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Are All Spiritual Beliefs True?
Written by Rich Bordner   
Tuesday, 28 July 2009 05:28
"We should celebrate all things spiritual! Afterall, all religions basically teach the same thing: respect and love for one's neighbor and doing good to human kind."
by RichBordner


"We should celebrate all things spiritual! Afterall, all religions basically teach the same thing: respect and love for one's neighbor and doing good to human kind."

This way of thinking is all the rage. The woods are a 'teemin with lawyers, doctors, teachers, and talk show hosts who fervently hold to this brand of pluralism.

Before we tip our hat to such a notion, though, we should evaluate it. Is it really true?

A moment's reflection will tell you this notion is hopelessly bankrupt. For starters, some religions don't have the golden rule. Others don't stress loving one's neighbor. In fact, goodness isn't even on the radar screen with some religions. Past that, even among the religions that have something like the golden rule, it isn't central. If you analyze the central tenets of the world's major religions, for example, you will see they are worlds apart.

Just start with the different faith's concept of God. Lining up the different characteristics of God should cure you of pluralism. The concepts aren't just different, mind you: many of them are contradictory--they can't both be true. For example, God is either personal (Islam, Judaism, Christianity), or He is impersonal (many forms of Hinduism). Either He is a trinity (Christianity), or not (Islam). The same thing happens when you line up each religion's core doctrine on other things.

If you reflect further, you'll see that these can't all be true! God is either personal or impersonal. He either exists or He doesn't. In no case can God be both personal and impersonal, real and fake. Jesus either is the Messiah or He is not. In no case can He be both the Messiah and not the Messiah. When you die, you either are reincarnated, go to heaven, rot in the ground, or hitch a ride on a comet...but you can't do it all!

I've heard an objection that when it comes to religion, "what's true for you might not be true for me." Is this a good way of thinking? It is not like we are talking about food tastes, which are subjective. No, these are all claims about what really happens after you die. They apply to reality. That doesn't mean they are false; it just means that they can't all be true.

Another objection is that all this reflects a western way of thinking. In the west, so the argument goes, it is either this OR that, but in the east, many people are comfortable embracing contradiction. A more common way to think in the east when it comes to contradicting beliefs is "both/and."

Is this a good response? No. As Ravi Zacharias often notes, even in the streets of Shanghai, they look both ways when crossing the street, because they understand that that it's either them or the bus, not both. Also, when thinking about spirituality, they choose the both/and way of thinking *instead of* the either/or, not both. No matter how you twist things, you can't get away from the either/or at the end of the day. There's a good reason--it is tethered to reality.

Be skeptical of the grand claims of pluralism. Sure, Gatorade and anti-freeze might both be green liquids, but it's the differences that matter when choosing which to drink!

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Rich Bordner has been writing on Christianity, apologetics, and philosophy for over eight years. He has degrees in both English and Philosophy, is currently working on an Master's degree in Philosophy, and is also a high school teacher. If you have questions about Christianity, apologetics, and spirituality, or just want to participate in lively discussion on those and other topics, visit his website.
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