The Auburn Lectures at Union Theological Seminary, New York,1994. Using the form of lively dialogues with a philosopher and a theologian who present the many objections that have been made to Hick’s pluralistic hypothesis, the book clarifies the issues at stake. The thesis under discussion is that the great world faiths are very different but (as far as we can tell) equally valid ways of conceiving, experiencing, and responding in life to the ultimate reality that we call God. The rainbow, as the sun’s light refracted by the earth’s atmosphere into a glorious spectrum of colours, is a metaphor for the refraction of our awareness of the divine Presence by our human religious cultures. There is a full bibliography of published discussions of the pluralistic hypothesis. (Trans. Chinese, Japanese, Turkish)

“This is a compact and readable introduction to the cyclone of issues raised by Hick’s work. It has the merit of being written by the main protagonist in the controversy” (Book Reviews).

“Hick creates two fictitious discussants, ‘Phil’ and ‘Grace’, who represent the criticisms of his pluralist model from philosophy on the one hand and traditional Christianity on the other. He allows each to direct pointed questions and criticisms of his theory to him. Hick takes the criticisms from both camps seriously and strives to give them both and himself a fair hearing, thereby modelling a style of dialogical search for truth which is too rarely found in academia” (Koinonia).

“John Hick, a renowned theologian and philosopher of religion, has presented in this small volume an important and time-critical presentation of a topic that should be of concern to Christians everywhere” (Congregational Leadership Resources).