08.15.23 - Topic Night - Comparative Religions

Northern Virginia Catholic Bible Study & Apologetics House rules/notes… 1. Online via Meetup/Zoom or In Person at St. John Neumann Catholic Church 11900 Lawyers Road, Reston, VA 20191 https://saintjn.org/ 2. Meetup is www.meetup.com/catholicbiblestudy Zoom Meeting Logon info is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952 3. I will send out Meeting Recaps the same night as our sessions – these are unedited versions without pictures. An edited version with pictures will be posted on our website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website before the next meeting. Taylor will notify everyone at that time. 4. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can ask in the chat box, email the Meetup group, or me at ron@hallagan.net. 5. Respectfulness. We will be discussing differences between religions and Christian denominations, and we agree to be respectful at all times. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ; in fact, I personally owe part of my return to the faith to them! 6. No politics. It would be easy for us to self-destruct, but that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn/understand/apply the Bible and our Catholic faith. 7. Catholic Prayer & Fellowship. Are you interested in praying with other Catholics during the week? Fellow member Jason Goldberg has started “Catholic Prayer, Fellowship, and Spirituality Meetup.” Sign up at: https://www.meetup.com/online-catholic-prayer-fellowship-and-spirituality/. 8. "The Chosen” TV series. All of us seek a relationship with Jesus Christ, which is not always easy. It can help if we have seen and heard Him. The Chosen captures Jesus better than any show I have ever seen. Highly recommended. 9. RSVP Reminder: Please RSVP whether you are attending the meeting or just reading the Recaps afterwards. The more RSVPs, the more Meetup will give exposure to “Catholic Bible Study” – a good thing! Catholic Catacombs Website: https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website Bible Study Format: Each week of the month has a repeating topic, as noted below. Each meeting: 5 min greet, prayer, 10-15 min Catholic topic, 40-45 min main topic. Week 1: Gospel Week: Week 2: Bible Week (Gen to Rev): We are in EXODUS, the 2nd book of Moses. Week 3: Survey Topics Voted on by Members:

x 1) Jesus’ Greatest Parables x 2) Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3) Comparative Religions

4) Great Women in the Bible 5) Book of Revelation 6) Major Heresies and Church Councils

Week 4: Member Questions:

1. What are blessings? Is it possible to ask for too many?

2. Jesus says in John 14:28, “The Father is greater than I.” What does this mean? I thought they were one.

3. In Genesis, it says that God repented that He made humans. In Exodus, it says He changed His mind about destroying the Israelites at Sinai. I thought God was unchangeable. Can you explain this?

4. Please provide an intro or overview of the OT books.

5. What’s the difference between Charity and Love? What are the highest forms of charity?

6. Can you provide a brief review of the origin/meaning of the (12) statements in the Creed?

7. How many Gospels have the story of Jesus’ calming the storm? They seem different. Are they the same story?

8. Why does God seem full of vengeance or violence in the OT? Is this a misinterpretation?

9. Can we do a Christian Meditation one evening?

10. Is “recognition” a good thing? How does pride play into it? Glory and pride discussion.

11. Angels – who are they, what do they do, and do we really have guardian angels?

12. Indulgences – origin, types, how they work, how to get them

Terms

Apostacy/apostatize – to break from one’s religious beliefs

Apologetics – to defend one’s beliefs

Catholic apologetics– to use reason, tradition, and Scripture to defend the faith

Eschatology – the study of the end times

Exegesis – the study and interpretation of Scripture

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord

Thank you for your promise that where two or three of us are gathered in your name, You are there.

Your statement makes it clear that You are now here with us for this discussion tonight!

We welcome You guidance as we study other religious beliefs besides ours.

By better understanding them, may we better understand and defend the truth You have given to the world.

And as You taught us to pray:

Our Father

Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily Bread;

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us all.

Amen.

Major liturgical events in the Church

Feast of The Transfiguration of the Lord (Aug 6)

Solemnity of The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Aug 15)

Note: Sept 8 is part of Labor Day weekend, so no class Sept 8.

HOWEVER, since there are five Tuesdays in August, we will make the last one (Aug 29) Gospel Week.

On this day (Aug 29), we will be covering both the Transfiguration and Assumption in much detail.

