Omnism

Last updated
An artistic mandala with symbols associated with six world religions expressing love as a common value Essence of All religions is One- LOVE.jpg
An artistic mandala with symbols associated with six world religions expressing love as a common value

Omnism is the epistemological and theological position in philosophy that all religions contain varying degrees of truth, but no single religion can offer a fully true teleology. [1] [2] Omnism is related to syncretism, or the practice of combining multiple belief systems. [3]

Contents

Contemporary usage

Contemporary usage has modified "belief in all religions" to refer more to an acceptance of the legitimacy of all religions. The Oxford English Dictionary elaborates that an omnist believes "in a single transcendent purpose or cause uniting all things or people." Omnists interpret this to mean that all religions contain varying elements of a common truth, that omnists are open to potential truths from all religions. The Oxford dictionary defines an omnist as "a person who believes in all faiths or creeds; a person who believes in a single transcendent purpose or cause uniting all things or people, or the members of a particular group of people." [4] Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, considered the first Deist, argued that all religions were true. [5] In the poem All Religions are One , William Blake professed that every religion originated from God's revelation. [6] Henry Stubbe and other Socinians syncretized Unitarianism with Islamic theology. [7] Unitarian Universalism, which grew out of the Protestant Reformation, [8] is congruent with Omnism, and some congregations in the Unitarian Universalist Association explicitly attest to the category of Omnism. [9] [10] [11] Other notable interfaith organizations include the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples [12] and The Parliament of the World's Religions was the first organization with the goal to unite all religions. [13]

Notable omnists

See also

General and cited references

References

  1. "I Omnist". 15 May 2017.
  2. "Definition of OMNIST". Merriam-Webster. 2023-02-15. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  3. "Syncretism: Concept, Types, Characteristics, Features And Examples". Collaborative Research Group. Archived from the original on 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  4. "omnist". Oxford dictionaries. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018.
  5. Idinopulos, T.A.; Wilson, B.C. (1998). What Is Religion?: Origins, Definitions, and Explanations. Numen Book Series. Brill. p. 144. ISBN   978-90-04-11022-9 . Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  6. Summerfield, H. (1998). A Guide to the Books of William Blake for Innocent and Experienced Readers: With Notes on Interpretive Criticism 1910-1984. Colin Smythe Publication. C. Smythe. ISBN   978-0-86140-408-7 . Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  7. Shah, Z.A. (2022). Islam and The English Enlightenment: The Untold Story. Claritas Books. p. 110. ISBN   978-1-80011-984-0 . Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  8. Bramadat, P.A. (2000). The Church on the World's Turf: An Evangelical Christian Group at a Secular University. Religion in America. Oxford University Press. p. 152. ISBN   978-0-19-535059-3 . Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  9. Andrews, Yvonne L. "What is Omnism?". First Church of Lancaster, Unitarian Universalist. Retrieved January 13, 2026.
  10. Patrick, Lydia. "Omnism". Words of Wisdom - Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Gwinnett. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  11. Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fairbanks. "What do UUs Believe?". UUFF.org. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  12. Andrus, M. (2021). Brothers in the Beloved Community: The Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr. Parallax Press. p. 46. ISBN   978-1-946764-91-1 . Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  13. Lehmann, K.; Brodeur, P. (2021). Talking Dialogue: Eleven Episodes in the History of the Modern Interreligious Dialogue Movement. KAICIID – Beyond Dialogue Series. De Gruyter. p. 22. ISBN   978-3-11-052917-3 . Retrieved 2023-02-17.
  14. Herbert F. Tucker (17 April 2008). Epic : Britain's Heroic Muse 1790-1910: Britain's Heroic Muse 1790-1910. OUP Oxford. p. 344. ISBN   978-0-19-923298-7.
  15. Swami Prabhavananda (2019), Religion in Practice, Routledge.