Dr. Winfried Corduan is emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Taylor University, and has been a blogger since before it was cool. I have learned from several of his books as I’ve developed my own class on world religions. His scholarship is thorough, multi-disciplinary, insightful, and informed by his own travel and conversations. He’s well known among students of apologetics for his informed engagement with members of other religions.

In this interview we discuss how he came to be interested in the world religions; raised as a Christian, as a young adult, he wasn’t interested in them at all! But things changed…

Did Dr. Corduan’s journey into religious studies scholarship cause him to doubt his own Christian faith?

And what is his answer to suggestions that all religions are basically the same? He argues that we must look below the shiny, exciting surfaces of the religions, to find differences of deep structure.

In the course of this interview, he makes interesting comments on Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. He also discusses the famous theory of religious pluralism propounded by John Hick, accusing it of “religious imperialism.”

Finally, Dr. Corduan gives some advice to Christians who want to learn about other religions.

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Bonus: Dr. Corduan performs his original song “United Vegetarian Meatmarket,” as he explains: “Choose your religion to suit your preferences! This is a satirical song about people looking for an easy custom-made religion.”

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