John Hick’s Global Theology of Death and Immortality in Conversation with the Yoruba-African Philosophy of Afterlife

Abstract

This research was financed by the Faculty of Theology, VU University Amsterdam.

Abstract

This article examined John Hick’s speculative philosophy on the subject of death and immortality and compares it with the religious philosophy of the Yoruba-African people. Hick’s book, Death and Eternal Life forms the primary resource for this exploration by considering various fields which gave impetus to Hick’s development of a global theology of death. An ethnological approach revealed a distinct philosophical thought about Yoruba people’s philosophies about death and life after death. A comparison of these constructions from different traditions revealed that there are similarities as well as divergences. Indeed, a global theology of death is possible only when all available data are explored and every view has been heard.

Keywords: African Philosophy, John Hick, Death and Immortality, Life after Death, Yoruba Philosophy, Near Death Experiences, Reincarnation, Pareschatology

DOI: 10.7176/JPCR/44-04

Publication date:June 30^th 2019