Patterns of Faith in America ó 20th Century

Patterns of Faith in America — 20^th Century

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Taken from Milton V. Backman, Jr., American Religions & the Rise of Mormonism (SLC: Deseret Book Co., 1965), pp. 465–478, and revised. Used by permission.

After each description of belief, the following abbreviations are used to designate the denominations in which most members endorse the doctrine:

RC -- Roman Catholic
EO -- Eastern Orthodox
L -- Lutheran
P -- Presbyterian (Church of Scotland)
C -- Congregational (most have joined the United Church of Christ)
B -- Baptist
D -- Christian (Disciples)
CC -- Church of Christ
E -- Episcopalian (Church of England)
M -- Methodist
SDA -- Seventh-day Adventist
JW -- Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses)
CS -- Church of Christ, Scientist
Pe -- Pentecostal
UU -- Unitarian-Universalist
F -- Society of Friends (Quakers)

Since there is often as much diversity within denominations as between denominations, two other symbols are employed as prefixes before the letters representing the various religious societies.

o - represents orthodox beliefs (or conservative beliefs), doctrines representing the historic position.

l - represents liberal beliefs or popular modern restatements. When placed in front of the other letters it means a popular belief held by many liberal members of a denomination. For example, oL means a popular belief held by orthodox Lutherans; lL signifies a popular opinion of many liberal Lutherans. Even though conservatives and liberals sometimes use the same language but define words differently, if there is no prefix of o or l before a denomination it means that nearly all members employ such expressions of belief.

Because there is such a tremendous diversity of belief today among the Unitarians, Universalists, and Friends concerning many doctrines or beliefs, no attempt has been made to include these societies in this summary of patterns of belief, except when members tend to agree on what might be considered one of their distinguishing beliefs.

GODHEAD

God is an infinitely perfect spirit, an immaterial being without parts, bodily form or passions. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. The one God is three persons of one divine essence. (Liberals sometimes state that God is three modes of revelation, reflections, or ways in which he has acted in history.) The three divine persons are one because they all have the same divine nature. The dogma of the Trinity is a mystery, a truth that cannot be understood by man. (Some Protestants object to the use of the word Trinity but hold that God is three persons of one essence.) God was incarnate in Jesus (God himself became man), and Jesus is true God and true man.

RC, EO, L, P, C, B, D, CC, E, M, Pe

Jesus Christ was miraculously conceived and was born of the virgin Mary. He rose from the dead, being the first to rise since time began. He appeared to others, ascended to heaven, and will return to judge all mankind.

RC, EO, oL, oP, oB, oD, CC, oE, oM, SDA, JW, Pe

Jesus was born of human parents. Belief in the virgin birth is not an essential aspect of the Christian faith. The resurrection of Christ's body, his appearance during forty days, and his ascension are not historical, meaning physical, events. (One popular theory is that Jesus became divine because all of God that man could contain was in Jesus.)

lL, lP, lC, lB, lD, lE, lM, UU

There is no more than one God.

The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and Son (filioque) and leads and directs God’s people.

RC, L, P, C, B, D, CC, E, M, Pe

The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father alone.

God is our Father, Jesus Christ is the Divine Son of God and our Savior, and the Holy Spirit is the Divine Comforter. (Some hold that the Father and Son are separate and distinct spirits, while others believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Spirit are one in essence.)

SDA

God and Jesus are two distinct personages and are spirits, not being confined to a particular form. The Almighty God, Jehovah, brought forth a son who was called Michael in the pre-mortal existence and Jesus during his journey on earth. Michael, the only pre-mortal being who has been born on earth, was God’s favorite and beloved son, was given the title of God, but was not given all of God’s power and authority, and while on earth, was not a god. The Holy Ghost is not a member of the Godhead, but is a divine influence or active force, emanating from God and motivating men to serve their Creator.

Life, Truth, and Love constitute the triune Person called God. The one God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent; is a Spirit which fills all space and is All-in-all. Nothing possesses reality nor existence except the divine Mind and his ideas.

SOURCES OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH

The Bible should not be regarded as the sole standard of faith. It was not meant to be a constitution upon which God’s church should be built. It is not complete and is a work susceptible to a variety of interpretations.

RC, EO, UU, F, (and many liberal Protestants)

Tradition is a proper norm of faith. A study of the writings of Church Fathers and decisions of General Councils (and Roman Catholics would add the decrees of popes) enable Christians to determine the truth as understood by the apostles.

RC, OE

Tradition is an unreliable source of determining religious truth, for fathers, councils, and popes have issued innumerable conflicting opinions.

