who can help me revise my paper
Tamier Bao
bao_draft_2.docx1
4
Tamier Bao
REL 103
Professor: Nicholas Maryrand
Oct 28. 2015
Boston University Professor Stephen Prothero is totally against the mountain metaphor and according to him, all world religions are same and they may be different in non-essentials. Comment by Nick Mayrand: You got it backward here… Prothero criticizes the single mountain metaphor which is the one that says all religions are really the same and only different in non-essentials. Prothero thinks they are very different from each other!
Prothero uses fours steps to describe the religious framework of these eight religions. The first step is problem. The second is solution of problem or religious the third step is technique to solve the problem. And last step is an exemplar who will map the process of this solution.
At the point of solution, professor makes very valid point. He said that huge differences exist within the religions. The God of Ibrahim is totally different from God of Moses or the God of Second Isaiah. Here, Professor said that these religions are not same and we have to stop pretending what they are. More religious literacy and more knowledge and information are needed to understand the practices and beliefs of these religions (Prothero, 2010). In conclusion, the book is really a good point to start.
Now it is the point where conflict comes in. First, I am totally disagreeing with the premise that “God is not one”. From class lectures and all the available literature about mentioned eight religions, it is clear that uniqueness of God is single point shared by all religions. Second, the real and true definition of God makes it independent of any religion. Comment by Nick Mayrand: We didn’t really say that God is shared by all religions… many religions like Buddhism do not necessarily share this! We did talk about how many traditions, like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, do seem to share their belief in one God though.
Through translating a Jewish statement "Jehovah Echad" (God is not one), it is not possible to say that God is not one. Third, I think that conflict arises when people mixed up true definition of God with religious definitions. Each person has very different opinion about the God which makes it confusing concept of universe.
With the changing religious scenario, what is humanity has become a big question in every religion. People are coming together and building the relationships with each other. These people are sharing their ideas and rituals as they are created by a common destiny called God. According to The Catholic Church, the Christianity respects all the religions (Islam, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism) which have unique concept of God.
In answer to the question raised by Professor that God of Ibrahim is totally different from God of Moses or the God of Second Isaiah, Catholic Church replies that Christianity has common spirituality with all religions especially Judaism. It is due to one mountain metaphor concept. Furthermore, God’s plan of salvation is also derived from the practices of Moses and other prophets which proved the uniqueness of God and challenges the multiple mountain theory (Aetate, 1962). Comment by Nick Mayrand: Your discussion of Nostra Aetate works pretty well. I would combine the last 2 paragraphs into 1 paragraph. Write a sentence at the beginning of that 1 paragraph that tries to indicate what you’re going to try to explain using Nostra Aetate.
According to John Makransky, there is an obvious connection between Buddhology and Christian theology. That’s why; the Buddhism can learn the Christian theologies as there is much similarity among these two religions. In his article, he called the concept of one mountain metaphor (Buddhahood and God), the major cause of this relationship. Comment by Nick Mayrand: I’m not sure about this part… Makransky is not trying to say that Buddhahood is God… he just thinks that he can grow deeper into his understanding of Buddhism by reflecting on Christian ideas sometimes.
To formulate a comparative theology, it is compulsory for followers of both religions to have a complete the understanding of their religious practices. This point is similar to the point raised by Professor that religious knowledge and religious literacy is needed to understand the religious practices. In Buddhist theology, there are major four spiritual paths which can lead a person towards the God (Buddhahood). The interesting point is that this theology of Buddhist is for all religions following the Concept of One Mountain Metaphor (Makransky, 2011). Comment by Nick Mayrand: “complete” is a little too strong here… better to say “mature” or “strong”… most religious people will say they never quite have a “complete” understanding because there is always more to learn. Comment by Tamier Bao: strong
John Makransky claims that in Christianity, the Christians communicate with God while in Buddhism, the Buddhists go for Buddhahood. The comparative theology shows that both religions are perfectly following the One Mountain Metaphor which perfectly challenges the theory of Multiple Mountain Metaphor. Comment by Nick Mayrand: Again, this isn’t quite it… Makransky isn’t trying to say that both traditions are really doing the same thing. He just thinks that they can talk to each other and help each other out as they go about their lives in their religious traditions. So he’s not really trying to argue that the 1 mountain metaphor is correct. The Makransky article challenges Prothero because it shows him that even though religious traditions may be different from each other, they can come together to help each other and sometimes they find that they have similar ideas/concepts.
