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Compare Christianity and Judaism
Compare Christianity and Judaism
Compare Christianity and Judaism
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New Religions
Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity are religions that have been around for thousands of years. At some point in time all four of these religions were new, and I am sure viewed with some skepticism of this ideology being taught. Within all of these religions there have been people who have disagreed with the beliefs being practiced and this has caused many to leave to form their own religious groups. The road to finding one's faith is not always easy and that is why religions are constantly being recreated to fit one's perception of God.
The new religious movement for this paper will be defined as religions less then two hundred years old. They were formed due to separation from an established church or by an individual having a "vision" from God. There are two in particular that I will cover Branch Davidians and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will not be focusing on the religion from where it came but rather on the history of the person, beliefs and the practices of these new religious movements.
The Branch Davidians were once known as The Shepherds Rod, a Seventh-Day Adventist Branch. Victor Houteff first heard the teachings of the Seventh- Day Adventist Church in 1918 at a revival meeting. Houteff eventually came to believe that the Seventh-day Adventist doctrines and teachings were inaccurate and he called for reform. The church isolated Houteff and his followers that resulted in a brake from SDA and the foundation of "The Shepherd's Rod." Houteff saw himself as a divine messenger sent by God to reveal the secret information in the scroll mentioned in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 5. Houteff compiled his beliefs in his book "The Shepherd's Rod." He began the proc...
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... performed in the Church's temples do not end at death; rather, both the marriage and family relationships are sealed for "time and all eternity." This idea - of an "eternal family" - governs their way of life; every effort is made to live a life worthy of returning to live with God the Father (and thus their family in the Celestial Kingdom).
The Branch Davidians, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints both have separate ideologies but they are the same in the aspect that their religious perspectives are less then two hundred years old.
There are websites, movies, and books about Koresh and each hold a slightly different perspective about The Branch Davidians. I feel is due to the fact that each author has slightly bias opinion according to his or her religious beliefs. This in turn makes Koresh to be either a martyr or a deranged maniac.
The Second Great Awaking consisted of new applications of religion that deviated from rationalism, which sparked promotion of democracy and freedom. The message of salvation rather than condemnation was evident in this movement as spoken by Charles G. Finney. He sought to remove sin from reformed churches and organize sinners to unity and freedom (Doc B). This practice showed the crucial democrati...
Tobler, Douglas F., and Nelson B. Wadsworth. The History of the Mormons. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. Print.
Mead, Loren B. The Once and Future Church Reinventing the Congregation for a New Mission Frontier . The Alban Institute, Inc., 1991. Kindle eBook file.
Mead, Frank S., and Samuel S. Hill. Handbook of Denominations in the United States. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1995. Print.
Religious institutions have always been a fundamental piece of American culture, and their influence is evident in many aspects of American life. Especially during the 20th century, the spread of Christianity became more competitive as churches vied against one another to draw in new members. This was particularly evident in the development and growth of conservative Protestant groups. Protestant leaders responded to this competition for followers by developing radically new methods for the worship experience. They used their charisma and entrepreneurial spirit to send their messages to the masses. Protestant leader’s manipulation of these methods of outreach was able to attract many new members to the conservative protestant cause, and encouraged Americans to join these large groups of worship.
Finney, Charles Grandison. Lectures on Revivals of Religion. New York: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2009. Accessed April 21, 2014. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/finney/revivals.toc.html.
Bushman, Claudia L., and Richard L. Bushman. Building the Kingdom: a History of Mormons in America. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.
"Growth of the Church - LDS Newsroom." LDS News | Mormon News - Official Newsroom of the Church. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. .
In 1929, Victor Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant, claimed that he had a new message for the Seventh Day Adventist church. He submitted it to the church in the form of a book called "The Shepard's Rod". In the book he points out how the church has departed from basic church teachings. The churches leaders frowned upon his claims and felt that they would start uproar in the church. The leaders decided to ban him from the church. Once he was banned he formed a new church called the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. He got the Davidian from the belief to restore the Davidic kingdom. In 1955 after Houteff's death the movement split forming the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. The term branch refers to the new name for Jesus Christ. The group, founded by Benjamin L. Roden, settled outside of Waco, Texas. The group occupied land formerly owned by the Davidian group. George Roden, the son of Benjamin, claimed he was the group's prophet but was sent to jail. The group never had a clear-cut leader until Vernon Howell took charge in 1988.
In every sense, the Emergent church is at least, improvisational. It takes Christianity, and not only challenges the traditional ways of the religion, but alters it in order to appeal to a new generation of non-believers as well as believers. The emerging church is used to describe the new and rapidly growing amount of mission Christian congregation. It is a name given to those who believe that God is the truth alone, but the old ways of exposing that fact are no longer useful in today’s society. Such things include worship, prayer, preaching, and outreach. The emerging generation sees these aspects as very flexible features of the Christian church since the old forms of expression don’t seem to have as much of an effect on society today than it did decades ago. In this logic, the emergent church is seeking alternative forms of spiritual formation that are controversial to, and within Christianity, which is making it a misunderstood movement. Like every other type of movement, this effort had just started as a conversation among its leaders.
“History of Fundamentalist Mormons.” Wheat & Tares. Wheat and Tares, 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. .
White, Timothy, A People For His Name; The History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation. New York: Vantage Press, 1967. Print
I am Wiccan, which is a religion of present day witchcraft. My mother’s family is shaman; my father’s side of the family is Roman Catholic. Wicca has many divisions and subdivisions from Quaker Wicca to Hoodoo Wicca and from Shaman Wicca to Pagan Wicca. It’s as though Wicca absorbed, immersed, other religions and cultural traits. But, looking at Christianity, it seems like that religion absorbed other religions and cultural traits as well.
John Saliba’s approach to new religious movements is secular (despite his position as a Jesuit Priest) and well rounded. He begins by exploring how new religious movements are viewed today, how they have been reacted to in the past and why that may be. He examines the original definition of the word “cult” as well as the modern derivations of it and how it affects these new religious movements. By considering multiple opinions on new religious movements as well as looking at the historical, psychological, sociological, legal and theological context in which these religions came to be and attract new followers, he is able to advocate for a more open approach to these new religions and offer a better way to handle them; to respond to them, rather than react.
Each religion has a different perspective but most important is where the religions generated from. Major religions started in various parts of the world.