L, P, C, B, D, CC, E, M, SDA, JW, CS, Pe, UU, F

The New Testament (or Bible) is the only supreme authoritative guide for determining religious truth and practice.

oL, oP, oC, oB, oD, CC, oE, oM, SDA, JW, Pe

The New Testament is the supreme standard of faith, but reason should also be employed as a guide for determining religious truth.

lL, lP, lC, lB, lD, lE, lM

The writings of Ellen G. White serve as a mirror enabling individuals to interpret the Bible correctly.

SDA

Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and the Bible contain the word of God which is pure truth.

Everyone should formulate his or her own creed and one’s beliefs should change according to the increasing insights of his religious knowledge.

A heritage of every person is the Divine Spirit. God reveals himself directly to all who seek him. The essence of a Christian life is experiencing Christ from within and not by accepting authoritarian statements of faith.

CREATION, ANGELS AND DEVILS

God created the world out of nothing in six consecutive days for the manifestation of His power, wisdom and goodness. Within the six days of creation, God made a great multitude of finite spirits called angels. All were created good, but a part sinned and fell, become evil spirits who exert their power in the minds and bodies of men.

RC, EO, oL, oP, oC, oB, oD, CC, oE, oM, SDA, JW, Pe

God created the world and everything else except himself and by his action sustains his creations. (The idea of creation out of nothing is often regarded as a mythological symbol informing man of different truths, such as the contingency of all things.) Evolution was probably God’s method of creation. The two creation narratives in Genesis are mythological in origin and their value is symbolic rather than historical.

lRC, lL, lP, lC, lB, lD, lE, lM

There are no such things as devils influencing men on earth. Angel and demon stories found in the Bible should be interpreted in pure symbolic terms.

lL, lP, lC, lB, lD, lE, lM, UU

THE FALL

Adam was created a pure, sinless being without a taint of sin, but fell by transgressing. As a result of the Fall, the whole human race is born in a state of alienation and/or depravity. Man is powerless to believe and live the gospel unless God dispenses grace to him. (Roman Catholics and many orthodox Protestants hold that all are infected with original sin and are sinners deserving God’s wrath and damnation.)

oRC, oEO, oL, oP, oC, oB, oD, CC, oE, oM, SDA, JW, Pe

The story of the Fall is a myth or romanticism informing us of man’s estrangement from God or that man is universally prone to sin. Like Adam, all men experience a fall. Man is a free agent responsible for his alienation from God. Some liberals also contend that original sin conveys the idea of the universality of sin. We all live in a sinful world and are in part responsible for the conditions existing in society. Some further conclude that everyone falls so the fall is not in one sense a myth. It happened and is happening.

lRC, lL, lP, lC, lB, lD, lE, lM

The story of the creation and the fall of man is an allegory, myth, or dream narrative. The mortality of man is also a myth. Man was born. Man is immortal. The belief that spirit was submerged in matter to be emancipated at a future time is erroneous. Adam is the scriptural term for error and stands for a belief of material mind.

THE ATONEMENT

God through Christ reconciled man to God. This reconciliation was effected by Christ through his shedding of blood on the cross. Christ acquired for man deliverance from the evils of sin and from eternal death and placed man on a new relationship with God, a state of grace. Man initially benefits from the atonement by receiving the sacrament of baptism and continues to benefit and partake on the grace of God by participating in other sacraments.

Through the atonement Christ made, man is able to regain the Holy Spirit. His atonement is applicable for all. Men benefit from this act by being baptized and being reborn. Although man participates in the salvation experiences, God initiates the work of salvation by arousing the seeds of moral and spiritual powers remaining in man after the Fall.

oEO

By his death on the cross, Christ reconciled man to God, making it possible for the relationship broken by the fall to be re-established. He made satisfaction with his own blood, procuring for all sinners (who are elected or believers) perfect righteousness and eternal bliss. This salvation comes by grace through faith.

oL, oP, oC, oB, oD, CC, oE, oM

Since man is separated from God, his fellow man, and his true self by sin, a reconciliation is necessary. The cross represents the entire sacrifice of Christ’s life and the atonement is the bridging of the gap between sinful man and a righteous God. God, who has come to us through Christ, showed us by the cross the seriousness of sin, that sin hurts and matters. We benefit from the atonement by responding to the call from God and committing ourselves to a life of love and service to others.

lL, lP, lC, lB, lD, lE, lM

Christ met in full the penalty of the broken law by making a sacrificial atonement on the cross. This atonement was provided for all men; and in the heavenly priestly ministry of Christ is applied to all who repent, accept the grace of God, and surrender their lives to God.

