Are all religions the same? Are they all true?
Many people contend that they are. They claim that all the world’s religions have a different “exterior” but the same “interior.”
However, this view is based in profound ignorance because the core beliefs of the world’s religions are 𝙣𝙤𝙩 the same. In fact, they contradict each other. For example, Hindus believe that we all have (or rather “are”) a soul (i.e. atman) which reincarnates. But Siddartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, specifically rejected this.
Christians believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again; and that this is crucial to our salvation. But since the Quran (4:157,158) does not agree, Muslims reject this.
Hindus have no problem with worshiping many gods, but Muslims consider this the greatest sin.
The list could go on, and in each case, the differences are a matter of core beliefs, not periphery issues.
Given these great differences in the world’s religions, Stephen Prothero (Professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University) writes the following in his book, 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘖𝘯𝘦 :
…𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘦 (1795) 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘥𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘺. 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘏𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮, 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦…
When it comes to the world’s religions, it’s not just the “exterior” that is different; the “interior” is different too.
The religions of the world are not the same, so they can’t all be true.
Learn More
Short Blog: Why Religious Neutrality is Impossible
Video (below): All the World's Religions Cannot Be True - Neutrality is Impossible
Reference
Stephen R. Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter, 1st ed (New York: HarperOne, 2010), Location 66, Kindle.