Belief Compass

Across families

Roman Catholicism and Twelver Shia Islam

Different families with 11 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.10 (0 would be identical).

Roman CatholicismChristianity

A personal, transcendent God known through revelation and reason together, mediated by a sacramental church with teaching authority. Humanity is wounded and rescued by grace, which reaches people through sacraments rather than around them.

Twelver Shia IslamIslam

Shares Sunni tawhid and adds a line of divinely appointed Imams, a living scholarly authority one formally follows, and a devotional life built around lament and intercession. Authority sits markedly more centrally than in Sunni practice.

Where they agree

  • A1 Divine reality

    Both sit at a divine reality certainly exists — a gap of 0.00.

  • C1 Survival of the self

    Both sit at continues in some form — a gap of 0.00.

  • C2 Shape of time

    Both sit at one life, then judgment — a gap of 0.00.

  • E2 Origin of the cosmos

    Both sit at an intentional act — a gap of 0.00.

  • D2 Centrality of ritual

    Both sit at essential and prescribed — a gap of 0.02.

  • A2 Personhood

    Both sit at a personal being one can address — a gap of 0.03.

  • E4 Standing of nature

    Both sit at between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.04.

  • D3 The body

    Both sit at leaning to be disciplined — a gap of 0.05.

  • B1 Source of truth

    Both sit at revealed and fixed and leaning revealed and fixed respectively — a gap of 0.05.

  • A3 Plurality

    Both sit at leaning strictly one and strictly one respectively — a gap of 0.08.

  • B3 Institutional authority

    Both sit at clergy and tradition decide — a gap of 0.10.

Where they part company

  • C3 The human condition

    Roman Catholicism: fallen and in need of rescue. Twelver Shia Islam: between fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally sound. A gap of 0.40 on an axis running from “fallen and in need of rescue” to “ignorant but fundamentally sound”.

All seventeen axes

AxisRoman CatholicismTwelver Shia IslamGap
A1 Divine realitya divine reality certainly existsa divine reality certainly exists0.00
A2 Personhooda personal being one can addressa personal being one can address0.03
A3 Pluralityleaning strictly onestrictly one0.08
A4 Locusbetween wholly beyond the world and fully present within itleaning wholly beyond the world0.23
B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixedleaning revealed and fixed0.05
B2 Reading of sacred textleaning literal and bindingleaning literal and binding0.17
B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decideclergy and tradition decide0.10
C1 Survival of the selfcontinues in some formcontinues in some form0.00
C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgmentone life, then judgment0.00
C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescuebetween fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally sound0.40
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodleaning given as gracebetween given as grace and achieved by effort or insight0.28
D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribedessential and prescribed0.02
D3 The bodyleaning to be disciplinedleaning to be disciplined0.05
E1 Exclusivityleaning one true pathone true path0.17
E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional actan intentional act0.00
E3 Locus of belongingbetween a people, inherited and an individual choiceleaning a people, inherited0.15
E4 Standing of naturebetween creation, given for use and animate and itself sacredbetween creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred0.04

Positions for Roman Catholicism rest principally on Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd ed., 1997); for Twelver Shia Islam, on Nahj al-Balagha, al-Kafi, and Twelver usul al-din. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.

Which of the two is closer to you?

The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.