1

ARE ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

Are All Religions The Same?

Eric Fluckiger

Salt Lake Community College

 2
ARE ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

Religion Defined

The term religion is a complicated one and has many and varied definitions. Dr.

Vanessa Harrison from the University of Glasgow points out the importance of defining religion

from other types of secular organizations in her academic paper, The Pragmatics of Defining in a

Multi-cultural World. An intellectual definition, such as a belief in god, can oftentimes be

over simplistic and excludes religions that do not believe in a god. Dr. Harrison points out that

another angle at defining religion includes using faith and emotional dependence as defining

characteristics. Perhaps the most inclusive definition was given by religious philosopher Keith

Yandell, A religion is a conceptual system that provides an interpretation of the world and the

place of human beings in it (Harrison, pg. 8). Simply put, religion is a means to discovering the

ultimate reality. Each religion may have different ways of going about it, but it is human nature

to want to know more. We are not content living day to day with an absence of this knowledge,

so we continually search for purpose and a higher meaning. This knowledge may involve many

earthly deities, one celestial god, or it could take the form of nontheistic nothingness. It may

come along with firm, uncompromising rules or have a more free-flowing doctrine that is open

for interpretation as the user sees fit. But fundamentally, each religion has one common goal, one

ultimate end, which is to better understand reality and find meaning in this human life (Fisher,

chap. 1.3: Understandings of Ultimate Reality).

Patterns in Religion

Each religious group follows the same patterns in order to interpret the ultimate reality

and live by a standard that concurs with this reality. There is typically an omnipotent power at

the center of the theology, and this power may or may not be defined as a being. It could be
 3
ARE ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

understood as a person or spirit, nature, or as a power that humans cannot even comprehend. In

addition to this, every religion has a leader or founder. This leader can be considered human

incarnation of the omnipotent power, or one who acts as a translator for the power. Each religion

also keeps testaments that contain stories or fables, which act as lessons or guides for the

followers of that religion. They may also lay out rules and guidelines on how to live life

according to the omnipotent power, although they vary greatly between each religious faction

(and can even vary within each group of followers). All is a means to help the follower better

understand the world and adds context to the meaning of life. Every religion fulfills a

psychological need by helping followers comprehend the universe.

Hinduism

The belief in a divine power or truth is one commonality of all religions. Hinduism is a

religion that comes in several different forms, in which many and various deities are studied and

worshiped. Some factions of Hinduism may focus on one deity, while others may worship many

different deities. Ultimately, Hindus believe that one divine god can take many varied forms, so

worshiping different deities is just worshiping different aspects of the same god. This god is the

ultimate power at the center of everything. Another commonality of all religions is a leader and

holy book that demonstrate lessons or rules on how to live life in accordance with the ultimate

truth. While there is no comparable Jesus or Muhammad in Hinduism, the writers/compilers of

the Vedas (the Hindu holy scriptures) are believed to have laid the foundations of the religion.

They are not considered to be holy themselves, but they are the transcribers for Gods word. By

writing down this information and creating guidelines for the religion, they can be considered the

founders of Hinduism. The ultimate reality in Hinduism is presented as a creator and sustainer of
 4
ARE ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

everything, not just on earth, but the entire universe including all of space and time. This unseen

god is the truth and life must be lived in accordance with this truth (Fisher, chap. 3: Hinduism).

Christianity

Like Hinduism, Christianity has many different factions which differ greatly, but follow

the same basic path. Each group has the commonality of worshiping one omnipotent god. This

god is the divine power and encompasses the truth of ultimate reality. As is assumed in

Hinduism, this god has created all life and the entire universe. Jesus is the religious leader and

the person who initiated Christianity and Moses can be considered the translator for God when

he spoke to God and received the commandments. The apostles, who were early followers of

Christianity, wrote the Bible and are thought to have been transcribing for Jesus and the

Christian god, just as the writers of the Vedas are believed to have done for the Hindu god. The

ultimate reality for Christians is that their god is the truth and the context for how life and the

universe was created. The meaning of life is having faith and living according to the rules of this

god (Fisher, chap. 9: Christianity).

