While there are only a few major religions in the world, it’s believed that there are tens of thousands of belief systems that branched off from those few. Each one has its own doctrines, beliefs, practices, and forms of deities or non-deities. If you asked the followers of each religion why they believe what they do, their answers would be as varied as the number of religious sects that exist.
So what is religion and why are there so many variations from which to choose? Simply put, religion is a particular system of beliefs usually involving some type of moral code followed by its followers. And as everyone seeks to find meaning in life, their own unique journey takes them on an exploration of various religious experiences as seen through the lens of their faith.
Today, I will look at what skeptics and atheists say about religion as compared to what the Bible says.
What Do Skeptics and Atheists Say?
Skeptics believe religion to be a coping mechanism for human beings – a mechanism of self-comfort and a way to make themselves feel like their life has a higher purpose. While they aren’t necessarily anti-religious, they’re skeptical of one religion being valued over another. Not only do skeptics question the authority of religion, but they also doubt many of the claims people make regarding the religious practices they follow.
Atheists view religion as an evolutionary adaptation that’s made people vulnerable to whatever belief system they choose. They insist that religious practices are without reason and unsupported by scientific facts. Because atheists reject the existence of God or any form of a higher power, they claim that most religions are based on superstition. Some even believe religiosity is man’s attempt to make sense of why humans exist in the first place.
The Bible talks about religion in James 1:27 by saying, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” This simplistic description is far different from the rules, rituals, and hard-to-follow standards found in many of the world’s religions today.
While some would argue that Christianity is just another religion, each with its own set of beliefs and doctrines, the key difference between Christianity and other religions is that it’s based around relationships. As stated in Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
This passage shows that Christianity is more about a relationship with the Living God rather than a set of rules to follow. From this relationship stems the guiding principles that improve relationships with others, including those of love, of friendship or fellowship, of family, and even of business or work affiliation, which is one of the reasons it remains so relevant in today’s world. Christianity has a strong focus on community and connecting with each other through a shared connection to Christ, and while there’ll always be many different religions to choose from, Biblical Christianity is the only one that invites people to enter a relationship with the Savior of the world. Perhaps, Christianity is worth a second look, as it sets itself apart from every other religion on the planet in its own unique way.
In the seventeenth century, a famous philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal, encouraged people to make a wager when it came to belief in God. If a person chose to believe in God and God did exist, that person would gain everything (eternal life). If a person chose to believe in God and God did not exist, that person would lose nothing. On the other hand, if a person chose not to believe in God and he was right, he would lose nothing. But if that person did not believe in God and he was wrong- he would lose everything (lose eternal life).
The major religions of the world (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Christianity, Taoism, and Judaism) differ in many respects, including how each religion is organized and the belief system each upholds.
Answering Skeptics Questions: Don’t All Religions Basically Teach the Same Thing?
Many people wonder why we make such a fuss about Jesus Christ and Christianity since they believe all religions are basically the same. They assume that all faiths are all talking about the same thing but are putting it in a different way.
One man once gave this illustration. He said, “Suppose you take ten men and blindfold them, and lead them over to an elephant. You now let each of them touch a different part of the elephant—tail, trunk, etc.—without telling them what they are touching.
“You lead them back inside, take off their blindfolds, and tell them to describe what they touched.” The man then asked, “Would their descriptions agree?” The answer of course is no.
The man then made this observation: even though these ten men touched the same thing, they did not agree because each touched a different part or, if you please, experienced it from a different angle. He went on to conclude, “Isn’t it the same in religion?
“Aren’t all the different religious groups— Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Buddhists, etc.—experiencing the same God, yet explaining it in different ways? Thus, can’t they all be true, but with each giving a different emphasis?”
The problem with this illustration is identifying the elephant with God. You are assuming that all these people are experiencing the same God, when in fact this is not true. Christianity and Islam cannot both be true at the same time. Neither can Mormonism and Buddhism both be correct simultaneously nor can Christian Science and Hinduism.
All religions cannot be true at the same time because they teach many things completely opposite from one another. They all may be wrong, but certainly, they all cannot be right, for the claims of one will exclude the other.
As to matters of salvation and the person of Jesus Christ, only historic Christianity recognizes Him as the eternal God becoming a man who died for the sins of the world and arose again the third day. Salvation is obtained only by putting one’s trust in this Jesus.
