God Is Not One Details
God is Not One: the Eight Rival Religions that Run the World is a fascinating exploration of the histories and contemporary manifestations of various belief systems. It asks: if religions claim to be divine revelations, how could there be so many different versions – including some in direct theological opposition to one another?
Those seeking to reconcile the various discrepancies across faith teachings may turn to omnism, the belief that different religions seek to describe different aspects of one overall truth. Or, as author Stepthen Prothero abbreviates it, one god.
An omnist is open to thinking any or all faiths have the potential of accurately describing this god, at least in part. Differences between religious teachings can be brushed under the rug as imperfections in vantage points.
The book looks at eight major world religions and their unique approaches of understanding the world.
- Islam: The Way of Submission
- Christianity: The Way of Salvation
- Confucianism: The Way of Propriety
- Hinduism: The Way of Devotion
- Buddhism: The Way of Awakening
- Yoruba: The Way of Connection
- Judaism: The Way of Exile and Return
- Daoism: The Way of Flourishing
How the Book Speaks to ULC Ministers
The notion of respecting different faiths is a central theme in the book. Of course, this is also a key tenet of the Universal Life Church and is expressed in our motto, "we are all children of the same universe."
ULC ministers respect each individual's religious convictions and rather than judge someone for seeing the world differently, instead seek to understand the fundamental concepts behind a given belief system in pursuit of common ground. On that score, God is Not One is essential reading.