Comparative Religions

So far we have covered Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism (all available at the Catholic Catacombs website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website) and today we will try to wrap up this topic with Mormonism (Latter Day Saints/LDS), Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, and Freemasons.

World Religions # members %

Christianity 2.5 billion 34%

Islam 1.6 billion 24%

Hinduism 1.2 billion 15%

Nonreligious 1.0 billion 14%

Buddhism 600 million 7%

Mormons, 7thD.A,, JehWit, Masons 2-22 million each .3%

Judaism 15 million .1%

Q: The religions we will discuss today – just as others in the past – have an anti-Catholic bent. Why do so many religions attack the Catholic Church?

1) If you are going to plant your flag in the ground and get people to follow you, you have to take a position that is different from the others. That “Big Other” is the Catholic Church. And since it’s the only one that’s been around for 2000 years, it is also, by far, the most well-known target. Why bother staking a claim against the 15th Presbyterian Church of Timbuctoo County when nobody has ever heard of it?

2) No doubt the Catholic Church has had lots of issues through the ages, but that is only because of sinful people in the Church, not it’s teachings. Jesus had sinful people in “the twelve.” All humans are sinful, that’s our fallen nature. The question is one of repentance, learning, and becoming holier with the help of God. The Catholic Church teaches what the Apostles taught, and the Chair of Peter was charged by Jesus with interpreting Scripture and teaching the faith. What Jesus said about the Church, “The gates of Hell will not prevail against it,” was true then as it is true now.

Mormonism

Membership – 7 million U.S., 17 million worldwide (2022)

Basic history

· This religion had its origin during the early part of the nineteenth century.

· Joseph Smith, the founder and first president, was the son of a Vermont farmer, born in 1805. He published the Book of Mormon at the age of 24 and died in 1844 at the age of 38.

· In the spring of 1820, while living with his parents in Manchester, New York, he became deeply concerned about the subject of his salvation, a condition partly caused by a religious revival which converted a few of his relatives to the Presbyterian Faith. Joseph himself was inclined toward Methodism.

· To satisfy his mind as to which one of the existing Protestant sects he should join, he sought divine guidance, and claimed to have received an answer to his prayer by a visitation from two glorious beings, who told him not to connect himself to any of these churches, but to wait the coming of Church of Christ, which was about to be re-established.

· According Joseph’s own statement, there appeared to him on the night of Sept 21, 1823, a heavenly messenger, who gave his name as Moroni, and who revealed the existence of an ancient record containing the fullness of the Gospel of Christ as taught by the Savior after his Resurrection to the Nephites, a branch of the House of Israel which inhabited the American continent centuries before its discovery by Columbus.

· Moroni in mortal life had been a Nephite prophet, the son of another prophet named Mormon, who was the compiler of the record buried in a hill situated about two miles from the village of Manchester.

· Joseph Smith states that he received the record from the angel Moroni in Sept, 1827. It stated that he it was engraved upon metallic plates having the appearance of gold and each a little thinner than ordinary tin, the whole forming a book about six inches long, six inches wide, and six inches thick, bound together by rings.

· The characters engraved upon the plates were in a language styled the Reformed Egyptian, and with the help of divine interpreters, he translated these characters into English. The result was the "Book of Mormon," published in March, 1830.

· In the preface eleven witnesses, exclusive of Joseph Smith, the translator, claim to have seen the plates from which it was taken. Subsequently, three principal witnesses – Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris – declared these testimonies to be false and renounced Mormonism. The plates were never seen outside these witnesses, as Smith said that he gave them back to the angel after translating them (Joseph Smith History 1:60).

· Six months after its inception, the Mormon Church sent its first mission to the American Indians – called in the Book of Mormon the Lamanites, "the degenerate remnants of the Nephite nation."

· The Mormons prospered in Ohio, somewhat in Illinois, and not so much in Missouri and Mississippi. One of the reasons for hostility towards Mormons was that in 1843, Smith said he received another revelation that allowed him to establish polygamy (which he had been practicing for several years).

· In 1846, after the death of Joseph Smith in a Mississippi shootout, Smith’s deputy, Brigham Young, took over the movement and led them westward into Utah, which at the time was part of the Mexican province of California, but largely uninhabited. Brigham Young was later named governor of the U.S. Utah Territory.

