John Hick's Transformational Mystical Experiences & Pluralistic Theology: Philosopher John Hick (1922–2012) underwent his own transformative mystical experiences, characterized by an overwhelming sense of unity with the universe and a profound, benign friendliness in reality. These fleeting, yet deeply significant events shaped his mature philosophy, shifting him from fundamentalist Christianity to his famous pluralistic theology.
1. His Personal Mystical Experience
In the late 1960s, while engaging in civil rights work in Birmingham, Hick experienced a profound shift in consciousness. He described the experience as a dissolution of the boundary between the "self" and the "environment". He recalled:
"…the total universe of which I was part was friendly, benign, good, so that there could not possibly be anything to fear or worry about. It was a state of profound delight in being."
2. Transition from Evangelical to Pluralist
Prior to these events, Hick was a devout evangelical Christian. However, his personal transcendent experiences—coupled with working and worshiping alongside sincere, loving believers of other faiths—led him to a groundbreaking conclusion: the world’s major religions are different cultural paths to the exact same ultimate reality.
3. The Noumenal and Phenomenal "Real"
Drawing on Immanuel Kant’s philosophy, Hick concluded that the divine, which he called "The Real," is ineffable and beyond human comprehension. Humans only experience the "phenomenal Real" (the divine as it appears through our culturally conditioned lenses).
4. Pragmatic Verification
Hick argued that we have the right to trust our religious and mystical experiences if they are "veridical" (truth-bearing). Borrowing criteria from Christian mystics like Teresa of Avila, he argued that the ultimate proof of a genuine mystical experience is the "fruits"—the demonstrable transformation of a person's life toward greater compassion, morality, and love. via www.thecontemplativelife.org
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