right relationship with the divine reality outside the Church, they would logically demand the outright abandonment of the original dogma.
Topic 4: The Ptolemaic Theology Analogy The core analogy used throughout the source to explain the theological struggle with religious pluralism is that of the Ptolemaic astronomical system. In this ancient geocentric model, the Earth was believed to be the center of the universe, with all celestial bodies revolving around it in concentric circles. As more accurate observations of planetary movements emerged that didn't fit this simple scheme, astronomers didn't abandon the central dogma. Instead, they added smaller, supplementary circles called "epicycles," on which the planets were said to move while revolving on their main circles. This made the predicted paths more complex but allowed the fundamental belief in an Earth-centered universe to be maintained, despite becoming increasingly artificial and burdensome. The source applies this analogy to theology, referring to it as "Ptolemaic theology." This theological system maintains Christianity (or the Church) as the fixed center of the "universe of faiths," asserting that "outside the church, or outside Christianity, there is no salvation." When confronted with the reality of devout individuals in other faiths, this theology adds "epicycles" – supplementary theories (like "anonymous Christianity" or "invincible ignorance") – to explain how such individuals might still be saved, even though they are consciously adherents of different faiths. For anyone not firmly committed to the original dogma, this resulting theological picture appears artificial, implausible, and unconvincing, signaling a readiness for a "Copernican revolution" in the theology of religions.
Topic 5: Vatican II's Continued Ptolemaic Stance The Second Vatican Council (1963-65) is presented as a pivotal moment where a "Copernican revolution" in Christian attitudes towards other faiths was anticipated, but ultimately did not occur. While Vatican II's pronouncements, such as the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (1964) and the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (1965), marked a "magnificently open and charitable" shift in emotional climate and represented a major step forward, they essentially added "further epicycles" to the existing Ptolemaic theology. The Council stated that "those also can attain to everlasting salvation who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do His will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience." It also acknowledged that "whatever goodness or truth is found among them is looked upon by the Church as a preparation for the Gospel." Despite these positive affirmations, the Council still implicitly assumed that salvation is solely "in Christ and through incorporation into his mystical body, the church." The goodness and truth found in other faiths are viewed as a "preparation for the gospel," suggesting that faithful adherents of other religions are eventually required by God to arrive at an explicit Christian faith. This persistent "Ptolemaic framework" was further underscored by Cardinal Bea, who stated that inter-faith dialogue aims to lead followers of other religions to "an explicit and full participation in these riches" of Christ. Thus, while displaying greater openness and respect, Vatican II ultimately retained the Christian-centric view, placing the Church at the center, rather than shifting to a God-centered understanding of the universe of faiths.
Topic 6: Contemporary Theological "Epicycles" Following Vatican II, several leading Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians continued to grapple with the issue of salvation outside Christianity, developing further "epicycles" to reconcile traditional dogma with observed religious reality. One significant attempt was Karl Rahner's concept of Anonymous Christianity, proposed in 1961. Rahner suggested that members of non-Christian religions could be considered "anonymous Christians" if they are within the sphere of divine grace, even if they don't consciously know Jesus Christ as the source of that grace. While this idea valiantly tries to acknowledge the reality of religious faith beyond explicit Christianity, it is still viewed as another "ingenious epicycle" that avoids a true "Copernican revolution" by subtly maintaining a Christian-centric framework. Another notable attempt is Hans Küng's suggestion that world religions should be regarded as the "ordinary way of human salvation," with the Catholic Church being the "extraordinary way." He argued that individuals are saved within the religion available to them in their historical situation, having a right and duty to seek God within that faith. However, Küng clarified that this "ordinary way" is an interim state, and adherents of other religions are "pre-Christian, directed towards Christ" and are "called and marked out to be Christians," implying they must eventually come to an explicit Christian faith when confronted with the Gospel. This re-framing, despite novel terminology, remains firmly Ptolemaic, keeping Christianity at the center. A less formalized Protestant "epicycle" involves the idea of a post-mortem encounter with Christ. This suggests that those who haven't encountered Jesus and his Gospel in this life will do so in the world to come, where they will have an opportunity to accept him as their savior. This preserves the uniqueness of Christ as the sole redeemer while allowing for universal salvation, as indicated by discussions around Jesus' descent into hell. While this idea offers a "second chance" and looks towards a potential solution, it is still seen as a similar epicycle to preserve the traditional Ptolemaic dogma and is not widely accepted by traditionally orthodox Protestants or Roman Catholics who believe death concludes one's period of free response to God.
