Religion

I had a little discussion with my kids the other day about world religions. It started because my son learned some things in history about the Catholic church. He had negative view of Catholism after this. Now, there are many things that the Catholic church is wrong about, but I told him we do share many core beliefs with them.


I started a little brainstorm and made this impromptu chart. I don't claim that it is 100% accurate, or all-inclusive. I believe it is a good idea to be aware of the differences between religions. The world is becoming more and more deceptive. People like Glenn Beck and Oprah talk about God and the Bible, but do you know if they believe in the same God you do? Do your own homework. I'll include some links at the bottom.


I wanted to make this into two columns, but can't figure out the spacing. My blog is so narrow anyway, it would be hard to read. So I will label them instead.


[Left column]

Christians believe in/that (includes Catholics, Protestants--Baptists, Methodists, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Non-Denominatioal):

Trinity
God is 3 persons in 1
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal
Jesus is the Son of God
Holy Spirit is a person
Virgin birth
Heaven
Hell
Salvation by grace
We become godlike (Christlike)




This does not mean that all Catholics are saved, but many are. For that matter, there will always be some in every one of these groups that are not saved, including evangelical churches. But in general, these churches hold to these core beliefs. In general, the Catholic church does push a lot of external things, like Hail Marys, going to Confession--more so than being saved by grace, but they do recognize that Jesus died on the cross to atone for our sin, that we cannot earn that. In general the Protestant churches do preach more about grace than the Catholic church, but then again, many of them are in error of keeping your salvation by works. There are errors in probably every church, but we have this common ground, of core beliefs, of things that your eternal destiny depends upon. Also, like I mentioned above, we do live in a deceptive world and I have heard lately of particular Methodists, Episcopalians, and even Evangelicals that are erring, falling away, into apostasy, and do not hold to these core beliefs anymore.


[Right column]

Cults, False Christians believe in/that (includes Jehovah's Witnesses & Mormons):

No trinity
1 God, but not 3-in-1
Jesus is not God, but a creation
Jesus is equal with Lucifer (JW)
Jesus was a man that became God (Mormons)
Holy Spirit is a force, not a person (JW)
They will become gods to rule a kingdom (Mormons)
Heaven is limited (JW)
Salvation by works
No hell (JW) (Mormons think hell is temporary)
People become gods (Mormons)




We need to realize that we do not have any common ground with Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. The lines are becoming very blurry. Mormons even call themselves Christians, but their people are urged not to trust the Bible, because if they did, they would realize how far off from Christianity they are. They hold to many of the same morals, but Christianity is more than a moral code. They talk a lot of similar talk, but when you dig, you realize they are not in some little error about a fringe belief, but have very twisted core beliefs, things that their eternal destiny hangs upon.




After I made the left and right columns above, I decided to address other various religions below.
Other World Religions:

-Judaism - 1 God, true God, waiting for their Messiah, salvation by works (more and more Jews are coming to the knowledge that Jesus is their Messiah, though, and getting saved.)
-Islam - 1 god, Allah, saved by works
-Buddhism - many gods, saved by works
-Hinduism - many gods, saved by works, reincarnation is based on how well they lived their life and they will probably reincarnate several times before they reach the highest state they are all hoping for (their equivalent of heaven).
-New Age - they are god
-Atheist - no god
-Agnostic - God is unknowable, He is far removed and not personal


I know I didn't list every possible religion, but the major ones are here at a glance. There are others, but they will fall into categories that I have already spelled out.

Notice how deception can be so subtle. The devil likes to take something from the Bible and twist it ever so. There is plenty of scriptural evidence that we are being conformed to the image of Christ, which means we are being changed (sanctification) all the time, to be more and more Christ-like. (Now, some people submit to this change more so than others. I know we can all think of examples of Christians, that are not very Christlike.) The Mormons believe that Jesus and the Father were once men and became gods, and they, too, can become gods. New Agers believe that they are part of the "divine" and they are god. Which is the truth? And why? I cannot stress how important it is to know what you believe, and why you believe it.





Resources:


Great site that explains what Mormons believe and what the Bible says. Also includes numerous testimonies of people that have left the Mormon church. The owner of this site was on the inside and came out, so he is truly knowledgable about what the Mormons believe. This man tries to reach all the Mormons he can. He spoke with Glenn Beck recently, the information is on his blog.




Blueletterbible.org has information on both Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses. Click here for that link.


A great book on the topic is The Handbook of Today's Religions by Josh McDowell.