· So long as Utah remained a territory, there was much bitterness between its Mormon and non-Mormon citizens, the latter termed "Gentiles". The Mormons eventually submitted, however, and issued a "Manifesto" which, being accepted by the Latter-day Saints in General Conference, withdrew the sanction of the Church from the further solemnization of any marriages forbidden by the law of the land. One of the results of this action was the admission of Utah into the Union of States on Jan 6, 1896.

The Book of Mormon

· The Book of Mormon purports to be an abridged account of God's dealings with the two great prehistoric races that came to the Americans — the Jaredites, who were led from the Tower of Babel at the time of the confusion of the languages (~2200 BC), and the Nephites who came from Jerusalem just prior to the Babylonian captivity (600 B.C.).

· According to this book, America is the true "Land of Zion", where the New Jerusalem will be built by a gathering of scattered Israel before the second coming of the Messiah.

· The work of men as Columbus and the Pilgrim Fathers are considered as preparatory events to this consummation.

· The work of Joseph Smith is also prophetically indicated, he being represented as a lineal descendant of the Joseph of old, commissioned to begin the gathering of Israel foretold by Isaias (11:10-16) and other ancient prophets.

· The Mormon people took on the name of Latter-day Saints to distinguish them from earlier saints.

· Mormonism announces as one of its principal aims the preparation of a people for the coming of the Lord; a people who will build the New Jerusalem, and there await His coming.

Practices/Doctrines

· Mormons follow a strict healthy lifestyle that doesn’t allow them to consume alcohol, tobacco, coffee or tea.

· Family life, good deeds, respect for authority and missionary work are very high values in Mormonism.

· Presiding over the entire Church is a supreme council of three high-priests, called the First Presidency. Next to there are the twelve apostles, equal in authority to the First Presidency, though subject to and acting under their direction.

· The Mormon Church is supported by the tithes and offerings of its members.

· About two thousand missionaries are always kept in the field. While they consider themselves under the Divine injunction to "preach the Gospel to every creature," they may not baptize a married woman without the consent of her husband, or any child underage without the consent of its parents.

· Aside from the true followers of Christ coming to America and the Book of Mormon, many of the initial 13 LDS articles of faith are similar to Christianity as we know it. For example, they believe in one God and in the saving work of Jesus Christ. However, the “one God” they believe in is just “our” one God – the only one that matters to us. Other Gods like ours exist over other parts of the universe, but they have nothing to do with us. All that matters in our lives is our God.

· Although they believe in the saving work of Jesus Christ, they do not believe Christ to be God but rather another “God-in-the-making.”

· If you live a life obedient to LDS dictates, you can also progress to the point of perfection. You will become like God and return to him in his highest heaven. Provided your spouse, children, and parents live equally dedicated lives, you will spend eternity with them as a family (sometimes as Gods over another part of the universe). This is a very attractive message, especially if you are not rooted in your faith and family is important to you. However, Mormons – whether missionaries, neighbors, or colleagues – are trained to present only their simpler, attractive beliefs (some call it their “milk” beliefs – the bland and less offensive teachings designed to attract new people). The more substantial doctrines are kept for later – often much later. In fact, many faithful members know little or nothing of their Church’s fundamental tenets. (Before we mock them, the same can be said of many Christians, especially Catholics).

· People who rejected the Mormon gospel are called the sons of perdition and are sentenced to hell for 1,000 years, after which they will be resurrected to telestial glory, the lowest level.

· LDS believe they can save dead friends and relatives who were not baptized in the LDS church by performing baptisms in their stead. They believe this act will enable those who were not Mormons on earth the chance to become saints in “spirit prison.” Some Mormons will proudly speak of going through three or four sessions a day and thus “saving” three or four dead friends or relatives.

Doctrinal Changes – There have also been many key changes in Mormon doctrines since its inception. The biggest ones probably have to do with polygamy and racism.

· Joseph Smith introduced his revelation on polygamy well after his original revelation in the original “golden plates.” He soon afterwards married a 14-year-old girl over the objections of his wife.

