Book review: World Religions in Seven Sentences

Why do people seek to learn about other religions? Knowing what others believe and how it affects their worldview is helpful as friends, colleagues, neighbors, travelers, and seekers. For instance, we may wonder: Why do Muslims fast for a month? What does karma mean to Hindus and Buddhists? Why do Jews, Muslims, and Christians fight over Israel and the West Bank? Do Atheists believe God is dead?

Douglas Groothuis, a professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary since 1993, encapsulates seven world religions into seven short phrases, then explains what they mean in his book, World Religions in Seven Sentences. These lines are not always self-explanatory (compared to, say, Descartes’ famous “I think, therefore I am”). For example, the phrases range from obscure (Hinduism’s “You are that”) to easily memorized (Islam’s “There is one God, and Muhammad is his prophet”).

Groothuis excels at providing lists: the Four Covenants of the Jews; Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths; the Six Tenets of Islam. He also explains how both Hindus and Buddhists believe in karma, though Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha rejected major parts of Hinduism in order to seek enlightenment.

As he says in the introduction, Groothuis provides his “evaluations of each faith” through his conviction that “truth is [only] found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.” That’s seemingly why the book begins with Atheism (not that “God is dead” but “there is no God and has never been”). As more Americans become unaffiliated to a particular religion, the author warns that “a world without God is ripe … [for] the most ruthless political oppression.”

He saves Islam for last. As the second-most popular religion in the world, Islam has similarities to the two other Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity. It recognizes the prophets of the Hebrew Bible and its Qur’an talks of Jesus as a prophet of Allah. However, Muslim teachings deny Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and place in the Trinity (the Godhead). Groothuis claims Jesus and Mohammad are two of the most influential people in the world. However, he shows Jesus as a humble healer, while Mohammad is a destroyer and leader; “Allah is merciful” but the Christian “God is love.”

World Religions in Seven Sentences provides a brief overview of different religions, but its Christian viewpoint introduces too much bias for non-Christian readers.

rating: ★★★

World Religions in Seven Sentences: A Small Introduction to a Vast Topic
by Douglas Groothuis
IVP Academic