authority for centuries. A Copernican revolution in Christian theology involves rethinking theology altogether so that Christianity is not at the center of the spiritual universe. In other words, Christianity should not be the only basis for interpreting or explaining other religions. Similarly, other religions cannot be explained away in terms of how well or ill it fits the Christian paradigm. A Copernican theological revolution would oblige Christians to reject dogmatic partiality in favor of theological pluralism.
2b. The fact of religious pluralism can be understood in historical terms with reference to cultural pluralism around the world. Citing the so called Axial period of religions, Hick describes the confluence of four great religious traditions and four "principal centres of civilisation Greece, the Near East, India, and China, out of which the higher religions have come" (Hick, "Names" 113). Hick continues:
In this immensely rich and important band of time the great Hebrew prophets lived; in Persia, Zoroaster; in China, Confucius and t
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