A spiritual view of life ought to be expansive. It should help us with
the big picture, the sense of meaning. Of course, it is not to say
that we will have all our questions answered. Rather, that we will
have something like a map. Not the small scale, detailed map which
shows street by street, but the continents, the oceans, the vastness
of it all; a making sense for us. I have just finished reading John’s
Hick’s "The Fifth Dimension: An exploration of the spiritual
realm." It is just such a big picture that Hick skillfully
presents.
I first encountered John Hick’s work in 1981 as a rather calvinistic
student at Northern Baptist College, Manchester. I hated him! His
vision of God, and goodness and the inevitability of love winning all
was far too large for my narrowed thinking. One of the darker sides of
religion is that it restricts and narrows. It separates the sheep from
the goats. And we are all confident that we are the sheep! Like
bellybuttons, religion too often divides humanity into the “innies”
and the “outies.” A big picture of the love of God — God who is in all
things and above all things — will not be content with the
dismembering of humanity. Could it be that all are included in the
love of God? That God seeks all and that all seekers find God? That in
“worlds to come” all will be seekers? If you have a mind to be
stretched, check out John Hick.
In the Three of love,
+ Ab. Andy
the big picture, the sense of meaning. Of course, it is not to say
that we will have all our questions answered. Rather, that we will
have something like a map. Not the small scale, detailed map which
shows street by street, but the continents, the oceans, the vastness
of it all; a making sense for us. I have just finished reading John’s
Hick’s "The Fifth Dimension: An exploration of the spiritual
realm." It is just such a big picture that Hick skillfully
presents.
I first encountered John Hick’s work in 1981 as a rather calvinistic
student at Northern Baptist College, Manchester. I hated him! His
vision of God, and goodness and the inevitability of love winning all
was far too large for my narrowed thinking. One of the darker sides of
religion is that it restricts and narrows. It separates the sheep from
the goats. And we are all confident that we are the sheep! Like
bellybuttons, religion too often divides humanity into the “innies”
and the “outies.” A big picture of the love of God — God who is in all
things and above all things — will not be content with the
dismembering of humanity. Could it be that all are included in the
love of God? That God seeks all and that all seekers find God? That in
“worlds to come” all will be seekers? If you have a mind to be
stretched, check out John Hick.
In the Three of love,
+ Ab. Andy