The term Omnism was first coined in 1839 by Phillip James Bailey in his epic poem, “Festus.” 

When people use the term, they are describing a belief in all religions. More specifically, it is the belief that all religions hold a degree of truth – but no one religion has a monopoly on truth. 

For years, I labeled myself with terms like “multi-faith,” “interfaith,” or “spiritually eclectic.” I’d studied a myriad of religions and had actually spent time practicing various forms of Christianity, Islam, Baha’i, Taoism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. God met me in some part of every faith tradition that I came across. I struggled with the fact that I didn’t have a spiritual or religious home. I couldn’t embrace the fullness of any one faith tradition, but I also couldn’t denounce any form of spirituality that I had studied or practiced – because I knew my experiences with God had been real in each of those spiritual traditions. 

I discovered the terms Omnism and Omnist in 2021 and I felt like they fit perfectly. I tried to look for others who were Omnists, but there wasn’t much in the way of an Omnist community. And the few people I’d found who identified as Omnists had not studied religion with any depth. Their identification as Omnists seemed to be more of a salad bowl where we all “live and let live” together – but never fully crossing over into another’s spiritual understanding. A person has the right to make their Omnism whatever they want it to be. But I wanted an Omnism that was more of a melting pot, where my understanding of other faiths could be intimate and experiential. 

Omnism is not a religion in and of itself. It does not have its own sacred texts, places of worship, hierarchical structures, or dogmatic belief systems. It merely asserts that every faith tradition has some underlying truth that connects it to all other faith traditions. Omnism doesn’t even make any claims about what that underlying truth might be. That is for each individual to discover for him, her, or themself. 

Do I believe that every single detail of every religion is true? Absolutely not. 

But do I believe that all different types of faith traditions are birthed from legitimate spiritual experiences? Yes. 

I believe that whatever produces goodness, compassion, peace, and wholeness in a person is what is right for that person. As humans, we are going to get some of the details wrong and that’s okay. As humans, we are not going to always have all the answers, and that’s okay. I don’t believe that God expects us to get every theological detail correct. That would be impossible. 

What’s most important is what we do with whatever we believe: how we treat others, how we treat ourselves, and how we treat the world around us. 

I chose Omnism because – after studying so many different faith traditions – I began to see that  people are innately spiritual and God is inexhaustibly expansive. God shows up at different times, in different places, and in different ways – and people interpret their experiences based on the lens of their time period, environment, culture, and overall worldview. Having a panoramic view of God and seeing how various belief systems fit together like puzzle pieces has been a beautiful experience for me. Having the ability to consistently learn, process, and evolve spiritually has also been a beautiful experience for me. The fluidity of Omnism has allowed me to be a lifelong learner and explorer. I am grateful for that. 

What spiritual path have you found to be the best for you? And why?