COMPARING OTHER CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

 

If you believe in an historical Jesus, who came to Earth in the first century of our so-called Common Era with a simple message, that's not how his followers, those who call themselves Christians, took it.

There are hundreds of groups, thousands, who make the claim that they worship correctly in the image or manner of first century Jesus, each group emphasizing particular aspects of the original message or digging back into that message's roots in Mosaic law to find points of emphasis.

Elaborating on those groups with whom I've had personal contact, I could start with the Seventh Day Adventists, who want everyone to know that the actual 7th day of the week or designated day to think holy thoughts and worship the supreme being in a public way is Saturday, not Sunday, as most assume.

The Adventists also embrace certain dietary limitations, some that were included in the 600 or so prohibitions that supplemented the Ten Commandments in Mosaic law.

Adventist girls seem to eschew makeup to enhance physical appearance and wear their dresses longer than most, likely to suppress the sexual yearnings and interest from Adventist boys.

The "advent" is simply the second arrival or coming of Jesus which they promise will be sooner than you think.

Mormons or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Days Saints as the two boy elders with white shirts, dark pants and ties, kept correcting me during our two hour conversation, when they caught me emptying trash at my Brownsville apartment, have a religion tailored for America or the "new world."

A very convoluted story involved Joseph Smith, the angel Moroni, golden plates and Cumorah Hill somehow resulted in the Book of Mormon, a religious guidebook in English that Smith gleaned from markings on the golden plates, now lost.

Mormons use the Book of Mormon, another book, the Pearl of Great Price and the Bible, "as far as its been translated correctly," to guide them in their worship.

Mormons or Latter-Day Saints were originally an all white group that practiced polygamy, but visions the church leaders received resulted in doctrinal adjustments.

Polygamy was replaced with monogamy and the word "white" in 2 Nephi 30:6 of the Book of Mormon was changed to "pure" to allow black, brown and yellow folk to become Latter-Day Saints.

Mormon church offshoots include the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ and the Restored church.

Ana's next assignment, the tiny town of Keosauqua, Iowa, includes a Restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I will stop to take pictures of the building, but I lack the patience to listen to even a minute of their Saturday sermon.

Jehovah's Witnesses place their emphasis on the name of God, for which they say the pronunciation was lost, but consider the most nearly correct version to be Yehosuah, Yahweh or something similar.

Inexplicably, they then use the name Jehovah, knowing the Hebrew language had no "J" sound, but say it's the "most common" form.

Witnesses view life as "sacred," but reject saving lives by blood transfusions, are prohibited from saluting the flag or serving in the military. They avoid holidays like Christmas and Easter, considering them "pagan."

Interestingly, Jehovah's Witnesses reject the cross as an idolic symbol, but, in recent years have adopted the JW logo as a icon identifying their buildings and real estate holdings.

Jehovah's Witnesses are noted, as are Mormons, for door-to-door proselytization.  Both groups practice shunning for those who leave the religion.

Amish women

The Amish, with whom I've enjoyed extended conversations in recent months, strive for a life based on simplicity and humility.

They don't seem to have a lot of written rules, but use an unwritten code called Ordnung which emphasizes simplicity and humility.

While it's likely there's no Amish commandment "Thou shalt not use electricity," probably church leaders have interpreted "simplicity" to exclude electricity, TV, I-phones, even cars.  

A group of Amish girls selling storage buildings at the Iowa State Fair couldn't verbalize what their religion forbids, turned away when I asked for a picture and hated it when I complemented the workmanship of their buildings."

"They're not that good," one girl told me and later she said about Amish in general:  "We're not more moral or better than other people.  We're just as bad as everybody else."

The Apostolic or Pentecostals share beliefs similar to the Baptists in that they believe in the reward of heaven for those righteous and eternal torment for the wicked.

These groups do emphasize what they refer to as "gifts of the Spirit," that is, the ability to speak in "tongues," languages no one understands, to handle poisonous snakes without getting bitten, etc.

Pentecostal women with whom I've worked will never wear pants, only dresses and, like the Adventists, do not use makeup to enchance their appearance.

By far the largest group claiming Christianity, the Catholic Church, might be the most difficult for Jesus to recognize as his own should he make a second "advent."

The Catholic religion is far from "simple" Christianity with huge, ornate cathedrals, a vast accumulation of wealth at the Vatican and considerable use of images including the veneration of Mary in worship.  

So-called "paganisms" abound in Catholicism as it's essentially a fusion religion embracing Roman tradition and organizational structure.

The Greek Orthodox Church resembles Catholicism, although certainly not recognizing the pope or his claimed infallibility.

My wife Ana, raised in the Philippines, not particularly religious, was brought up in the Independent Philippines Church which she says mimicks Catholicism, but does not recognize the Pope, has no confessional and allows their priests to marry.

Ana at cathedral in Cedar Rapids, IA

Periodically, she enters whatever Catholic Church she finds in our current city to, as she says, "thank someone."

While I'm agnostic, I keep my eye open to visit some interesting religious group, but, so far, I've not done it.  Perhaps, I'll be "drawn by the spirit" to attend sometime.