John Hick is Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Research in Arts and Social Sciences, Univ. of Birmingham. Amazon.com lists many books by him and several about him. (For his books I've read, click on his name.) Many of his articles and talks appear on his web site http://www.johnhick.org.uk/

The first edition received the comment “John Hick takes with great seriousness the various conservative attempts to reaffirm literally traditional doctrines of incarnation and atonement…” He uses the Bible for his reformulation of Christianity: that Jesus did not teach what was to become the orthodox understanding of him: that he was God incarnate who became human to die for the sins of the world. Hick discusses the traditional dogmas and concludes that Jesus’ two natures – human and divine – have never been explained satisfactorily after many centuries of attempts. Hick explains that the divine incarnation is best understood metaphorically. Thus he concludes that Christians can still understand Jesus as Lord and the one who made God real to us. John Hick strongly promotes religious pluralism, thus is opposed to any form of religious exclusionism – he feels certain that all faiths offer a path towards God.

This book amounts to an extreme revision of traditional Christianity. Many who hold traditional Christian doctrines close to their hearts could call him a heretic. I feel that we should be aware of the new reformulation he proposes. Detailed theological discussions of incarnation and atonement occur in Ch 5-12. However, I feel that by covering only chapters Ch 1-4 and then Ch 13-17, one would obtain a complete enough understanding of Hick’s reformulation. Then those interested could go back to Ch 5-12 to see his detailed philosophical and theological arguments against the traditional dogmas. This was the second book I’ve read by him. I give both of them my very highest recommendation, for John Hick’s ideas really make one think hard – very hard, but with very great spiritual reward. (Think six stars!)