Religion has always been a hot topic, with wars being fought over it and entire groups of people being oppressed and killed because of it, having a series of poems saying that all religions are one is a step forward even being written in 1788. In the series of poems Blake basically believes that all religions are just different sects of the same base religion. In my opinion, I will have to agree with Blake, due to my own study of different religions. I have found and learned that the religions I have studied, Christanity, Muslim, Wicca, and Buddism, all share common threads and beliefs. Honestly, if Blake's theory can be proved at some point in time, I would hope that the wars and deaths would stop.
In his series of poems Blake contends that:
The Religions of all Nat-
ions are derived from each
Nations different reception
of the Poetic Genius which
is every where call'd the Spi
rit of Prophecy (Plate 8)
I believe that Blake is simply stating that our preception of our own religious choice and those of others can be clouded by our own "prophecy." I understand his views only because of my own studies, yet there are others that have studied other religions and their views may be that their religion is the only religion and everything else that is different is wrong. Also, I do believe that Blake is telling the reader that in order to see the world one must look at all religions and see their connections to each other.