· Joseph Smith harbored racist views, perhaps partly due to growing up in NY which was still a slave state at that time. Many passages in the Book of Mormon speak of dark skin as a curse for sins, as opposed to the “white and delightsome” appearance of the righteous ( (2 Nephi 30:6, cf. 1 Nephi 12:23, 13:15, 2 Nephi 5:21, Jacob 3:8-9, 3 Nephi 2:14-15, Moses 7:8, 12, 22). Eventually, the civil rights movement had its effect. Black leaders urged boycotts of the state of Utah and all Mormon Tabernacle Choir products. The NAACP brought discrimination charges against the Utah Boy Scouts for prohibiting a black member from assuming a senior patrol position. College athletes refused to play Brigham Young University teams. Groups protested at the church’s twice-yearly general conferences in Salt Lake City. By 1978, increased social repudiation of racism, coupled with Mormon evangelization in areas with large populations of racially mixed ancestry (i.e., Brazil) led to one of the most drastic reversals in Mormon belief and practice: Those with Negro blood were allowed to attend the temple, and worthy black men could also hold the priesthood.

· Similarly, most anti-Catholic references were purged in the 1990s.

· Members used to be sworn to secrecy upon threat of death, but this was removed once that also became public.

As stated above, Mormonism often attracts people initially by holding back its more incredible doctrines and leading instead with its strong suit of family values, excellent moral behavior, and patriotism (all true!). Here are some of the things that come later:

Other key doctrines of Mormonism

· God the Father is a glorified man, possessing a physical body. This means that God was once born of human parents in some other universe. He lived a Mormon way of life, repented of his sins, died, and was eventually raised by his God and installed as God of this world.

· There are many Gods. Sometimes Mormons will confuse the Trinity as a belief in three Gods and use that to justify multiple Gods.

· A man can become God. We can’t become God of this world since that position is already filled. But a man who lives as a faithful Mormon in this life, fulfilling all obligations imposed on him by the LDS Church, may progress to godhood in the next life. He will be given his own world to populate and rule, together with his heavenly wife or wives (including, usually, his own earthly Mormon spouse). A woman becomes a goddess also, although her primary role seems to be making spiritual babies that will eventually populate their worlds. As Spencer W. Kimball, Mormon prophet during the 1980s, declared to a group of male college students:

“Each one of you has it within the realm of possibility to develop a kingdom over which you will preside as its king and God. You will need to develop yourself and grow in ability and power and worthiness to govern such a world with all of its people” (Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual 29).

So, having achieved divinity, a man will do for his own creation all that the Heavenly Father has done for him. In turn, he will be worshiped as God by the children he procreates, just as he now adores and obeys God the Father.

Interestingly, when pushed on the subject, Mormons will say that we can never achieve God’s status, and we’ll never be his equal. However, this just means that since the present God has such a long head start, we’ll never catch up to him in power and glory. He continues to advance just as we do. Nonetheless, once a Mormon is on the path of progression, he may one day arrive at the level that our God is at now.

· What about Jesus Christ? This is a bit complicated.

Mormonism teaches that matter is eternal. That which we call “spirit” is really just highly refined matter.

Therefore, God didn’t create from nothing; He merely “organized” pre-existent matter. This includes the “spirit” form of his Son, Jesus Christ, whom the Heavenly Father and one of his heavenly wives created as their first-born.

Two thousand years ago, God our Heavenly Father looked with favor upon his daughter, the Virgin Mary. He visited her in his physical body and had intercourse with her. The result was Jesus Christ in his mortal body.

Since Mormons say they believe Mary was a virgin when she conceived her son, LDS theologians have had to redefine the definition of “virgin.” They now say that a virgin is a woman who has not had sex with a mortal man. Since God the Father was by then an immortal man, no loss of virginity occurred (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, vol. 1, 314; Mormon Doctrine, 546-547).

Lucifer and his minions, together with every other person, were similarly conceived in the heavens, thus making us all junior brothers and sisters of Christ.

All that said, LDS do not worship Christ and are forbidden to pray to him. All prayer is directed to the Father only. For them, Christ is a lesser God – half God and half man.

· Apostacy of the Catholic Church. The Mormons maintain that all these doctrines were revealed by God in every age to his Church. Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, all the prophets, and even the 12 apostles all knew and taught that God had a physical body, taught a plurality of Gods, taught that men can evolve into Gods, and taught a subordinate Christ. They say these glorious doctrines were lost because the Catholic Church, after apostatizing, removed many “plain and precious” truths from the scriptures. Since then, the world was enthralled in darkness until God restored all these teachings to Joseph Smith in 1830 in New York.