SDA

Christ laid down his life not only to cancel the sins of believing men but to free them from death’s condemnation by a guarantee that everyone will receive full opportunity during the millennium to embrace the gospel.

Christ reconciled man to God, securing for believers salvation or deliverance not only from sin but also from disease.

ESCHATOLOGY (end of the world; end of man; end things)

Death is the separation of the body and soul, the soul being judged the instant it departs from the body. Individuals who die without the least stain of sin will enter heaven and see God. Those who die and have not been severed from God by mortal sin and are not in a state of perfect purity enter purgatory. There individuals are purified before entering heaven. (Most hold that infants who die without being baptized go to a place called Limbo of Children. Old Testament prophets, many further speculate, went tot he Limbo of Fathers where they awaited the coming of Christ and were released after his sacrifice.) Individuals who die in a state of mortal sin and without sanctifying grace are eternally separated by God in a place or a state of mind called hell.

After the separation of the body and soul, the souls of believers enter a state of happiness and the unregenerates enter a place of punishment. At the end of the world, Christ will come not to inaugurate the millennium, but to judge the dead in a public judgment. At that time there will be a resurrection of the bodies of all men. (Fundamentalists believe in the resurrection of a body of flesh and bones. Most Protestants today do not believe in the resurrection of the physical body but in the resurrection of a "spiritual body.") After the final judgment, the elect or believers will inherit an everlasting life with God and nonregenerates will suffer everlasting (meaning without end) punishment in hell.

oEO, oL, oP, oC, oB, oD, CC, oE, oM

There will not be a resurrection of the physical body but there will be a continuation of man’s total personality. Heaven and hell are not places but states of mind. Heaven is a state of communion with God. Hell is separation from God.

lRC, lEO, lL, lP, lC, lB, lD, lM

The soul cannot exist independent of the physical body. After death all men remain in a state of unconsciousness until their resurrection. Christ will return personally and visibly to earth and will receive the righteous. At the end of the millennium, Satan and his followers will be completely annihilated, after which God will transform this earth and it will become a paradisiacal state for the redeemed.

SDA, JW

During the millennium, Satan will be bound on this earth and the righteous will be resurrected and will live in heaven with Christ until the new heaven and earth is created.

SDA

During the millennium, Satan will be bound, and the righteous will inhabit the earth. At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be loosed and for the last time will strive to turn man from God. Individuals who succumb will be exterminated. The 144,000 mentioned in Revelation will be raised with spiritual bodies (without flesh, bones, or blood) and will assist Christ in ruling the universe. Others who benefit from Christ’s ransom will be resurrected with perfected physical bodies of flesh, bones, and blood and will inhabit this world.

There is no death. Man, in his real definition, is never separate from his Maker. Man is eternal. Heaven and hell are conditions of the mind, not places of abode where men are sent after death. The sinner makes his own hell by doing evil, and the saint his own heaven by living righteously. There is no final judgment, for the judgment-day of wisdom comes hourly and continually, even the judgment by which mortal men is divested of all material error.

Believers will enjoy everlasting happiness in heaven, and the wicked shall be cast into a burning hell forever. Before the judgment, there will be a resurrection of the body. Christ will return soon to usher in the millennium, a thousand year period during which Christ will reign on the earth together with the saints.

Pe (Some Baptists and some Disciples also hold to this view)

BAPTISM

Baptism is necessary for salvation.

RC, oL, CC, JW

Unbaptized infants will enter limbo.

oRC

Unknown is the disposition of those who have not received an opportunity to be baptized.

lRC, L

Individuals who have not been baptized by immersion and who are not members of the body of Christ will be condemned.

During the millennium, individuals who have not received an opportunity to be baptized will be granted this privilege.

There are three kinds of baptism: baptism by water, by blood, and by desire.

Baptism should be performed by three-fold immersion (immersed three times).

Sprinkling, pouring, or immersion are proper modes of baptism.

RC, L, P, C, E, M

Immersion is the only proper mode of baptism.

B, D, CC, SDA, JW, Pe

Baptism should be regarded in pure symbolic terms (meaning that water baptism is not practiced).

CS, F

Baptism remits original sin, personal sins, and prepares individuals for entrance into the church. Through baptism, individuals begin to benefit from the atonement and receive the grace of God.

Through baptism, recipients are cleansed of their sins and become members of the earthly kingdom of God.

oEO

Through baptism, God offers to man forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation.

Baptism is a sign of regeneration and is the gateway into the Christian church. Through infants’ baptism, parents dedicate their children to God.

L, P, C, E, M

Baptism is a sign of acceptance of Christ and is the gateway into the Christian church. Only believers, therefore, should be immersed.

