Can More Than One Religion Be True?

Answer 1

yes - because different religions can be merely different interpretations of the same truth

Answer 2

There is some truth in all faiths.

Every religion starts with the assertion that there is a Being above all other beings. That is a truth they all share.

Every religion claims to possess a means of getting in and staying in the good will of that Being. That this is a desirable thing to do. That is a truth they all share.

Every religion agrees that there are things we do and attitudes we take that are pretty much guaranteed to put us at the top of the Divine's **** list. That is a truth they all share.

Every religion makes provision for getting past this contretemps and back into the Divine's good book. That this can be done at all is a truth they all share.

It's the hows and the whys of these truths that separate religions and those are dictated by culture, by history, by geography, by nutrition even more than by anything else.

Revelation, ie, the Divine saying to someone, "This is what I'm like. This is who and what I am." is the only way anyone can begin to comprehend the Divine. Some religions claim to possess this revelation. Some do not.

Of those who claim it.........ah therein lie the difficulties, for these claimed revelations appear to be so totally dissimilar in fundamental ways, that they must be proof that only one religion can be called true.

Try it this way. We are not born knowing calculus, Latin, or the history of Western Civ. These we must learn. And the learning takes a significant portion of our lives. The lessons to be learned from the Divine are a great deal more important, a great deal more difficult and it is therefore only logical that they will take a great deal more time to learn. But our time on earth is limited. Perhaps, to make it possible for us to get all that learning, the Divine has dropped a few clues along the way? (see above)

Good luck learning.

Answer 3

In a binary logic, if A is true, not-A must be false. In a ternary logic, A can be partially true and B can be partially true, and C combines them. In a four-part logic, many things can be partially true and none wholly true. In the West, a binary logic holds sway, so in the West, only one religion can be true.

Another problem is that to say that a religion is true is like saying that an apple is virtuous--it's mixing up knowledge with faith (and feeling). No religion is true. No religion is false. All religions serve a social purpose--to explain in simple terms a social system and get people to obey and follow orders. The state and religion work hand-in-glove to control people: the state needs religion to make them submit to unintelligible laws and rules; the church needs the state to preserve its tax-free status. Until the day that the last emperor on earth is strangled with the guts of the last priest or minister on earth, this unholy alliance will continue to poison and enslave minds.

You need to ask: what sort of religion can be used to support a humane, kind, peaceful, and enlightened people? Not which is true or false.

In the Western logic, Christianity must be true and all other religions false. Muslims think the same thing, only that the Muslim religion is true and the others false. So long as you have this logic, so long will you have Jews thinking they're right and Christians and Muslims wrong; Muslims thinking Jews and Christians are wrong; and Christians thinking Jews and Muslims as wrong. And If I think I'm right and you oppose me, then I must either beat you in battle or kill you. So all three are at each other's throats, and have been for thousands of years. If we could only get them to give up their "I'm right and you're wrong" logic, we could have some peace--or maybe they're just meant to exterminate each other someday and leave the rest of us in peace.

Answer 4

Different religions are different because they teach things that contradict each other. When you have contradictory doctrine, at least one of the views is false.
For example, some churches teach that one must be baptized to be saved, while others teach that you are baptized after you are saved. Both of these views cannot be true. If you hold one to be true, then you are automatically viewing the other as false.
The Bible says that we should "all speak the same thing" and have "no divisions". (1 Corinthians 1:10)
If a man decided to "join" every church in town and said he was going to fully support each of their (contradictory) doctrines, we would say he is either a hypocrite or insane. So, with this in mind, which church does Christ belong to? This can be answered by a simple 3-word rhetorical question from the Bible, "Is Christ divided?" (1 Corinthians 1:13) He is not! Christ is the head of the church that teaches a doctrine that agrees with the Word of God. When we teach anything else, we are following man and not God. If we teach any doctrine contrary to the one taught by Christ and His apostles, we are accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)
It is important for us to compare all religious things we are taught to the scriptures (Acts 17:11, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The scriptures are the standard by which we know what is true. That religion that follows this standard (speaks the same thing as the scriptures) is true. Once we establish what is true, all else is false.

Answer 5

No. Only one can be true. While there are many similarities to many religions, there are also many differences. When two things are different, only one can be true.

The biggest difference is when the holy text (in Christian's case, the Bible) makes an exclusive claim. You then have to choose from one or the other.

The Bible makes the claim that the God described in it is the one and only God. That is what I believe, so all others must be false.

-- To Grannie_Annie:
You state that every religion asserts that there is a Being above all other beings. This is incorrect. Many Buddists believe that there is no God and that there is just a dozing galactic mix that you go into until you are reincarnated.

Answer 6

I really don't see how more than one religion can be true. If two religions are true, then they must have the same teachings. They couldn't both be true yet have teachings that contradicted each other. But if they have the same teachings, they must be the same religion. The logical conclusion is that either one religion is true, or none of them are true.

Answer 7

Remember this,
In every great myth there is a little truth, just find the parallels in all religions and this is probably the truth. Remember the golden rule, it's a belief in all religions" treat others as you would want them to do unto you"

But religion was started to explain what science couldn't
"In the beginning, man created GOD."

Answer 8

Interesting question. Most religions but not all define themselves as exclusively true.

For instance a religion that says its god is the one true god is clearly making an exclusive claim to truth - by definition any religion that worships a different god or gods is not, as defined by the other religion, a true god and is therefore false.

Not all religions define themselves exclusively, and some religions share the same god.

Answer 9

Well, the Bible says at Matthew 7:21-23 "Not everyone saying to me Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will. Many will say to me in that day ' Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and expel demons in your name and perform many powerful works in your name?' And yet I will confess to them: I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!" And in that same chapter of Matthew, verses 13 and 14 say " Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it"
Those who practice true religion would be recognized by their beliefs and their conduct (Matthew 7:16,17). Although human and not mistake proof, true worshipers as a group seek to do God's will. How? 1) Basing the teachings on the Bible
2)Worship one Almighty God, and make his name known
3)show genuine love for one another
4)accept Jesus as God's means of salvation for mankind
5)are no part of this world, just as Jesus was not
6)preach God's Kingdom as mans only hope


I once did believe that all paths led to God, but I no longer do. I truly believe that God has the right to ask for the kind of worship He expects from us, and I think a great many religions have it wrong!

Answer 10

All religions can be equally true.

Which of course means none of them may be true.

I do believe in God.

I don't believe 3/4 of the planet are automatically doomed to Hell because they are the wrong religion.

I think there are some core values in all of them that sort of get twisted by the priest class of the religion.

God doesn't tell you to kill anybody, in any religion I know of. Including Islam.

Answer 11

My idea...the religion are for the minds.
When the mind goes inspid and goes to sleep the religious inforamation goes down with it

It si pathetic that no religion has coming even closer to knowing the true form of ourself - the soul.
The soul has no religion.