John Hick Centenary Conference and Book Launch

John Hick’s Religious Pluralism in Global Perspective

Hick Centenary Conference and Book Launch

15th March 2023, 9.30-5pm

Edgbaston Park Hotel & Conference Centre

Birmingham B15 2RS

Only limited places available

The conference and book launch commemorate John Hick’s (1922-2012) one hundredth birthday. The presentations and discussions interrogate the major enduring contributions of John Hick in the philosophy and theology of religious pluralism. His pluralist conviction has stimulated wide-ranging responses, both supportive and against. No matter what one’s own theology or philosophy is on this subject, Hick’s contributions cannot be ignored. His pluralistic vision was not a closed one, but an invitation to reflect on the religious/spiritual quest of humanity in an open and dialogical way. The presentations will reflect on Hick’s work in the light of criticism and ongoing debate. Hick’s contributions have resonated across the world and some of this is reflected in the conference programme.

Conference Speakers

Rex Ambler (University of Birmingham, UK)

Introductory Remarks

Perry Schmidt-Leukel (University of Muenster, Germany)

Religious Pluralism at the Apophatic Crossroad

Dan Cohn-Sherbok (University of Wales Trinity Saint David,  Lampeter, UK)  

Jewish Pluralism and John Hick                                           

Keith Ward (University of Oxford, UK)

Ethics and Pluralism

Amir Dastmalchian (Independent scholar, UK)

Hick’s Theory of Religion and a Muslim view on the Inclusivist Option                                                                                              

Alan Race (World Congress of Faiths, UK)                                                     

Pointers to Pluralism Not Relativism

Tim Musgrove (Independent Scholar, USA)

Does Linguistic Relativity Support a Pluralistic  Interpretation of Religion ?                                                                                        

Dan Silfwerin (UWC Red Cross Nordic, Norway) 

The Continuing Relevance of John Hick for thinkers of all  ages 

Sharada Sugirtharajah (University of Birmingham, UK)                                      

The Knowable and the Unknowable ‘Real’ in Radhakrishnan’s and Hick’s Thinking   

Book Launch

Sharada Sugirtharajah (ed.) John Hick’s Religious Pluralism in  Global Perspective (2023, Palgrave Macmillan)

Amy Daughton (University of Birmingham, UK)

Brendan George (Palgrave Macmillan, UK)

Sharada Sugirtharajah (University of Birmingham, UK)

Book to be received by the Hick family: Eleanor, Mark and Peter Hick (UK) & Response                                                  

Closing Remarks

Paul Hedges (Interreligious Studies at the S. Rajaratnam                                           School of International Studies, NTU, Singapore)

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