Different Mountains, Not Just Different Paths: A Review of "God is Not One" by Stephen Prothero
Stephen Prothero, God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World, Paperback (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011) Pp. 400. $9.99
Every now and then, I find myself wandering back into the world of religious studies. Specifically, world religions. It was part of my training in systematic theology (which, fun fact, often assumes other religions exist to prove why Christianity is correct). For someone committed to the distinctiveness of Christian theology, understanding how other major traditions understand God, the human condition, and everything in between is part of loving our neighbors well.
Still, I don’t revisit it as often as I should. It’s easier to stay in my own theological sandbox. But eventually, conviction wins out. So when I picked up Stephen Prothero’s God is Not One again, I’ll admit it was for the sake of brushing up. It’s an older book, but I had it on my shelf and it’s accessible.
So with that, let’s discuss religion—or more specifically, the idea that all religions are really the same.
You’ve probably heard this one or something similar: “All religions are just different paths up the same mountain.” It's one of those things people say when they want to sound both spiritual and tolerant, without actually having to know anything about religion.
Cue the nodding heads and general agreement.
Stephen Prothero, however, would like a word.
In God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World, Prothero goes full contrarian on this well-worn metaphor. He doesn’t just say the paths are different. He suggests we’re not even on the same mountain. Some folks might be hiking up Mount Sinai (Christianity) while others journey to the cave of Mount Hira (Islam)—and calling it all the same thing is not just lazy, it’s dangerous.
Prothero, who teaches religion at Boston University, has spent his career reminding people that understanding religious difference is essential to understanding the world. He’s not trying to convert you; he’s just trying to get you to stop sounding ignorant.
The book introduces eight major religions—Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Yoruba tradition, Judaism, and Daoism—plus a bonus chapter on atheism (which is, let’s say, “religion-adjacent”). The religions are arranged not alphabetically or theologically, but according to their size, global impact, and historical reach. For sports fans, it’s kind of like drafting a fantasy religion team based on influence stats.
To keep things coherent, Prothero uses a four-part grid to describe each religion: What’s the problem? What’s the solution? How do you get from problem to solution? And who shows you how to do that? He admits this framework is overly tidy, but it helps order the book's content.
One of the book’s central claims is that the “all religions are the same” narrative—peddled by figures such as Huston Smith and Karen Armstrong—is not only factually flawed but also morally problematic. When we flatten the world's religions into a single, happy-go-lucky unity project, we’re not being respectful. We’re erasing fundamental differences that shape real lives in real places. That’s not tolerance; that’s ignorance in a cardigan.
Prothero is at his strongest when he insists that religion has never been merely a private, personal thing. Religion—pick any one—is public, political, and powerful. It shapes nations, drives wars, motivates service, and sometimes makes people do terrible things in the name of transcendence. In short, religion is complicated.
To be clear, God is Not One isn’t trying to do theology. Prothero doesn’t care much about the finer points of divine nature. He’s a scholar of religion, not a confessor of faith. So if you’re hoping for an in-depth analysis of how Islamic monotheism differs from Trinitarian theology, you’re in the wrong book. But if you want to understand what Islam sees as the fundamental human problem (forgetfulness) and the prescribed solution (submission), then you’re in luck.
Now, to be fair, some readers—especially Christians—might feel the balance is a bit off. Christianity’s “gore and glory” gets more airtime than Islam’s moral failures, which Prothero tends to skate over lightly. And when he says Islam has a greater global impact than Christianity (this was published in 2011), he still might not be wrong. Pew Research’s projections from 2010 to 2050 highlight the rapid global growth of Islam in comparison to Christianity. It's still a tough pill to swallow for those of us currently in the largest “hiking party.”
Interestingly, for all his insistence on difference, Prothero doesn’t clearly define what religion is. He gestures toward a guy named Ninian Smart, who provided “seven dimensions of religion.” He eventually coughs up a functional definition involving beliefs, ethics, rituals, and institutions. It works well enough—until Prothero applies it to atheism, and suddenly everything’s a religion if you squint hard enough.
CrossFit? Sure.
Apple fandom? Why not! (I think I’m a follower?)
Ultimately, Prothero views this book as a starting point—an accessible invitation for readers to reconsider treating religion like one big family reunion. He offers a clear, readable, and occasionally provocative take on the world’s major religions without claiming to say everything that can or should be said. His strength lies in insisting that we not ignore our religious differences and complexities.
So it’s not one mountain. It’s a mountain range, and it’s worth knowing which mountain and path you’re on, and who you’re hiking it with.