1922 – 2012
John Hick (1922–2012) was a British philosopher of religion who became one of the most influential advocates of religious pluralism in the twentieth century. He argued that the great world religions represent different culturally conditioned responses to the same ultimate transcendent reality, which he called 'the Real.' His work spans epistemology of religious belief, theodicy, and the theology of religions.
Developed the pluralist hypothesis: all major religions are valid soteriological paths to the same ultimate reality
Formulated the 'soul-making' (Irenaean) theodicy as an alternative to Augustinian free-will defenses
Argued for epistemic distance as the condition making genuine faith possible
Proposed that salvific events may be ontologically necessary without being epistemically necessary for salvation
Authored An Interpretation of Religion (1989), winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion