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| Christianity, Cults, and Religions
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Click Here for more Religions |
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Biblical
Christianity at a Glance
|
Moromonism (Latter-Day
Saints) |
Jehovah's
Witness |
Armstrongism |
Unification
Church |
Christian
Science |
Unity School of Christianity |
Spiritualism
(Spiritism) |
Scientology |
New Age |
Judaism |
Hinduism |
Hare
Krishna
ISKCON |
T.M.
Transcendental
Meditation |
Buddhism |
Nichiren
Shoshu
Buddhism |
Islam |
Baha'i
World
Faith |
Key
Person
or
Founder |
Jesus Christ. Founded about A.D. 30-33, in the Judean Province of Palestine (Israel today), under the Roman Empire. |
Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805-1844), founded the church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints in 1830in New York. Headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. |
Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), later Joseph F. Rutherford. Began 1879 in Pennsylvania. Headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. |
Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986). Founded Worldwide Church of God (WCG) in 1934. Worldwide Church of God left his beliefs, but splinter groups still follow them. |
Sun Myung Moon (born 1920). Founded 1954 in South Korea. Current headquarters in New York City. |
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910). Founded 1875 in Massachusetts. Current headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts |
Charles (1854-1948) and Myrtle (1845-1931) Filmore. Founded 1889 in Kansas City, Missouri. Headquarters in Unity Village, Missouri. |
Ancient belief popularized by sisters Kate and Margaret Fox, 1848, in Hydesville, New York. Many small groups, no official headquarters. |
L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986). Founded 1954 in California. Current headquarters in Los Angeles, California. |
Key
Writings |
The Bible, written originally in Hebrew and Aramaic (Old Testament), and Greek (New Testament) |
The Book of Mormon; Doctrine and Covenants; Pearl of Great Price; the Bible (Kings James Version only or Smith's "Inspired Version"); authoritative teachings of Mormon prophets and other LDS "general authorities." |
All current Watchtower publications, including the Bible (New World Translation only), Reasoning from the Scriptures, You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth. Watchtowerand Awake! magazines. |
News groups, often former WCG members, who still follow Armstrong's traditional teaching produce: The Phiadelphia Trumpet magazine, Malachi's Message, Key of Kavid TV program and others. |
Divine Principle by Sun Myung Moon, considered the "Completed Testament." Outline of the Principle, Level 4, and the Bible. (The Bible is "not the truth itself, but a textbook teaching the truth.") |
Science and Health, With Key to the Scriptures; Miscellaneous Writings; Manual of he Mother Church; and other books by Mrs. Eddy. The Bible (not as reliable). Christian Science Journal, Christian Science Sentinel, and othe writings. |
Unity magazine. Lessons in Truth, Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, the Bible (not as reliable, interpreted with "hidden" meanings). |
Spiritualist Manual, Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ, Oahspe, the Bible (selected portions), and others. |
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and others by Hubbard. The Way to Happiness. |
Who
is
God |
The one God is Triune (one God in three Persons, not three gods): Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Often the title "God" designates the first Person, God the Father. God is a spiritual being without a physical body. He created the universe out of nothing. He is eternal, changeless, holy, loving, and perfect. |
God the Father was once a man, but became God. He has a physical body, as does his wife (Heavenly Mother). No Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate gods. Worthy men may one day become gods themselves. |
One-person God, called Jehovah. No Trinity. Jesus is the first thing Jehovah created. |
One infinite, eternal God. Traditionally Armstrongism denies a Trinity, defining God as a "family of individuals. "However, in 1995, WCG leaders officially accepted a Trinitarian concept of God and now accept biblical beliefs. |
God is both positive and negative. God created the universe out of himself; the universe is God's "body." God does not know the future, is suffering, and needs man (Sun Myung Moon) to make Him happy. No Trinity. |
God is an impersonal Principle of life, truth, love, intelligence, and spirit. God is all that truly exists (matter is an illusion). |
Invisible impersonal power. "God" is interchangeable with "Principle," "Law," "Being," "Mind," "Spirit." God is in everything, much as the soul is in the body. No Trinity. the Spirit is reality; matter is not. |
God is infinite intelligence. Impersonal power controlling the universe. |
Does not define God or Supreme Being, but rejects biblical description of God. Everyone is a "thetan," an immortal spirit with unlimited powers over its own universe, but not all are aware of this. |
Who
is
Jesus |
Jesus is God, the second Person of the Trinity. As God the Son, He has always existed and was never created. He is fully God and fully man (the two natures joined, not mixed). As the second Person of the Trinity, He is coequal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. In becoming man, He was begotten through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus is the only way to the Father, salvation, and eternal life. He died on a cross according to God's plan, as full sacrifice and payment for our sins. He rose from the dead on the third day, spiritually and physically immortal. For the next 40 days, He was seen by more than 500 eyewitnesses. His wounds were touched and He ate meals. He physically ascended to Heaven. Jesus will come again visibly and physically at the end of the world to establish God's kingdom and judge the world. |
Jesus is a separte god from the Father (Elohhim). he was created as a spirit child by the Father and Mother in Heaven, and is the "elder brother" of all men and spirit beings. His body was created through sexual union between Elohim and Mary. Jesus was married. His death on the cross does not provide full atonement for all sin, but does provide everyone with resurrection. |
Jesus is not God. Before he lived on earth, he was Michael, the archangel. Jehovah made the universe through him. On earth he was a man who lived a perfect life. After dying on a stake (not a cross), he was resurrected as a spirit, his body was destroyed. Jesus is not coming again; he "returned" invisibly in 1914 in spirit. Very soon, he and the angels will destroy all non-Jehovah's Witnesses |
Jesus is God incarnate (in human form). Armstrong suggested that Jesus would return to earth in 1975. Groups following Armstrong's original teachings (Global, Phiadelphia, and United Churches of God) say Jesus ws not resurrected physically and that he is the only one who has been born again. Worldwide Church of God believes that Jesus was raised spiritually and physically. |
Jesus was a perfect man, not God. He is the son of Zechariah, not born of a virgin. His mission was to unite the Jews behind him, find a perfect bride, and begin a perfect family. The mission failed. Jesus did not resurrect physically. The second coming of Christ is fulfilled in Sun Myung Moon, who is superior to Jesus and will finish Jesus' mission. |
Jesus was not the Christ, but a man who displayed the Christ idea. ("Christ" mans perfection, not a person.) Jesus was not God, and God can never become man or flesh. He did not suffer and could not suffer for sins. He did not die on a cross. He was not resurrected physically. He will not literally come back. |
Jesus was a man and not the Christ. Instead, he was a man who had " Christ Consciousness." "Christ" is a state of perfection in every person. jesus had lived many times before and was in search of his own salvation. Jesus did not die as a sacrifice for anyone's sins. Jesus did not rise physically and will never return to earth in physical form. |
Jesus was a man, not God. While on earth, he was a prophet or an advanced medium (one believed to communicate with the spirit world). Jesus is now a spirit that one can communicate with in the spirit world. |
Jesus is rarely mentioned in Scientology. Jesus was not the Creator, and not an "operating thetan" (in control of supernatural powers, cleared from mental defects). Jesus did not die for sins. |
Who is
the
Holy
Spirit |
The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is a person, not a force or energy field. He comforts, grieves, reproves, convicts, guides, teaches, and fills Christians. He is not the Father, not the Son, Jesus Christ. |
"Holy Ghost" is a god separate from the Father and the Son. "Holy Spirit" is a fluid-like substance by which the Father exercises his influence. |
Impersonal "holy spirit" is not God, but rather an invisible, active force from Jehovah. |
Armstrongism: Holy Spirit is an impersonal force. Worldwide Church of God: Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Trinity. |
The Holy Spirit is a feminine spirit who works with Jesus in the spirit world to lead people to Sun Myung Moon. |
Holy spirit is defined as the teaching of Christian Science. Impersonal power. |
The Holy Spirit is the law of God in action, "the executive power of both Father and Son." A "definite" thought in the mind of man. |
The Holy Spirit is not part of this belief. However, some use the term to refer to the spirit of a holy person who once lived. |
The Holy Spirit is not part of this belief. |
How to
Be
Saved |
Salvation is by God's grace, not by an individual's good works. Salvation must be received by faith. People must believe in their heart that Jesus died for their sins and physically rose again, which is the assurance of forgiveness and resurrection of the body. This is God's loving plan to forgive sinful people. |
Resurrected by grace, but saved (exalted to godhood) by works, including faithfulness to church leaders, Mormon baptism, tithing, ordination, marriage, and secret temple rituals. No eternal life without Mormon membership. |
Be bapitized as Jehovah's Witnesses. Most followers must earn everlasting life on earth by "door-to-door work." Salvation in heaven is limited to 144,000" anointed ones." This number is already reached. |
Salvation is by grace (the unmerited favor of God). Whereas Armstrong followers must recognize Old Testament sabbath days, feast days, and dietary prohibitions, such as no pork or shellfish, WCG has abandoned these beliefs. |
Obedience to and acceptance of the True Parents (Moon and his wife) eliminate sin and result in perfection. Those married by Moon and his wife drink a special holy wine containing 21 ingredients (including the True Parents' blood). |
Humanity is already eternally saved. Sin, evil, sickness, and death are not real. |
By recognizing that each person is as much a Son of God as Jesus is. There is no evil, no devil, no sin, no poverty, andno old age. A person is reincarnated until he learns these truths and becomes "perfect." |
Knowledge and good works enhance one's status in the afterlife. |
No sin or need to repent. Salvation is freedom from reincarnation. One must work with an "auditor" on his "engrams" (hang-ups) to achieve the state of "clear," then progress up the "bridge to total freedom." |
What
Happens
After
Death |
Believers go to be with Jesus. After death, all people await the final judgment. Both saved and lost people will be resurrected. Those who are saved live with Jesus in Heaven. Those who are lost suffer the torment of eternal separation from God (Hell). Jesus' bodily resurrection guarantees believers that they, too, will be resurrected and receive new immortal bodies. |
Eventually nearly everyone goes to one of three separate heavenly "kingdoms" with some achieving godhood. Apostates and murderers go to "outer darkness." |
The 144,000 live as spirits in heaven. The rest of the righteous, "the great crowd," live on earth, and must obey god perfectly for 1000 years or be annihilated. |
Armstongism: Resurrected believers will live on the new earth. Unsaved will face judgment. |
After death one goes to the spirit world. There is no resurrection. Members advance by convincing others to follow Sun Myung Moon. Everyone will be saved, even Satan. |
Death is not real. Heaven and hell are states of mind. The way to reach heaven is by attaining harmony (oneness with God). |
Death is a result of wrong thinking. One moves to a different body (reincarnation) until enlightenment. No literal heaven or hell. |
After life on this earthly plane, life continues in the spirit world, where one's spirit may progress from one level to another. Heaven and hell are states of mind. Some believe in reincarnation. |
Hell is a myth. People who get clear of engrams become operating thetans. |
Other
Beliefs or
Practices |
Group worship, usually in churches. No secret rites. Baptism and Lord's Supper (Communion). Active voluntary missionary efforts. Aid to those in need: the poor, widows, orphans, and downtrodden. Christians believe that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah promised to Israel in the Old Testament (Tanakh). Jesus said His followers would be known by their love for one another. |
No alcohol, tobacco, coffee, or tea. Baptism on behalf of the dead. Two-year missionary commitment encouraged. Door-to-door proselytizing. Secret temple rituals available only to members in good standing. Extensive social network. People of African ancestry not granted full access to Mormon priestood and privileges until 1978. |
Kown as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. Meet on Sundays in "Kingdom Halls." Active memebers encouraged to distribute literature door-to-door. Once a year, Lord's Evening Meal; only "anointed" ones may partake. Do not observe holidays or birthdays. Do not vote, salute the flag, work in the military, or accept blood transfusions. believe Armageddon will occur soon. |
Groups like the Philadelphia Church of God and Church of God International still hold Armstrong's views such as deity for mankind, no immortality of the soul, no literal hell, no medical treatment, and Anglo-Israelism. Since Armstrong's death, WCG, which was formerly very cultic, has undergone many changes toward more biblical views. |
Mass marriages (recently 30,000 couples), based on different racial backgrounds, arranged and performed by Moon. Members believe that Jesus bows down to Sun Myung Moon and that Moon is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and the Lamb of God. Contact with spirits of the dead accepted. |
Members use Christian Science practitioners instead of doctors. Healing comes from realizing one cannot be sick or hurt and that the body cannot be ill, suffer pain, or die (matter is an illusion). Attracts followers by claims of miraculous healing. |
Worship services in Unity churches. Counseling and prayer ministry ("Silent Unity") by phone and mail. It is reported that Unity receives millions of prayer requests annually. Unity devotionals, such as Daily Word, are used by members of other religious groups and churches. Millions of pieces of literature are printed each year. |
Séances to contact the dead. Psychic demonstrations. Church services with singing, music, sermon, spirit messages from the dead, and prophecies. May use Ouíja™ boards. Often attracts grieving people who hope for contact with a deceased loved one. |
Members observe birth of Hubbard and anniversary of publication of Dianetics. Controversy follows the group worldwide. Time magazine and Reader's Digest have published damaging exposés. Various media have reported that church leaders have had indictments and/or convictions for burglary, wiretapping, conspiracy, and other felonies. |
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©1996 Third Edition |
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