MOCKS: Hick on Jesus as just a teacher of wisdom

Question 1

FOr

Answer 1

• Hick thinks Jesus is just a ‘guru’ – just a teacher of wisdom – who didn’t even apparently believe he was divine.
• Hick was influenced by Kant to think that God was in the ‘noumenal realm’, meaning completely beyond our understanding.
• Hick was also influenced by Bultmann to think that the bible stories and miracles shouldn’t be taken as literally true because they are unscientific. It is best to view those stories as merely expressing moral lessons.
• This removes a lot of the reasoning for thinking Jesus was divine.
• Hick then combined these points with his argument for pluralism – that all religions are equally true. Hick gained this insight when he moved to birmingham and experienced multi-faith society for the first time. He argued that different religions and places of worship all share the same spiritual dynamic – people opening themselves up to a higher divine reality which demands righteousness and love.
• Hick concludes different religions are just different cultural perspectives on the same higher divine reality.
• So, Christianity can’t be ‘especially’ true, so Jesus can’t be the only way, the truth and the life – so, he must have just been a human teacher of wisdom.

Question 2

Counter

Answer 2

• Demythologisation is meant to be a way of understanding the Bible.
• However – there is a clear biblical theme of Jesus’ sacrifice saving us from our sins. How could that have worked if Jesus wasn’t God? A mere human wouldn’t have the power to save us from our sins.
• Hick and Bultmann seem unable to explain this through demythologisation. It seems better explained through Jesus’ divinity.
• The purpose of Jesus’ life was a sacrifice to save us from our sins –
• Atonement theory (penal substitution & Christus victor) claims the bible is clear that Jesus’ sacrifice saved us from our sins and enabled humans to regain the right relationship with God necessary for our salvation.
• Jesus must have been fully human but also fully God.
• Hick’s interpretation of Jesus seems to leave out and be unable to explain the biblical theme of atonement – Jesus’ sacrifice enabling the possibility of our salvation.

Question 3

Evaluation

Answer 3

• Hick can be defended however – he adopts the moral exemplar view of the atonement.
• Hick said Jesus did save us from our sins through his sacrifice on the cross – but not directly – not through divine power – only by his life, teachings and sacrifice being such a great human role model that it inspired us to be better – and we were saved from our sins that way.
• Hick’s argument is successful because it shows how the biblical theme of Jesus’ sacrifice saving us from our sins is compatible with viewing him as merely human.
• Therefore – the trinity is not needed to explain the life, significance and person of Jesus. That can be explained without Jesus being divine.