Claim 6 of 8 · Case 05 · Relativism
The popular idea that all religions are different paths up the same mountain does not hold, because the traditions describe different and contradictory summits.
One claim from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
This is the objection you will actually hear at a family dinner, and it sounds humble and generous, so treat the heart behind it kindly. But it makes a large assumption: that there is one summit. Buddhism aims at no-self and cessation, release from existence as we know it. Christianity aims at a restored self, fully known, in relationship with a personal God. Those are not two trails up one peak. One says lose yourself, the other says you are found. This is the clearest logical argument here, and it turns on a fact anyone can check: the traditions genuinely disagree about the goal.
Backed by 3 pieces of evidence
John Hick’s religious pluralism, as summarized in academic materials
This is the opposing view in its strongest form, stated honestly before any response. The short answer, developed below, is that pluralism has to flatten what the religions actually claim about themselves in order to say they all match.
Critiques of pluralism from contradictory truth claims
This answers the objection on the merits: Buddhism’s cessation and Christianity’s restored relationship cannot both be the same summit. They’re different peaks, not different trails up the same one.
The self-referential problem in pluralism
This shows the objection is not the humble, view-from-nowhere position it seems to be. The honest move is to take each tradition seriously enough to notice they really do disagree.