Knock at the door

· When engaging people of other faiths, it is imperative not to “argue” or make disparaging statements. Christ teaches us to preach with love (and knowledge) and to walk away if we run into rejection (“shake the dust off your feet and move on” – Mt 10:14).

· The Mormons who come knocking on your door should know that you believe that there is one God who is Lord of all. He has revealed himself fully in his Son (Heb. 1:2), who himself charged his apostles to preach the gospel until the end of time (Luke 10:16; 2 Tim. 2:2; 4:2-4).

“Good morning, Sir/Ms. I’m Elder Adams and this is Elder Johnson. We’re from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“LDS”) and we have an important message for you. May we come in?”

If you let them in, you’ve invited them to begin the process of “discussions,” six lessons (about an hour each) they’ve been trained to deliver, leading, ideally, to your baptism into the Mormon Church.

They will begin by telling you the Heavenly Father has a plan for your eternal happiness. Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith are central figures in this plan of salvation. Both prophets, ancient and modern, reveal the purpose and will of God. The Book of Mormon is additional scripture testifying to the message.

On their subsequent visits, they will urge you to repent, accept faith in their doctrines, baptism into their church, and moral living. They will tell you that only in their church can lead you to true righteousness and salvation. All other creeds are abominations before the Lord and only offer counterfeit holiness (Joseph Smith, History 1:19, Book of Mormon).

They will go on to explain that shortly after the death of the apostles, the pure Christian faith was overtaken by false doctrine and vanished totally from the earth (called the great “apostasy”). This apostacy was eventually reversed when the true Church was restored in upstate New York in 1830 by the boy-prophet, Joseph Smith.

If you wish to help an LDS missionary who has come to your house, here are some points you can consider and scriptural support for those points:

· You might ask them about their belief in an almighty Heavenly Father. Ask them about his origins. Was there ever a time He didn’t exist? Was He always God? Did He ever commit sin? You are likely to hear that God the Father “worked out his own salvation by obedience to the same laws he has since given us (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, 64). If God the Father is a physical being, where is he? You will likely hear that he is on a planet near the star Kolob (see Abraham 3:3 in The Pearl of Great Price).

· Help them see that the true nature of God is infinite Spirit (John 4:24). A spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). God is not a man, even an exalted one (Num. 23:19; Hos. 11:9). God was always God; He is immortal, and He is all-holy (1 Tim. 1:17); and that no one can see the “face” of God (Ex. 33:20, John 1:18).

· Establish that Christ is God from all eternity. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Jesus accepted and expects adoration – he received Thomas’s worshipful phrase, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28) without demurral (see also Matthew 2:11 and 28:9, 17; John 9:38; and Revelation 5:14).

· Establish Christ’s promises of power and permanence in the Church and are irrevocable (see Matthew 16:18, 28:20; John 14:16, 26; 16:13; Eph. 5:29). The Church has preserved the purity of Christian faith and life. No “former” truths need be “restored” and secretly “revealed.” The Church Jesus founded was handed down to every generation (2 Thes. 2:15, 3:16), saying that the gates of Hell shall never prevail against it (Mt 16:18).

Mormonism/LDS Christian Affiliation: Not Christian

Seventh-day Adventism

Membership – 2 million U.S., 22 million worldwide (2021)

Most people know little about the Seventh-day Adventists beyond that they worship on Saturdays, not Sundays. But there’s more to this unique sect.

Adventist History

The Seventh-day Adventist church traces its roots to American preacher William Miller (1782–1849), a Baptist who predicted that the Second Coming would occur between 3/21/1843 and 3/21/1844. Because Miller and his followers proclaimed Christ’s imminent advent (advent means “coming”), they became known as “Adventists.”

When Christ failed to appear during this time, Miller reluctantly endorsed the position of a group of his followers known as the “seventh-month movement,” who claimed Christ would return on October 22, 1844 (in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar). Christ didn’t come then, either. This became famously known as “The Great Disappointment of 1844.”

After Christ failed to show up again, Miller forswore predicting the date of the Second Coming, and his followers broke up into a number of competing factions. One of those factions was the current Seventh-day Adventists. (Another splinter group was the Jehovah Witnesses.)

