Categories for Evaluating Religion

What are the categories we ought to use when evaluating religions? In my World Religions course, three categories for evaluating religion were suggested:

• True religion vs. false religion: "True religion is a loving, obedient response to the true God revealed in Holy Scripture. False religion is reliance on anything else. Only biblical Christianity is true religion" [Dr. John Cooper, "Religions: True and False, 'Good' and 'Bad' (Handout received in Christian Engagement of World Religions with Dr. John Bolt and Dr. John Cooper, Grand Rapids, MI; February 10, 2012)]. Key question: does this religion promote obedience to the God who has revealed himself in Scripture?
  
• Well-formed vs. malformed religion: A well-formed religion addresses the important questions that all people face. These are questions of life and death, meaning, morality, identity, etc. Well-formed religion provides the conceptual framework for interpreting the world around us and "integrates life by involving and orienting every basic aspect of existence" (Ibid). By contrast, malformed religion fails to answer these fundamental questions about the nature of our existence. Malformed religion would also be religion which is constructed in such a way as to not promote a moral, loving existence. Key question(s): does this religion provide a comprehensive system for understanding the world around us and does it promote moral and compassionate living?
  
• Well-practiced vs. poorly-practiced religion: Do you walk the walk? Do individuals or groups conscientiously hold to the positions of the religion? Do they intentionally live out their religion in a way that is authentic? This category is concerned with issues of orthodoxy and orthopraxis. Key question: is this religion seriously followed by the person or group in question? 

These categories provide a helpful distinction in discussing the religions around us. It is possible for a religion to answer the important existential questions humanity faces and to be strictly adhered to, but to be false. For instance, certain strands of Judaism might answer all the important questions humanity faces (it attempts to make sense of the world we live in) and is followed with great zeal and authenticity; as such, there are good elements to it (i.e. it promotes moral and compassionate living). However, this particular strand is still a false religion because it does recognize in obedience and love the God, revealed by Scripture, who was incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ.

Equally important, though, is the fact that Christianity can be true and yet poorly-practiced. A person might rightly recognize the God of Scripture, but at the same time be mean, lazy, morally dubious, and inconsistent in their practice of Christianity. Poorly-practiced Christianity is rightly found wanting.

Ask yourself: is your religion...

true?

well-formed?

well-practiced?