Running head: RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 1 RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM: A CHINESE FOLK RELIGION’S PERSPECTIVE Wong, Wai Yip A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of Birmingham in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Theology and Religion. 2011 RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 2 ABSTRACT Hick’s pluralist assumption has remained the most knowable model of religious pluralism in the last few decades. Many have, from the perspectives of various major world religions, questioned his notion that the teachings of all religions are derived from the same Absolute Truth and that salvific-end is one, yet little attention has been paid to the traditions that he graded as unauthentic and non-valuable according to his soteriological and ethical criteriology. The purpose of this thesis was to demonstrate the exclusiveness of Hick’s model by describing a tradition called “Chinese Folk Religion” that does not fit into his definition of ‘authentic religion’. As the study suggested, his understanding of the world religious situation is over-generalised and simplified, and his particular criteriology does not treat all traditions fairly or pluralistically. As a response, this thesis proposed a more inclusive theory that also integrates the currently disregarded tradition into the interpretation. RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The completion of this doctoral dissertation would not be possible without the invaluable guidance and support from Dr. David Cheetham and Edmond Tang. I am also grateful to my parents, Prof. John Hick and all those who have selflessly aided my journey. RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………10 1.1 Literature Review…………………………………………………………...10 1.1.1 Research background……………………...………………………...10 1.1.2 Objective and originalities…………………………………………..13 1.1.3 Key literatures on Hick’s theory of religious pluralism……………..17 1.1.4 Background and key literatures on the studies of Chinese Folk Religion……………………………………………………………………21 1.1.5 Space and necessities for further studies…………………………….36 1.2 Methodology………………………………………………………………..39 1.2.1 Outline of arguments………………………………………………...39 1.2.2 Reasons for choosing Chinese Folk Religion………………………..45 1.2.3 A three-way dialogue between Hick’s theory, Buddhism and Chinese Folk Religion………………………………………………………………52 1.2.4 Is field study necessary for this research? The insider/outsider debate and further…………………………………………………………………53 1.2.5 Formatting and the use of Chinese terms……………………………57 2. HICK’S PLURALIST PROPOSAL: AN INTERPRETATION OF RELIGION….60 RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 5 2.1 Introduction and justification……………………………………………….60 2.2 Core idea of Hick’s theory: ‘Real’ as the transcategorial, ultimate reality…60 2.3 Some truth-claims are mere myths: solving interreligious contradictions….70 2.4 Soteriological and ethical function as the key to judge religions…………...75 2.5 Functionality and practicability of Hick’s model…………………………...86 2.6 Summary of Hick’s proposal: a religiously philosophical theory…………..94 3. EXISTING CRITICISMS OF HICK’S PLURALIST THEORY…………………97 3.1 Introduction and justification……………………………………………….97 3.2 Heim’s Model of Multiple Religious-ends………………………………….99 3.3 Basic limitation of Hick’s practical suggestion: to whom it would seem convincing?..................................................................................................106 3.4 Criticisms of lacking verifiability………………………………………….113 3.5 Contribution values as the criterion to evaluate a pluralist assumption…...118 3.6 Establishing mutual respects and understandings as the preferred goal of a pluralist model……………………………………………………………..123 3.7 Criticisms of assuming a universal denominator………………………….127 3.8 Criticisms of assuming religious beliefs to be mere myths………………..133 3.9 Problems of being undesirable and impracticable…………………………138 3.10 Conclusion: the ‘Christian-centred’ interpretations of religion…………..145 RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 6 4. BUDDHIST RESPONSES TO HICK’S PLURALIST ASSUMPTION………...150 4.1 Introduction and justification……………………………………………...150 4.2 Common ground for interreligious understanding………………………...151 4.3 Criticisms of distorting Buddhist doctrines………………………………..155 4.4 Makransky’s criticisms of the common religious-end assumption………..157 4.5 Abe’s ‘positionless’ position: ‘no common denominator’ as the only common denominator………………………………………………………………..162 4.6 Common tendencies of the Christian and Buddhist viewpoints…………...167 4.7 Responses from the perspective of a less authentic religion………………173 5. DEFINING CHINESE FOLK RELIGION: TOWARDS A WORKING