B, D, CC, SDA, JW, Pe

Baptism should follow faith and repentance, and remission of sins and reception of the Holy Spirit follow baptism.

oD, CC

LORD’S SUPPER

The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is both a sacrifice and a sacrament. The sacrifice is the Mass, during which service, Christ makes the same sacrifice through the ministry of the priest that he made on the cross, except that it is an unbloody immolation [offering]. During the Mass, the bread and wine is changed into the very body and blood of Christ. Although that which is present has all the appearance of bread and wine, the substance of Christ totally replaces the annihilated substance of the bread. When communicants partake of the unleavened wheat bread they receive Christ’s body and blood. Meanwhile, Christ’s glorified body remains in heaven and is at the same time truly present, whole and entire, on the altar, which is one of the great mysteries of the church.

During the liturgy, Christ is sacrificed and is not only the victim of the sacrifice but is also the priest who performs this ceremonial act. This sacrifice is not merely commemorative, but is a true literal sacrifice of the very body of Christ. During this service, the bread and wine is changed to the body and blood of Christ. The leavened bread is placed in the wine and both elements are conveyed to the communicants who are served by a spoon from the chalice. Orthodox priests may celebrate only one liturgy on a given day.

In the sacrament of Holy Communion, the resurrected Christ imparts himself, his body and blood, to communicants. Communicants, therefore, receive the bread an wine and the body and blood of Christ. The total risen Christ is really present during the Holy Communion. A public or private confession precedes each celebration of the Lord’s Supper and to maintain membership, individuals should commune at least once a year.

The Lord’s Supper is more than a memorial. During this sacrament, communicants experience Christ spiritually. While Christ’s body is in heaven, his spirit is present with the bread and wine. Communicants receive Christ’s very being for their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.

The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is more than a memorial. Worthy communicants receive the bread and wine in remembrance of Christ and are nourished and strengthened by the spiritual body and blood of Christ. Although the substance of the bread and wine are not changed, the real and spiritual presence of the living Christ is at every Holy Communion.

E (and some Methodists)

The Lord’s Supper is a memorial in which Christians remember the sacrifice of Jesus and promise to serve him. The bread and wine (or crackers and grape juice) signify the body and blood of Christ. It is also a living experience for the sacrament becomes a means of blessing and comfort to all worthy communicants.

M, B, SDA

The ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, partaken in remembrance of Christ, should be preceded by a footwashing ceremony.

SDA

Those classified among the 144,000 should partake of the Lord’s Supper every year during an annual assembly as a symbol of the death of Christ and of their dedication to God.

Bread and wine are not given to members during a communion service. The Lord’s Supper is considered only in a symbolic manner.

CS, F

MARRIAGE

Husbands and wives are married "until death do us part," the marriage not being binding after death.

RC, EO, L, P, C, B, D, CC, E, M, SDA, JW, CS, Pe

A Roman Catholic must be married in the presence of a Catholic priest and two Catholic witnesses, otherwise he and she are not married and live in mortal sin [deprives the soul of sanctifying grace and causes damnation]. Only a bishop has the authority to authorized a mixed marriage, and such authorizations are granted only if the non-Catholic promises that the children resulting from the union will be reared Catholics. A valid Catholic marriage cannot be dissolved by human power or any change except death. The church, however, has the authority to declare that a marriage was not valid thereby dissolving the marriage.

Marriage to a baptized Christian of another faith is permitted if the non-member promises to baptize the children of the marriage in the Orthodox Church. Divorce is permitted under certain conditions and a second marriage is tolerated.

MAN’S PRE-MORTAL EXISTENCE

Man is not eternal and did not live in a pre-mortal existence.

RC, EO, L, P, C, B, D, CC, E, M, SDA, JW, CS, Pe, UU, F

AUTHORITY

Only bishops have the power of ordination and their authority has come down in an unbroken line from the apostles (apostolic succession). Clergy are ordained by the bishop through the laying on of hands.

RC, EO, E

Every Christian is a priest, directly encounters God, and receives grace directly from God. The authority to teach and baptize was conveyed directly by Christ to the early Christians and has remained with God’s true followers since that age. [Priesthood of believers.]

L, P, C, B, D, CC, SDA, JW, Pe

The ministerial office is conferred upon incumbents [a person who holds an office or ecclesiastical benefice] through the congregations (or their representatives). By calling an individual, congregations delegate to the minister the right to exercise the duties of his office. The rite of ordination is a public acknowledgment of the call.

L, P, C, B, D, M

God’s authoritative word as revealed in the New Testament gives to all adult male believers the right to administer in the Lord’s Supper and baptize. There is no ordination or installation of preachers or evangelists.