Imagine that three people are all touching a part of an elephant. The first is touching the elephant's leg and says that the elephant is like the truck of a tree. The second is touching the elephant's trunk and disagrees with the first, saying that the elephant is like a large snake. The third person is touching the elephant’s side and says that the elephant is like a great wall.
Each person is convinced that they are right and the others are wrong because of what they know and have experienced. What they don’t realize is that they are all technically right because they are each describing a different aspect of the elephant. The same analogy can be applied to the major religions of the world.
In 1973, John Hick discussed the idea for a
…show more content…
Hick devotes an entire chapter in An Interpretation of Religion to discussing them, noting three levels on which religious traditions disagree: (1) matters of historical fact, (2) matters of trans-historical fact, and (3) differing conceptions of the Real.
Hick claims that these disagreements can be resolved by applying the historical method but it proves to be difficult. One reason is because many historical claims have no independent historical support outside the religion that makes the claim. Hick reasons that historical differences just must be accepted, especially when they are not over central articles of faith. Hick’s basic argument is that most historical disagreements cannot be resolved and since many of these disagreements are not related to the essence of any religion, concludes that resolving them is not critical and ultimately they do not create a problem for his pluralistic hypothesis. Later in is his book, Hick considers conflicting trans-historical truth-claims. He defines them as having to do with questions to which there is, in principle, a true answer but which cannot be established by historical or other empirical evidence. Two examples are the nature of the universe and the fate of human beings at death.
The nature of the universe, as Hick claims, has primarily been a dispute between theistic and non-theistic religions. This is a dispute to which there is, in principle, one valid answer. However, the question cannot
Stephen Prothero’s “God Is Not One” is a survey of world religions, comprising vital information on a vast array of different sets of belief. As someone who has never studied religion before, nor belongs to a particular faith, the variability within these religions is staggering. One might be satisfied to define religion as “how a person goes about believing in God,” but soon finds that even that definition has its holes. Thankfully, “God Is Not One” does an amazing job of cluing its reader into the nuances that are sometimes forgotten about the religions it approaches.
|divinities? How does this divinity |beings and part elephant is the lord of beginnings comparing to la Santa |
Religion is a universal term that is widely used for a human’s belief system. The views on how religions compare to one another can be defined differently. One view explains religions using a united belief system by their common goals. Another view explains that different religions are just a shared essence and have vast differences between their specific traditions and customs. This shared essence, but vastly different theory, is explained by Stephen Prothero, using the term “pretend pluralism”. There are many major and minor religions that have guided people in their morals and beliefs. Religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. All five of these current, major religions have vast differences, but may have common goals in their morals, traditions, etc. Two of the most practiced religions, of these five, are Christianity and Islam. These two religions are constantly at battle with one another, but what many people don’t see is that there are just as many similarities between these two religions as there are differences. Through this paper we will discover the underlying similarities and differences between these two religions and, hopefully, conclude that supports either the common goal theory or the “pretend pluralism” theory.
There were six blind men who wanted to see what an elephant looked like so they went to a place that had an elephant. They all landed or fell on different parts of an elephant as shown in lines 7 to
On the surface, Islam and Christianity appear to have very little in common, however, as you get deeper into areas such as rituals, beliefs, ethics, founders, and sacred objects, the two show strong mutual similarities, particularly in the fundamental areas, while being totally different. In this essay I will compare and contrast many of the facets that make up the worlds largest and most recognized religions, Christianity and Islam.
