About God Theories

God Theories is a reference site on six faiths: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and the Latter-day Saint faith. It describes each one as its informed followers would recognize it, sets historians' views beside the tradition's own account, and ties every factual statement on its guide, comparison, and Writings pages to a source. It takes no side.

Last reviewed:

What does the site cover?

The site covers six faiths in the same depth and the same order. Each has a guide of eight pages: an overview, then history, beliefs, sacred texts, practices and holy days, branches, the faith today, and a page called The Strongest Case, which presents the faith's case as its own thinkers make it. Comparison pages set Christianity beside each of the other five, row by row. They follow the pattern of the site's book series, which sets Christianity beside Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and the Latter-day Saint faith.

Two more sections are on the way. Writings will cover the surviving manuscripts and inscriptions behind each faith's texts: when they were made, when they were found, and what they show and do not show. A map will trace how each faith spread, from 2000 BCE to today.

Why does the site take no side?

The site's job is to describe, not to decide. Readers come from every faith and from none, and each deserves to see their own tradition described fairly and the others described just as fairly. So the site acts as a referee. It gives each faith the same structure and the same care, and it lists the six in alphabetical order everywhere, so that no order suggests a ranking.

Where a tradition's account and historians' reconstruction differ, on a date, an author, or an origin, the site gives both, labeled, at equal length. The site doesn't settle the disagreement. The same verbs apply to every side: a tradition, a historian, or a critic may teach, hold, argue, or respond. No sentence on the site says or implies that one faith is truer, more reasonable, or more moral than another.

What is The Strongest Case book series?

The Strongest Case is a series of books that sets two positions side by side, each argued at full strength. Its motto is "Both sides at full strength. The verdict is yours." The series has 5 books, the last of them coming soon. The books are written by Bennett Kim. The Resources page lists them.

The books are not used as sources for this site. The guides are drafted from scholarly works and from each faith's own authoritative texts, which the footnotes on every guide page name.

How is the site made?

Each page is researched, drafted, checked against its sources, and reviewed for fairness before a human editor approves it. The Methods page explains each step, the naming rules, which scripture translations are quoted, and how to report a mistake.