VIEWPOINT……………………………………………………………………..180 5.1 Introduction and justification……………………………………………...180 5.2 Theories of defining Chinese Folk Religion………………………………183 5.3 The dilemma of defining Chinese Folk Religion………………………….192 5.4 A working viewpoint for this thesis………………………………………..198 5.5 Conclusion: a pluralist approach to understand other faiths………………201 6. GENERAL BELIEFS OF CHINESE FOLK RELIGION……………………….204 6.1 Introduction and justification……………………………………………...204 6.2 Heaven, hell and the present world………………………………………..206 RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 7 6.3 Gods and other spiritual beings……………………………………………214 6.4 Apotheosisation of historical figures………………………………………221 6.5 Ancestor worship and the moral code of Chinese Folk Religion………….227 6.6 Functionally-oriented religious practices………………………………….231 6.7 Belief in the power of altering future……………………………………...238 6.8 Summary…………………………………………………………………..241 7. TIEN AS THE ULTIMATE REALITY FOR CHINESE FOLK RELIGION……242 7.1 Introduction and justification……………………………………………...242 7.2 Origins of the concept of Tien……………………………………………..244 7.3 Confucian interpretation of Tien…………………………………………...249 7.4 Taoist interpretation of Tien………………………………………………..254 7.5 Tien for Chinese Folk Religion……………………………………………257 7.6 Differences between Tien and other spiritual beings……………………...259 7.7 Tien as the Ultimate Reality for Chinese Folk Religion…………………...263 7.8 Is Tien equivalent to ‘Real an sich’?............................................................266 7.9 Is Tien a describable concept?......................................................................270 7.10 Relationship between Tien and the idea of a better afterlife……………..274 8. INCOMPATIBILITY BETWEEN CHINESE FOLK RELIGION AND HICK’S CRITERIOLOGY………………………………………………………………..276 RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 8 8.1 Introduction and justification……………………………………………...276 8.2 Problem of Hick’s criteriology from the perspective of ‘evil’ phenomena..280 8.3 ‘Self-centredness’ of Chinese Folk Religion………………………………286 8.4 This-worldly wellbeing as a conception of salvation……………………...295 8.5 ‘Better afterlife’ as a conception of salvation……………………………...300 8.6 Possibilities of a more inclusive hypothesis……………………………….305 8.7 Multiple salvific-states instead of one common religious-end…………….311 8.8 Multiple criteria: truly leaving religions as they are………………………315 8.9 Weaknesses of the assumption of multiple criteria and further considerations……………………………………………………………...322 9. FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS: STRUCTURES AND RELIGIOSITIES OF CHINESE FOLK RELIGION……………………………………………………327 9.1 Introduction and justification……………………………………………...327 9.2 Religious practices or mere social customs?................................................332 9.3 The meaning of faith for a ‘non-doctrinal’ religion………………………..336 9.4 The ambiguous religious identity: ones who call themselves ‘superstitious’……………………………………………………………...344 9.5 The seemingly ‘agnostic’ attitude of a ‘superstitious’ tradition……………352 9.6 Multiple belongings, pluralism, or syncreticism?........................................358 RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 9 9.7 Schmidt-Leukel’s defences for multireligious identity and syncreticism…367 9.8 Doctrinal toleration vs. inter-denominational toleration…………………..374 10. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………381 10.1 Concluding remarks……………………………………………………...381 10.2 The significances of the accomplishments of this research……………...385 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………..392 RECONSTRUCTING JOHN HICK’S THEORY OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM 10 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Literature Review 1.1.1 Research background Religious pluralism can be understood as a position which assumes a plurality of religions to be true simultaneously, meaning there are at least two distinctive religions that are able to lead their followers to a salvific-end. It is in opposition to the exclusivist position that assumes only one religion to have a soteriological function or the inclusivist position that allows other religions to be soteriologically effective, but at the same time maintains that there is one religion which contains more truths significantly. Before arguing about religious pluralism, however, it is necessary to clarify which model we are referring to. For instance, some may accuse the pluralist position of ignoring historical conflicting truth-claims, yet such accusation is in fact inapplicable to the theories under the category of ‘open religious pluralism’ – these theories argue that human can never be certain of the authenticity of a religious truth-claim, let alone the existences