The triune nature of God shows that He is relational, loving, self-giving, and personal. God is not just some distant, cosmic force. He has personhood. He has existed in all eternity past in a loving relationship, strange to say, with Himself. God amazingly calls us to join in that relationship with Him (Jn. 17:20ff). He recreates us in His image and welcomes us as His sons and daughters. God welcomes us to have communion with Himself. 

It makes sense to consider religious claims. “Even if religion makes no sense to you, you need to make sense of religion to make sense of the world”[1] because the world is religious. It always has been. One author says, “Evidence is abundant that human beings are incurably religious.”[2] 

It especially makes sense to consider the claims of Christianity. Douglas Groothuis makes a good argument for the stakes being higher for Islam and Christianity.[3] This is because some of the other religions offer types of do-overs through reincarnation. If you didn’t get it right the first time, you can try again in your next life. Christianity and Islam believe it is one and done. So, it makes sense to investigate the religions that offer no redos first. 

That being said, there are many world religions. There are also many irreligious people.[4] And both religious and irreligious people can be very kind and good. So, what sets Christianity apart?

What World Religions Have in Common

World religions and even atheism are asking similar questions; they are just giving different answers. Each religion articulates:

• a problem
• a solution
• a technique for moving from the problem to the solution
• an exemplar who charts the path from problem to solution[5] 

There are 9 things that most major world religions have in common. Most religions have some type of…

1. Higher Power
2. Life After Death
3. Prayer or Meditation 
4. Transcendence
5. Community
6. Moral Guidance
7. Service to the poor
8. Purpose
9. Founder/Central Figure 

Are All Religions Basically the Same?

Are all religions basically the same? In short, no. All religions are not basically the same. Even if they do have similarities in places. 

As Stephen Prothero, who is not a Christian, has demonstrated, each religion “offers its own diagnosis of the human problem and its own prescription for a cure. Each offers its own techniques for reaching its religious goal, and its own exemplars for emulation.”[6] We should not lump all religions together in one trash can or treasure chest. Instead, we should start with a clear-eyed understanding of the fundamental differences in both belief and practice of those religions.[7] 

Christians, however, believe in something referred to as “common grace.” That is, God gives certain gifts to all humans (Matt. 5:45) and all humans are made in God’s image. Humans can arrive at certain correct conclusions apart from God’s divine revelation. So, while all religions are not all basically the same and not all correct, they can have more or less correct insights into various subjects. 

So, Douglas Groothuis has said, “Although Christianity cannot be reduced to a common core that it shares with other religions, it can still find some common ground with respect to the individual beliefs held by other religions. Other religions are not completely false, even though their teachings cannot offer salvation and even though they must be rejected as inadequate religious systems or worldviews.”[8]

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[1] Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World—and Why their Differences Matter, 8. “Religion is not merely a private affair. It matters socially, economically, politically, and militarily” (Ibid., 7).

[2] Michael Peterson, William Hasker, Bruce Reichenbach, and David Basinger, Reason & Religous Belief: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, 3.

[3] “Other religions lacking the doctrines of heaven and hell may also offer prudential incentives, but they are less charged prudentially than Christianity and Islam. Both Hinduism and Buddhism teach the doctrine of reincarnation, wherein the postmortem state is not seen as necessarily eternal. Any number of lifetimes may be needed to neutralize bad karma and attain ultimate enlightenment, after which one escapes samsara (the wheel of rebirth) and need not reincarnate. According to Hinduism and Buddhism, if one wagers incorrectly-say on Islam or Christianity-in this life, a religious adjustment is available in another incarnation. But Christianity (Heb 9:27) and Islam offer no such second (or millionth) chance. The stakes are higher and the time allotted to wager is far shorter-one life. Therefore, even if someone finds the apologetic case for Hinduism or Buddhism attractive, given the prudential considerations of Christianity and Islam, that person should attempt to rule out these high-risk monotheistic faiths before pursuing Hinduism or Buddhism —unless, of course, the person deems Hinduism or Buddhism so intellectually superior that he or she can find no rational interest in Christianity or Islam at all” (Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 155).

[4] Although, even atheism has the markings of a religion. Atheists have a creed. Theirs is just that there is no god. Atheism addreses the ultimate concerns of life and existence and answers the questions of people  are and what they should value. A commited atheist is even unlikely to marry someone outside of their beliefs. Many atheists even belong to a group and may even attend occasional meetings (see e.g. atheists.org) and have their own literature they read that supports their beliefs.

[5] Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One, 14.

[6] Stephen Prothero, God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World—and Why their Differences Matter, 333. Prothero also says, however, that “These differences can be overemphasized, of course, and the world’s religions do converge at points. Because these religions are a family of sorts, some of the questions they ask overlap, as do some of the answers. All their adherents are human beings with human bodies and human failings, so each of these religions attends to our embodiment and to the human predicament, not least by defining what it is to be fully alive” (Prothero, God Is Not One, 333).

[7] Ibid., 335.

[8] Douglas Groothuis, Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith, 644.