The Jesus of Islam is not the Son of God who died for the sins of the world; neither is the Jesus of Mormonism- or Christian Science the same Jesus as revealed in the Bible.
Salvation is not by grace and through faith in these religions, but it is a matter of works. It can then be observed that we are dealing with different religious ideas that are not compatible with one another.
Even though many religions seem to be the same on the surface, the closer one gets to the central teachings the more apparent the differences become. It is totally incorrect to say that all religions are the same.
The God of the Christians is not the same God as that of the Mormons, Muslims, or Christian Scientists. If the God of the Bible is the only true God, then the other gods are nonexistent and should not be worshipped.
Our lives are oriented around our belief (or lack of) spiritual things. No wonder, as religious philosophies concern what counts as ultimate reality, and pertains to our souls and the deepest questions of life. So, what are the common religious philosophies today, and how should we view them? Let’s look at nine philosophies, in alphabetical order.
Agnosticism
Sometimes Agnosticism is not a philosophy at all; it is simply ignorance, or not knowing what to believe. But there is a particular kind of Agnosticism, a “hard” or so-called “ornery” Agnosticism, which teaches that we can’t know things pertaining to religion; that the search for religious truth is considered a hopeless endeavor. Reasons for holding a hard form of Agnosticism vary, but it is not difficult to imagine why. There are so many different views and opinions about spiritual things, so many arguments and so many different claims to truth that are difficult to sort through. By taking the hard, “we can’t know” Agnostic position, a person is able to stay out of the mess and carry on with life as he or she deems fit. But is this really a wise approach to the most important questions of life?
Atheism
Some Atheists say, “I believe God doesn’t exist.” But many simply say, “I lack belief in God.” The distinction is that many of them don’t like to be associated with having beliefs of any kind pertaining to God, and they want to be clear that the burden of proof for belief is on the theist.
Atheists typically, Atheism includes a lack of belief for anything pertaining to spirituality. Atheists operate under a naturalist worldview, where matter is all that there is, and everything — thoughts, feelings, consciousness, pain, suffering, etc. — can be reduced to chemicals in motion. There are no spirits, no seers, no reincarnation, no channeling, no karma, and no providence. The life you live now is the only life you are sometimes demonized in the minds of those who are spiritual/religious. This is unfortunate, as most Atheists care about people and the state of the world. They are concerned that spiritual/religious people believe through “blind” faith (which is sometimes true), which they would never do. They consider themselves students of Science and empirical evidence.
Atheism struggles to provide satisfying solutions to questions of purpose, meaning, destiny, and morality — at least, in any kind of absolute sense.
Buddhism
Buddhism is a popular Eastern religion founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the late 500s BCE. As the story goes, while sitting under a Bodhi Tree in deep mediation, Siddhartha became enlightened and was thus called a Buddha (often translated as an “Enlightened one “). Siddhartha spent the remainder of his life teaching what he came to believe.
Buddhism recognizes reincarnation, but the goal is to get out of it and break from existence. The way of Buddhism is based on recognition and acceptance of these “Four Noble Truths”:
Life is suffering.
We suffer because nothing is permanent, and we are trying to hold onto things that are lasting.
We eliminate suffering by ending attachment to this life.
We must break from desire in the cycle of life and reincarnation.
By following the 8-fold path (a set of moral guidelines to life), we are in a better position to understand the first three noble truths.
There is a psychological appeal here, as most people would agree that suffering is often (perhaps always) a result of something changing that we don’t want to change. The challenge for Buddhism is substantiating the rest of the system. What reason do we have to believe in reincarnation, and why should we believe the solution proposed by Siddhartha?
Christianity
Christianity teaches that there is one God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, who loves and desires to be in a relationship with His creations. Yet all of humanity has done wrong in His eyes. This “sin” separates us from God, which He must punish because He is holy.
But all is not lost, because God sent his Son, Jesus, who willingly died on the cross as payment for our sin. Three days later He rose from the dead in bodily form, to offer eternal life as a gift to those who confess their sins and receive Him for the salvation of their soul (see Ephesians 2:8-9).
Unlike most religious philosophies, the leading role is held by God, not people. God is the one who saves the day. In the Christian system, moral character is not the means to a relationship with God; it is a result of it.