Rising out of the ashes of the SDA group came the prophetess Ellen White, who claimed to have received several hundred visions establishing some new doctrines. Mainly:

1) The Catholic Church proved its apostacy when it changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.

2) In the End Times, the Pope will issue an ultimatum, supported by the United States, that everyone must choose – Saturday or Sunday. This is a disguise for worshipping the papacy, the “Beast of Revelation.”

It will be hard for the SDA to break from its anti-Catholicism since their main focus is the End Times and Armageddon will be tied to the Saturday-Sunday change, which is inextricably tied to the Catholic Church.

Nevertheless!... by virtue of their valid baptism, and their belief in Christ’s divinity, and in the doctrine of the Trinity, Seventh-day Adventists are considered “Christians.”

But, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:14, Christians, once separated from the Church our Lord founded, are susceptible to being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.”

Seventh-day Adventism Christian Affiliation: …….Christian

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Membership: 1.2 million in U.S., 6 million worldwide (2022)

The sect known as Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs) began with Charles Taze Russell in the 1870’s. Russell was raised a Presbyterian, then joined the Congregational church, and was finally influenced by the Seventh Day Adventists. (Nowadays, the parent organization to the Jehovah Witnesses is the Watchtower Society (WTS)).

By his own admission, Charles Russell had a hard time accepting many Christian doctrines, such as the existence of hell. He sought out the Bible, and as his “studies” continued, he systematically began to reject one major doctrine of historic Christianity after another. JWs now call all Christians evil apostates (mostly the CC) as well as all governments, declaring that “religion was introduced to the world by the Devil” (Rutherford, Rumble, 7). JWs claim to only be part of “Jehovah’s New World Theocracy.”

In 1879, Russell started publishing a magazine to promote his beliefs. This magazine was the precursor to today’s Watchtower (WT) and Awake! magazines.

The record of predicting the end is worse than the SDAs:

1889: “The ‘battle of the great day of God almighty’ (Rev. 16:14) will end in AD 1914…” (Studies, Vol. 2, 1908 edition, 101).

1891: “With the end of AD 1914, what God calls Babylon, and what men call Christendom, will have passed away, as already shown from prophecy” (Studies, Vol. 3, 153).

1894: “The end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble” (WT Reprints, 1-1-1894, 1605 and 1677).

1915: When Christ didn’t come in 1914, Russell claimed that he came invisibly.

1916, 1918: “The six great 1000-year days beginning with Adam are ended, and that the great 7th day, the 1000 years of Christ’s reign began in 1873” (Studies, Vol. 2, p. 2 of foreword). “Therefore, we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the faithful prophets of old” (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 89).

1923: “1925 is definitely settled by the scriptures. As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge” (WT, 4-1-1923, 106).

1925: “The year of 1925 is here. . . . Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year” (WT, 1-1-1925, 3).

1939: “The disaster of Armageddon is just ahead” (Salvation, 361).

1941: “Armageddon is surely near . . . soon . . . within a few years” (Children, 10).

1946: “Armageddon . . . should come sometime before 1972” (They Have Found a Faith, 44).

1968: “The end of the six thousand years of man’s history in the fall of 1975 is not tentative but is accepted as a certain date” (WT, 1-1-1968, 271).

The WTS has also changed its doctrines often. Some examples:

1) “The men of Sodom will be resurrected” (July 1879, WT 7-8).

“The men of Sodom will not be resurrected” (June 1, 1952, WT 338).

“The men of Sodom will be resurrected” (Aug 1, 1965, WT 479).

“The men of Sodom will not be resurrected” (June 1, 1988, WT 31).

2) “There could be nothing against our consciences in going into the army” (4-15-1903, WT 120).

“Due to conscience, Jehovah’s Witnesses must refuse military service” (2-1-1951, WT 73).

3) “Everyone in America should take pleasure in displaying the American flag” (WT Reprints, 5-15-1917, 6068). “The flag is “an idolatrous symbol” (Awake!, 9-8-71, 14).

4) “We may as well join in with the civilized world in celebrating the grand event [Christmas]” (WT Reprints, 12-1-1904, 3468).

“Christmas and its music are not from Jehovah. What is their source? … Satan the devil!” (WT, 12-15-1983, 7).