Topic 7: The Proposed Copernican Revolution This topic describes the radical shift in theological perspective that the source argues is necessary for Christianity's understanding of other religions. Drawing directly from the astronomical analogy, just as Nicolaus Copernicus displaced the Earth from the center of the universe and placed the Sun there, a "Copernican revolution" in theology involves a fundamental transformation in our conception of the "universe of faiths." Instead of maintaining Christianity at the center, this revolution proposes that God is at the center, and all the religions of mankind, including Christianity, serve and revolve around Him. This means moving away from an "ecclesio-centric" (Church-centered) or "Christo-centric" (Christ-centered) understanding to a "theo-centric" (God-centered) understanding of religions. This profound displacement of thought challenges the artificial and burdensome nature of Ptolemaic theology and its various "epicycles." Although boldly advocated in the Conclusions of the Bombay conference (1964) where Hans Küng presented his paper, the source notes that this program was not fully carried out in the conference's other conclusions or published papers, indicating that the task of implementing this revolution still remains.
Topic 8: The Cultural Relativity of Exclusivist Theologies This topic broadens the critique of "Ptolemaic theology" by demonstrating its potential universality across different religious traditions and highlighting its cultural contingency. The source argues that a "Ptolemaic type of theology" is not unique to Christianity; it can, in principle, be adopted by any faith, much like inhabitants of different planets could theoretically construct their own geocentric astronomies. A striking example provided is contemporary philosophical Hinduism, particularly the Vedantic school. This view holds that the ultimate reality, Brahman, is beyond all qualities (Nirguna Brahman), and personal deities (like the God of the Bible or Krishna) are merely partial images of the Absolute, created for the benefit of those who cannot grasp the pure Absolute. From this perspective, the various world religions are seen as approaches to a truth fully revealed in the Upanishads. Thus, a Christian, Jew, or Muslim could be considered an "anonymous Vedantist," implicitly seeking the truth and existing in a "lower" or "ordinary" realm of religious life, destined eventually to rise to the "extraordinary" realm of enlightenment, if not in this life, then in a future one. This mirroring of "epicycles" (implicit faith, future enlightenment) within a Hindu framework reveals that the particular standpoint of a Ptolemaic theology often depends on "where the believer happens to have been born." Recognizing this "evident fact" – that one's religious convictions might be a "kind of spiritual horoscope read off from the time and place of our birth" – profoundly questions the confidence in one's own religion as the sole possessor of full truth, while others possess only partial or inferior truth. This observation points to a potential vestige of "imperialism" in Christian West relations with other cultures and emphasizes the need for a more sophisticated, comprehensive, and globally valid theory that transcends such historically relative and geographically determined convictions.
Topic 9: Divine Revelation as Pluriform and Culturally Conditioned This topic offers a historical and theological explanation for the existence of multiple, distinct world religions, suggesting they are all moments of divine self-revelation. The source proposes that around 800 B.C., a "golden age of religious creativity" began, characterized by a series of profound revelatory experiences across different parts of the world. These include the early Jewish prophets, Zoroaster in Persia, Lao-tzu and Confucius in China, the Upanishads, Buddha, and Mahavira in India, and later Jesus of Nazareth and Mohammed. The key insight is that in the ancient world, two to three thousand years ago, global communication was extremely limited; humanity was fragmented, and people in different regions were largely unaware of each other's existence. Therefore, if there was to be a revelation of the divine reality to mankind, it had to be a "pluriform revelation"—a series of revealing experiences occurring independently within different streams of human history. These great creative moments influenced the development of various cultures, transforming primitive and national religions into the major "world faiths." For instance, early Indian polytheisms evolved into Hinduism, Mediterranean cults into Christianity, Arab polytheism into Islam, and Asian traditions into Buddhism. From a faith perspective, this historical pattern represents God's ongoing self-revelation to humanity. The differences in human response are attributed to varying "human circumstances"—ethnic, geographical, climatic, economic, sociological, and historical—which shaped distinct human cultures. Within each cultural region, the response to the divine, initiated by spiritually outstanding individuals, took on characteristic forms, resulting in the diverse religio-cultural phenomena known today as world religions. These revelations took different forms related to the "different mentalities of the peoples to whom they came" and developed within specific cultures, explaining why the divine reality and will were disclosed separately across various human historical streams.