God IS One<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite the hyperbole of its dustcover -- \u201cThe Clash of the Gods\u201d -- Stephen Prothero\u2019s God Is not One presents a simple truth: the world\u2019s religions are really different. Our blogger roundtable continues with a post by progressive Christian theologian Bruce Epperly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God IS One\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite the hyperbole of its dustcover -- \u201cThe Clash of the Gods\u201d -- Stephen Prothero\u2019s God Is not One presents a simple truth: the world\u2019s religions are really different. Our blogger roundtable continues with a post by progressive Christian theologian Bruce Epperly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2010\/10\/god-is-one-and-revealed-in-many-ways\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Forward\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-10-22T20:04:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/mainlineportal\/files\/2010\/10\/God-is-Not-One-hc-cc-198x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deborah Arca\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deborah Arca\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2010\/10\/god-is-one-and-revealed-in-many-ways\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2010\/10\/god-is-one-and-revealed-in-many-ways\/\",\"name\":\"God IS One\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-22T20:04:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-10-22T20:04:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/#\/schema\/person\/f9a622c83c6f34ff7abb06463e51081c\"},\"description\":\"Despite the hyperbole of its dustcover -- \u201cThe Clash of the Gods\u201d -- Stephen Prothero\u2019s God Is not One presents a simple truth: the world\u2019s religions are really different. 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{"id":1496,"date":"2010-10-22T14:04:57","date_gmt":"2010-10-22T20:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/mainlineportal\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2010-10-22T14:04:57","modified_gmt":"2010-10-22T20:04:57","slug":"god-is-one-and-revealed-in-many-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2010\/10\/god-is-one-and-revealed-in-many-ways\/","title":{"rendered":"God IS One"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a>Our blogger roundtable on the book God Is Not One<\/a><\/span>, by Boston College professor Stephen Prothero, continues this week with a post by Progressive Christian theologian Bruce Epperly. \u00a0Read an excerpt from his review below. \u00a0Epperly joins a roundtable which has included Muslim, Hindu, Pagan and other Christian bloggers in responding to the central themes in Prothero\u2019s best-selling book. \u00a0I encourage you to visit the Take & Read Blog<\/a> and read some of the responses; it\u2019s been a rich conversation, and includes some compelling responses from Prothero to individual bloggers\u2019 questions. <\/em><\/p>\n

Find more resources on the book, including author interviews and Discussion Questions for your own group discussion, visit the new Patheos Book Club<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Bruce Epperly on God Is Not One<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the hyperbole of its dustcover \u2014 \u201cThe Clash of the Gods\u201d \u2014\u00a0Stephen Prothero\u2019s God Is not One<\/a> presents a simple truth: the world\u2019s religions are really different. They have different origins, different analyses of the human condition, and different destinations. They point to different dimensions of reality and focus on different aspects of human experience. For Prothero, despite the potential for conflict among the world\u2019s religions, this is good news and may be the basis for authentic religious dialogue and cooperation.<\/p>\n

While Prothero deals with the phenomena of religious experience and ritual and doesn\u2019t weigh in on issues of religious or metaphysical truth, he presents a picture of diverse, conflicting, and contrasting religious traditions, and suggests that humility is the only appropriate response to varieties of religious experience. If there is a god or goddess, \u201cHe or She or It must surely know more than we do about the things that matter most\u201d (340).For Prothero, the solution is to be found in the\u00a0apophatic<\/em> spiritual tradition, the wisdom that the Holy is always more than we can imagine. Seeing in a mirror dimly, to quote the apostle Paul, is the antidote to \u201cgod-inspired\u201d violence and intolerance.<\/p>\n

I fundamentally agree with Prothero\u2019s thesis that religions are manifold; but as a theologian, I take a slightly different path that embraces both the\u00a0kataphatic<\/em> and\u00a0apophatic<\/em> aspects of religious experience \u2014 the affirmation that God is revealed in all things and can be symbolized by many things, while being more than anything we can imagine. More than that, I believe God is the source of the world\u2019s many religious traditions.<\/p>\n

Read the rest of Bruce\u2019s post here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"