Suppose supernatural truths exist, but they’re not obvious. Instead, we could only dimly perceive them. What would such a world look like?
We might have a Babel of religions because of our imperfect understanding, but we’d also find convergence. As disparate religious groups compared notes, common supernatural truths would become clear. We’d see positive feedback, and pieces would fit together as we matched our tentative consensus against that rudimentary understanding of the Divine. And if that supernatural Divine wanted to encourage our efforts, it could nudge us in the right direction so humanity would gradually cobble together an accurate understanding.
In fact, we see the opposite. No common truth pushes religions toward a single consensus view. There isn’t even agreement on the number of gods or their names, let alone what it takes to please them. Christianity continues to fragment and morph as new denominations form. There are 45,000 denominations of Christianity, and new denominations appear at a rate of two per day. We see that same fertility in other religions.
The Christian response is often to argue that God could have his reasons for not making clear the correct path, and we simply don’t understand those reasons. That is possible, but where’s the evidence? This is the Hypothetical God Fallacy, where God is supposed into existence.
We don’t believe something because it hasn’t been proven wrong; we believe because good evidence shows that it’s right. And when we follow the evidence, it doesn’t point to Christianity.
Christians usually agree that people invent religions—that’s how they explain all those other religions. But in explaining away the other religions, they have explained away their own. Christianity looks like just one more manmade religion.
Religion is built on human imagination and emotions, evolving as conditions change with no immutable truth to guide and constrain it. There is no loving god wanting a relationship who would make his existence known to us, and Christians must use faith to cover up this awkward fact. There’s not even a cosmic truth seen “through a glass, darkly” (that is, seen reflected in a mirror, dimly), as Paul put it. The glass isn’t dark; it’s black. There is no external truth nudging us in the right direction.
If there were a supernatural truth out there and if evidence rather than wishful thinking steered religious beliefs, we’d expect religious claims to be tested and either kept or dropped based on how well they matched reality. With this view, we should see humankind gradually converge on a single religious story, with false beliefs gradually falling away and correct beliefs encouraged and strengthened. But that isn’t how religion works.
Not only is there no evidence that a dimly seen god exists, but religion is the last place you’d expect an unbiased search for the truth. Religion has no interest in following the evidence without bias but in sifting out evidence to support its preconceptions and ignoring the rest.
Continue to chapter 50.
Image credit: ArtHouse Studio via Pexels
Notes
Hypothetical God Fallacy: the presupposition of a god without sufficient evidence, often stated, “But if God exists….” We can consider the consequences of God once we have evidence for him, but you don’t imagine him into existence. First the evidence, then the God hypothesis.
45,000 denominations of Christianity: International Bulletin of Missionary Research, vol 39, no. 1, http://www.internationalbulletin.org/issues/2015-01/2015-01-028-johnson.pdf (line item 45).
“through a glass, darkly”: 1 Corinthians 13:12 (KJV)
We see that same fertility in other religions: this is illustrated by this tree of world religions: http://www.the40foundation.org/world-religions-tree.html.
2-Minute Christianity 
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Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem.All praise is due to Allah ﷻ, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the All-Wise, the All-Knowing. May peace and blessings be upon His final Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ).
The author of this article presents a deeply flawed premise that stems from assumptions rooted in secular materialism rather than sincere investigation. Let’s break it down and expose the contradictions using reason, historical evidence, and Qur’anic clarity.
False Premise: “Suppose supernatural truths exists, we’d expect convergence among religions.”
This assumption is fundamentally naïve and overlooks the nature of free will, divine testing, and historical corruption. Allah ﷻ says in the Qur’an:
Allah ﷻ allowed differences as a test. The existence of religious differences does not disprove revelation, it highlights human distortion, pride, and cultural manipulation of truth.
Islam is the only religion that claims an unaltered final revelation in its original language, preserved by mass transmission (tawātur) and memorized by millions to this day. Where is the original Injeel (Gospel)? The Torah? The Vedas? The answer is silence, but the Qur’an is still here, word for word, letter for letter, the same words that were told to the Prophets (ﷺ) companions. (example: Zayd ibn Thābit رضي الله عنه).
Islam: The Only Preserved and Rational Path
Islam stands alone:
One Book (unchanged),
One God (no partners),
One Final Messenger ﷺ,
One consistent message from Adam to Muhammad ﷺ: worship Allah ﷻ alone.
No need for 45,000 denominations. No contradictions. No blind faith.
If you truly seek the truth, read the Qur’an (if you haven’t) not through Western academic bias, but with an open heart.
ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًۭى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ ٢
“This is the Book! There is no doubt about it[1]—a guide for those mindful ˹of Allah˺,[2]” (Surah (Chapter) Al-Baqarah (The Cow/The Heifer) Ayat (Verse) 2 22:2)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] i.e., there is no doubt regarding its authenticity or consistency.[2] The word muttaqi (plural muttaqûn) can be translated as one who is mindful ˹of Allah˺, devout, pious, God-fearing, righteous, or God-conscious.
Transliteration: Thalika alkitabu larayba feehi hudan lilmuttaqeen
Listen to the beautiful Surah (chapter) here if you want:
https://quran.com/2/2
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Just for a note: I put “the author” because I don’t know whether 2-Minute Christianity is multiple people writing these or just one.
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False Premise: “Suppose supernatural truths exists, we’d expect convergence among religions.”
So then supernatural truths are indistinguishable from false claims about the supernatural.
“Allah ﷻ allowed differences as a test.”
Why is there a test when Allah knows how each person will respond to that test? The test is redundant.
“Islam is the only religion that claims an unaltered final revelation in its original language”
With an emphasis on the word “only.” Islam can claim whatever it wants, but where the evidence that its revelation is supernatural?
“No need for 45,000 denominations. No contradictions. No blind faith.”
Uh, yes blind faith. If you rely on faith then you have no use for evidence. As a skeptic, I need evidence.
“If you truly seek the truth, read the Qur’an (if you haven’t) not through Western academic bias, but with an open heart.”
That’s what the Christians say.
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