· The JWs contradict most Christian teachings and those they don’t contradict, they ignore.

· They do not believe in the Trinity nor teach much of anything about sacraments or prayer.

· The do have a baptism, but its purpose is obscure.

· They believe Jesus was created by Jehovah as the Archangel Michael before the world, but he was just a man in this world.

· One’s salvation requires faith in Christ, association with the JW organization, and obedience to is rules.

· They do not believe in hell. After this life, everyone will be given a 2nd chance and it they don’t accept Jehovah, their existence will just end.

· Armageddon is highly anticipated to be a bloody battle and JWs will just watch while all human religions and governments are destroyed.

· They believe in the literal interpretation of the 144,000 saved in Revelations, who alone will receive immortal souls and rule with Christ in heaven. The rest of the saved will live forever on a paradise-earth.

It is hard to understand who would continue to follow the JWs given their changing doctrines and failed predictions, but one study in 1965 determined that only about 1% of JWs had a high school education or higher. So it seems they prey on the lower classes, which is very sad. For this reason, JWs flourish in countries especially where literacy is lowest. (That was in 1965, so may no longer be true; and when you look at their pictures on the Internet, they all seem quite well-to-do.) They collect a fair amount of money from their members and also from their publications, so the top circle of people seem to do very well.

They claim to have no hierarchy, but there appears to be a rather large one headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. When asked how much of their money goes to charity, the response was, “That isn’t the purpose of this association. Our purpose is to spread the word.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses Christian Affiliation: Not Christian

Freemasonry

Membership – 1.3 million U.S., 8.7 million worldwide (2022)

“One of the oldest social and charitable organizations in the world, Freemasonry's roots lie in the traditions of the medieval stonemasons who built our cathedrals and castles.”

Note the compass, which is usually next to a level. This relates to their “building-trade roots”

but also to their goal of “building up the man.”

Freemasonry teaches a naturalistic religion that espouses “indifferentism,” which is the position that a person can be equally pleasing to God regardless of one’s religion. The promote themselves as men’s charitable organization that helps build strong moral character. There are three degrees of membership: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Mason, and Master Mason.

Masonry is sometimes called a parallel religion to Christianity in that Freemasonry displays all the elements of religion – it includes temples and altars, prayers, a moral code, worship, vestments, feast days, the promise of reward or punishment in the afterlife, a hierarchy, and initiation and burial rites. However, Masonry is a secret society. Its members subscribe to secret blood oaths that are contrary to Christian teaching. The prospective Mason swears that if he ever reveals the secrets of Masonry – secrets which are actually well-known and fairly trivial – then he will be subject to self-mutilation or gruesome execution. That said, “those are just the rules,” meaning it is very unlikely any Mason would ever carry out such punishments on themselves or an errant member.

The “All Seeing Eye” represents watchfulness and enlightened thinking,

both for the brotherhood and of the Great Architect (God).

Masons were more Gnostic than Christian (Gnostic is Greek for knowledge and means those within “know the truth”). They do not believe Jesus is the savior or, for that matter, any different than Krishna. Even its early Catholic members were asked to put the membership of their masonic lodge above their membership in the Church. Some of their materials were explicitly anti-Catholic. Some of the anti-Catholic horrors of the French Revolution can be tied back to the masons.

Finally, in 1917, the Church imposed the penalty of excommunication on Catholics who become Freemasons. Because of later revisions in the code of canon law that were not explicit on this point, some drew the mistaken conclusion that the Church’s prohibition of Freemasonry had been dropped. As a result, shortly before the 1983 code was issued, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a statement stating that the penalty had not been lifted (Origins 13/27, Nov. 15, 1983, 450).

In the United States (especially in recent times), Freemasonry is often little more than a social club, but it still espouses a naturalistic religion that contradicts Christianity. The Church suggests that those who are really interested in joining a men’s club simply consider the Knights of Columbus :).

Freemasonry Christian Affiliation: Not Christian

Closing Prayer

Father in Heaven

We thank you for the presence as we explored other religious beliefs together.

We also ask your blessings upon all humans of good will in their search for You.

Finally, we ask that your love and grace follow each of us as we return to our daily lives,

Refreshed and blessed by You.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;

blessed are thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.