In my point of view, Islamic theology is completely opposing the premise of book ‘God is not one” as it is totally based on One Mountain Metaphor theory and it straightforward challenges the theory of Multiple Mountain Metaphor. Regarding the Islamic theology, it is first religious condition to believe on the Uniqueness of God. Without this faith, it is impossible to call a person Muslim.
Islamic theology challenges the multiple metaphor theory through introducing the concept of God not god. Love of God in Islam is part of complete and total devotion to God. According to the concept of four paths to spirituality in Buddhism, love of God is only one way that leads a person towards the God (ISLAM). Comment by Nick Mayrand: I’m a little confused by this sentence… try to restate what you’re saying here in another way to make it more clear.
However before love of God, it is compulsory to believe on the uniqueness of God. From the Quran versus in Islam, it is very easy to understand the one mountain metaphor and these versus and various Islamic traditions (Prayer, Fasting, and Hajj) are openly challenging the multiple metaphor theory of professor.
Despite of whole discussions and several drawbacks of Multiple Mountain Metaphor, calling the theory worthless are totally wrong.
As already mentioned, the book “God is not One’ is a good start to understand the history of God, the concept of God in major eight religions, similarities/differences in practices of these religions and Great problem/ solution method.
Furthermore, it is true that it is not possible to understand the one mountain metaphor or multiple mountain metaphor without religious education or religious knowledge. It is basic point raised by Professor in end if his discussion.
In conclusion, the book “God is Not One” by Professor Stephen Prothero challenges theory of one mountain metaphor and introduces the concept of multiple mountain metaphor. The book introduces to eight major religions (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Yoruba Religion, Daoism and Atheism).
In current paper, a critical and comparative discussion is made regarding the concept of one mountain metaphor theory in major three religions: Christianity, Buddhism and Islam.
After critical analysis, I found that all mentioned religious theologies are following the one mountain metaphor theory and their practices openly challenge the multiple mountain theory. All these three theologies believe on Uniqueness of God and according to them, God is One. Comment by Nick Mayrand: Again, Buddhism doesn’t really fit with this… I’d suggest trying to organize this paper a little differently. Rather than try to show that each of the 3 traditions follows the single mountain metaphor, just try to explain why Prothero’s focus on just the differences between them is not adequate. Talk about how the 3 traditions have similarities and how they can benefit from interacting with each other. I think you can do this using a lot of what you’ve already written here, but by organizing it that way it will make your argument make more sense. In other words, here’s a rough outline: Intro: Prothero’s multiple mountain metaphor and its focus on differences isn’t entirely adequate… Nostra Aetate shows that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have common strands that are very important, so it doesn’t make sense to view them as being on totally separate mountains. Islam and Christianity share common views on loving God and loving one’s neighbor, as demonstrated in “A Common Word”… Prothero’s metaphor fails to account for these significant areas of common ground Makransky demonstrates that religious traditions can work together to help their practitioners gain deeper understandings of their beliefs and practices. The cooperation between different traditions that he discusses does not seem to match up very well with Prothero’s focus on how different traditions are from each other. Conclusion.
Works Cited
II. ISLAM, L. O. G. I. A COMMON WORD BETWEEN US AND YOU.
III. Makransky, J. (2011). Thoughts on Why, How, and What Buddhists Can Learn from Christian Theologians. Buddhist-Christian Studies, 31(1), 119-133.
IV. Prothero, S. (2010). God is not one: ReadHowYouWant. com.