Buddhism

Buddhism is an eastern religion with many parallels to Hinduism, but also shares ideas

with western religions involving the idea of an ultimate reality. While Buddhism makes no

claims of a belief in one supreme being, there is a presence of a supreme way that is treated

similarly to a god. Buddha is the originator of Buddhism, and he fills the spot of the deity being

worshiped and prayed to, although he is not directly worshiped. While Buddha is known simply

as a man and not a god, he was the master of this supreme way and is therefore treated similarly

to Jesus or Muhammed. The practices of Buddhism are meant to worship life and the universe,
 5
ARE ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

for which an argument can be made that the ultimate reality for Buddhists is life and the

universe. This is slightly different than worshiping the creator of this life as many religions do,

however the worshiping of life combined with the focus on the supreme teachings of Buddha

(the architect of the way) makes Buddhism strikingly similar to all other religions. Comparable

to the Bible and the Vedas, Buddha taught the Dharma and lessons called the Four Noble Truths

that act as guidelines for Buddhists, and lay out the rules on how to live life in an acceptable way

(Fisher, chap. 5: Buddhism).

Judaism

Judaism encompasses a belief in one supreme god, who created the entire world. This

god is the ultimate reality and it is the focus of everything, very similarly to Christianity. Judaism

expresses the belief that god is incomprehensible and cannot be understood by humans. The

written words that are studied in Judaism are the Tanakh and the Talmud. The Tanakh is the

identical to the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and contains the history of the universe and

early Judaism. Moses serves as the figure who has contact with god and transcribed what he

learned during this time by writing the Five Books of Moses, also known as the Pentateuch. The

Talmud is a collection of laws and stories of the later history of Judaism, and it lays out ethics

and rules that the Jewish people are expected to abide by. Judaism created its own moral laws

from these holy books, and they serve as guides to the people who study the religion on how to

live their lives (Fisher, chap. 8: Judaism).

Islam

Islam, like most other major religions, holds a belief in one supreme god who is the

creator of life and the entire universe. This god is considered the same god and follows the same
 6
ARE ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

origin story as the one presented in the Christian Bible and the Jewish Tanakh. However, the

Islamic religion believes Muhammed to be the true prophet and leader of the true ultimate

reality. During a spiritual retreat, Muhammed came in contact with an angel and received a

message from God, he then continued to receive messages from God and eventually transcribed

them into the Quran. The Quran is considered the holy book of the Islamic religion and

contains lessons on ethics and rules that must be kept by the followers. Muhammed and the

Quran are considered the ultimate truth of the universe and are what give meaning and context

to life (Fisher, chap. 10: Islam).

Conclusion

Religions have existed in throughout history and will continue to exist in the foreseeable

future. It has had huge influence on human life and continues to be influential in shaping much

of society. The reason for this status is that religion meets a specific need, which is a need to

have an understanding of the world and why life exists. All religions fulfill this same need in

very comparable ways. In both eastern and western religions, there is always a powerful force at

the center of it all. This may be described as a god-like figure or something closer to nature, or

very simply as a way of life that placed above all else. Religions also have scriptures or rules that

have been put into place by a holy books or lore containing lessons on the religious teachings.

These are the guidelines that lay out the way to salvation, or how to become a better person

according to each respective religion. These are usually considered to be direct translations from

the almighty power or written by someone who is incredibly in touch with the power. All is a

means to get to the truth of reality, and have a better understanding of the meaning of life.
 7
ARE ALL RELIGIONS THE SAME?

Works Cited

Fisher, Mary Pat and Rinehart, Robin. Living Religions10th Edition, Pearson Publishing, 2015.

Harrison, Victoria. The Pragmatics of Defining Religion in a Multi-cultural World. The

International Journal For Philosophy of Religion, vol. 59, 2006, pp. 133-152.