It is also worth noticing that the central piece of Christianity is connected to an event in history. Christianity stands or falls on whether this historical religious figure named Jesus really existed, died, and was resurrected. This event can be evaluated and weighed on historical grounds. We offer numerous resources on this website that answer these questions of history, to show why believers don’t simply rely on “blind faith.”
Hinduism
Hinduism is an Eastern religion with great diversity. Hindus believe in karma, reincarnation, a caste system, and the Brahman, the absolute universal singularity in which everyone and everything is a part. The goal of life is to escape perpetual reincarnation by accumulating enough good karma over multiple lifetimes. Adherents tend to orient themselves toward one of three divinities in the Hindu system: Vishnu, Shiva, or Devi. Oriented around a caste system, it is difficult to be a Hindu in a non-caste culture, especially if the culture values humanity having equal potential and freedom.
It’s a mistake to think of Hinduism as having a set doctrine. Many Hindu follow the Vedas, Upanishads, and/or the Bhagavad-Gita. Some forms of Hinduism involve gurus going into trance states, becoming possessed by various powers to provide specialized help. The culture of Hinduism varies by region, family influences, and other factors, and tends to change or evolve. For this reason, Hinduism has often been called a way of life rather than a religion.
Islam
Islam considers itself the religion of Adam, Abraham, and Moses. Despite their similarities with Christianity, Islam theology differs dramatically in its view of God, Jesus, Scripture, and Salvation. Jesus was a great prophet, for example, but to call him “God” is a major abomination. Islam teaches that the Bible is corrupted and that the prophet Muhammad provided the Qur’an, the only true word of God.
Of the most significant differences, salvation is a matter of moral character. This is largely determined by adherence to Islam’s “five pillars”:
To confess, “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.”
To pray five times daily.
To fast from sunrise until sunset during the month of Ramadan.
To make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in your lifetime, so long as you are able.
To give at least 2.5 percent of your earnings to the poor.
These pillars, along with adherence to the Qur’an, are imperative for the salvation of Muslims. They are left to hope that they have been good enough to earn Allah’s favor into eternal life.
Judaism
Jews trace their roots to Adam, Abraham, and Moses, like Christians. But Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah — because their Messiah has yet to come. The Jewish sacred text, what the Christian Bible calls the “Old Testament,” places special emphasis on the Torah, the first five books.
Judaism also developed an extensive oral tradition, which was written down as the “Talmud.” Judaism typically adheres to Rabbinic teaching and the Law of Moses. Adherents see themselves as belonging to the covenant of God, but they don’t share the New Testament view of God’s radical self-giving to forgive sinners and grant them full access to his presence.
New Age
New Age spirituality is one of the most diverse, and therefore most difficult, religious philosophies to succinctly define. Broadly speaking, this movement beckons followers to strip the different religions of their doctrine to fashion a spiritual smorgasbord from which to pick and choose.
It can be as simple as believing in your fortune cookie message, to being a full-fledged spiritual guru who performs healing therapy by channeling the energies with magic beads and crystals. Sometimes, New Age spirituality appears as a mystical movement that explores the idea of God-consciousness within. Other times, it takes the form of a more magical movement with psychics, mediums, healers, and spiritual forces. Followers talk about enlightenment, about the exciting dawn of spiritual pluralism, and about helping people awaken to their self-potential.
New Age spirituality has become popular in the U.S. because it promises a have-it-your-way non-judgmental path to spirituality — it serves to “catch” those who forsake their former religious upbringing but desire to remain spiritual.
Paganism
Modern Paganism is often called Neopaganism to distinguish itself from the old local village religions that we typically think of. Modern Pagans base their spirituality on nature, with an emphasis on practice, rather than belief. Their practices usually involve the use of magick (the “k” is used to distinguish it from fake “magic” tricks used for entertainment).
The most well-known form of Paganism is Wicca, of which there are variations. The basic form of Wicca worship involves creating or casting a circle somewhere, invoking or inviting deities into the circle, and using their powers to produce change. This can be concerning to any Christian friends, who understand that not all spirits are good ones.
I understand how difficult it might be for you to absorb all of this as a first-time reading. I suggest you look at each of the individual presentations as an overview and then find a particular one to research deeper.
My blessings to all of you
Jack