I’ve been struggling with writing a review of this book for a couple of weeks. Stephen Prothero is a religious studies professor. His thesis is that all religions are are different and that their differences matter. He refutes the bromide that all religions are separate paths to the same goal and therefore we should all just get along. Religions are distinctly different, beginning with the human problems they are trying to solve. For example Christians believe the problem is original sin, for Hindus the problem is human suffering. Prothero believes that understanding the differences in religions can bring about better relations among different peoples than pretending everyone is the same. This all makes perfect sense, but the book falls short, in part due to the style of the writing and also because in summarizing religions in single chapters provides only a simple introduction to each one.
The book covers eight major global religions. Prothero acknowledges that he had to draw a line somewhere, he argues that these are the eight most influential religions today. Influence is based not only upon numbers of adherents, but also influences in culture and to a certain extent longevity. He begins with Islam as the most important religion today due to the fact that it is the second largest religion globally, it is growing, and its importance in current world affairs.
He includes Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Yoruba, Judaism and Daoism, and a brief commentary about Atheism. For each religion he starts with the problem that the religion addresses, its solution to the problem, the techniques for moving toward the solution, and exemplars who chart the path to the solution. He also tries to include the evolution of each religion, a bit of detail on different sects or schools within each religion. In trying to cover so much, the religions actually start to look more similar rather than different. The devil, or perhaps the god, appears to be in the details.
Our book group struggled with the question of what is the difference between a religion and an ethical system? Confucianism, Daoism and to a certain extent Buddhism can be described as lacking deities. Does it matter? In each religion differences arise, for example: Catholics and Protestants, Sunnis and Shiites, the many schools of Buddhism. Do these differences matter to the same degree as the differences between the “major religions?” What Prothero doesn’t do is discuss how these differences influence the global challenges we face today. It’s not that the reader can’t figure some of them out, it just would have been more satisfying for him to address the issues. For example, how do these differences influence climate change?
To his credit, Prothero’s book is easier to read than a book like Karen Armstrong’s The History of God. The downside of his writing is that it sometimes feels as if you are sitting in an undergraduate classroom. The pop culture references fall a bit flat on the page, and may date the book rather quickly.
Prothero tackles a difficult and important subject. The book promises more than it delivers, but for someone with very little knowledge of religion it’s a good starting place.