Differences in culture, history, geography, and collective temperament all make for diverse starting points. . . . But beyond these differences, the same goal beckons” (Prothero 1). This is a great approach because it puts the differences in religions in perspective while still showing they all show a common goal. The second scholarly approach is the ‘4 Step Process’ which is also by Stephen Prothero. First, there must be a problem. Second, there must be a solution to this problem, which also serves as a religious goal. Third, there must be a technique for moving from this problem to this solution. Fourth, there must be an exemplar who chart this path from problem to solution. This is a great approach because it helps to point out the differences across and inside religious traditions. The third scholarly approach is the ‘Question of Ultimate Meaning’. William Portiers approach deals with the deep or great questions about the human condition that we can only answer ourselves. “Why are we here? What becomes of us in the end? What is our final purpose? What is a human being and how ought we to behave toward one another?” (Portier 17). This is a great approach because it makes you personally come up with answers to those questions and to answer those questions, you must look at many different religious traditions. The fourth scholarly approach also written by William Portier deals with ‘The Dialectical
This will be based on the chapter 4 Religion as "Truth-Claims", posted on Blackboard. First of all, Dianne L. Oliver makes a preface about her writings saying that religions claim to get the truth, and followers of diverse religions say that their truth is the only one true, and cannot be compare with any other. Also, she remarks that many of those religion followers use violence to uphold their own version of truth. Moreover, she let us know that she is going to consider the "True-Claims" of different religions, and show how those claims can influence the practices, behaviors, and ideas of religion followers. Next to the introduction, she considers that religion is very essential for understanding the fundamental questions in our daily lives.
Using proven facts and methodologies, the author supports her argument that various faiths can coexist outside of a singular perspective. Ward acknowledges every faith has defining guidelines followers must embrace, but maintains the
Great post. I do agree with you that Hick’s do acknowledge religion as valid as long as it has a transformational aspect in a person life. I also agree with his claim that religions are worshiping the same God and acknowledge God by different name.
Originated in eastern Mediterranean throughout the life of Jesus Christ, in addition to it becoming the major religion of the Roman Empire by the end of the 4th century
On occasion, authors approach cultural subjects as historians. However, Huston Smith limits the historical facts to stay focus on the values of the religions (Smith 10,12). Having an history filled book can cause readers to lose interests in his discussion. To keep the numbers down, Smith picks the religions that most people acknowledge and would share the most common themes in their life (11). He is passionate about his studies, and he wants the audience to find their own appreciation for religion. To accomplish this, Smith simply states that,”This is a book about values”(12). Some books describe a certain faith’s good and bad qualities and can sometimes put more emphasis on the bad if the
As of today, the world’s two largest religions Christianity and Islam share an estimated 3.6 billion members, more than half of the world’s population. On the surface, they appear to have almost nothing in common, however, as one goes beyond the surface and examines the other factors such as the rituals, beliefs, ethics, founders, and convictions, the two religions share many similarities. However, in order to truly see and understand these similarities and differences, one must date back to the rise and birth of Christianity and Islam.
On this vast planet religions are becoming more prevalent and are being studied more frequently in recent times. Many individuals want to study and learn about the origins of some religions, on where they were developed and what was the cause of this glorification of a divine. The art of religion is processed by many ideologies, background, beliefs, myths, and rituals. The five major religions of the world include: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism are solely based on these ideologies, and ultimately leads to one goal, to follow the path of god, or to seek a euphoric state of salvation. In spite of all the differences among the world’s five major religions, they have very similar ethical constructs, which should encourage more mutual respect among them.
For the layman, familiarity with the major religions stems from the stories that are associated with them. Using the narratives that are derived from the sacred texts is the most prominent way in which our society identifies the Western religions. The Jewish tradition is best correlated to stories like the Exodus and the parting of the Red Seas, for example, as are the many tales of the miracles of Jesus connected to Christianity. This essay will present narratives as an easy method of providing the basic groundwork for the Western religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam because of their simplicity and easily transmittable nature.
Religion these days have become the center of our attention as we contemplate whats right and what is wrong. Figuring out what religious views fit best with what you believe can be difficult to grasp as sometime we begin to wonder if what we read or believe actually is true. It is only human nature to question the beliefs that are set before us. Religious views all over the world have many spiritual beliefs and traditions that are all different in some way. It is important to have the knowledge of different religions as not everyone in this world believes the way you might. Having the sensitivity towards their belief is important and having the understanding that you can't change the way that they think. Two world religious views that are