A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY

A HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY

notes prepared by Larry Brown

Part four: Christianity in America

The first English colonies were founded on religious principles. Ironic that some who escaped Europe for religious freedom were not so tolerant of others when they got to America. Pres. Taft: “Our ancestors … if you are going to be exact, came to this country to establish freedom for their religion and not the freedom of anybody else’s.” (Church, American Creed, 2)

· Puritan colonies: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire

The Plymouth colonists were Separatists and repudiated the Church of England, whereas Massachusetts Bay maintained ties with the Church of England, but organized along Congregationalist lines, where every church has the right to elect their own leaders.
Many New England Separatists organized into presbyteries (small groups of congregations) and synods (groups of presbyteries). Most Presbyterian churches are Calvinist in doctrine. [Presbuteros in Greek means “elder.”]
Mass. Bay was not a democracy. They argued the principle was not found in scripture, “the meanest and worst of all forms of government.” Winthrop associated the word liberty with license for sin. Not opposed to an official state church, they rejected religious tolerance: “Tis Satan’s policy to plead for an indefinite and boundless toleration… All Anabaptists (etc) shall have free liberty to keep away from us.” (Sweet 51)
Quakers were considered religious fanatics and disturbers of government. “Quaker ministers were not interested in polite discourse, civility, and compromise but in overthrowing the New England church system. They would obey no law that would interfere with their obedience to the Light Within” (Barbour, Quakers, 50-1). Quaker missionaries who arrived by ship in Boston (1656) were immediately jailed without trial, their books burned, and eventually forced to return home. Ships which transported Quakers were fined. Massachusetts had a death sentence for Quakers that had been banished and tried to return; the penalty was abolished by Charles II in 1660.
How could those who had escaped religious persecution, believe it right to persecute others? John Cotton, a chief spokesman for the colony, argued that previously they had been coerced to follow the traditions of men, whereas now they were only urging others to follow the commands of God, confident that they had completely restored the church, an idea which Roger Williams argued against (see below).
Puritans had a strong sense of divine mission. John Winthrop, governor of Mass. Bay, described the role of the Puritan colony as a “city on a hill” where “the eyes of all people are upon us” (in Perry Miller, The American Puritans, 1956, 82). In their sermons and writings the Puritans compared themselves to the Israelites, a chosen people, brought to a promised land. The native Americans were seen as the Canaanites, heathens to be wiped out.
This Exodus “myth” survived for a long time. In his second inaugural address, Jefferson (a deist) referred to it: “I shall need the favor of that Being in whose hands we are, who led our fathers, as Israel of old, from their native land and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and comforts of life.” On our national seal the slogan in Latin proclaims America as “the new order of the ages.” In 1850 Herman Melville wrote, “ We Americans are the peculiar, chosen people, the Israel of our time.” During the 19^th century expansion into Mexican and native American territory, the theme of “Manifest Destiny” rang out: “We do but follow our destiny as did the ancient Israelites.”
Another common theme was America as the kingdom of the new millennium. Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), president of Yale, said that the revolution was ushering in “Immanuel’s Land,” and America would be “the principle seat of that new, that peculiar Kingdom which shall be given to the saints of the Most High.” (Valedictory Address, July 27, 1776; in Armstrong, Battle for God, 2000)
In contrast, Lincoln in his second inaugural address warned that it is presumptuous of any group or nation to claim God’s special favor, ignoring that God’s judgement stands against all human pretensions: “Both [sides of this civil conflict] read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.” (Hughes, Myths Americans Live By, 2003)
We have the wrong picture of Puritan times if we think that all colonists were highly religious. Statistics show that only 1 in 5 New Englanders were regular churchgoers, and these numbers were higher than most other colonies (Finke 26).
By 1691 the idea of a Puritan theocracy became impossible; they signed a new charter granting “liberty of conscience to all Christians, except Papists [Catholics].” (Sweet 76)
1^st Amendment prohibited the federal government establishing one religion, but not states. This situation lasted until 1833 when Massachusetts became the last state to abolish a state-sponsored church with tax-supported ministers.
In 1957 Congregationalists and many Reformed Churches (Zwingli) formed the United Church of Christ.

· Rhode Island

o Roger Williams was expelled from Mass. Bay and later Plymouth for his stand against continued association with the Church of England, against Sabbath laws (objected to a man being whipped for hunting on the Sabbath), religious oaths (“so help me God”) in civil courts, taxes to support clergy.

o He also supported Indian rights, objecting to taking land without paying. When in 1936 he was banished from Massachusetts in the middle of winter, Native Americans took him in. He later bought land from them and founded the Providence Plantation.

o Williams formed the first Baptist church in America (1638), supporting adult baptism, the right of individual conscience in religious matters, and established in RI separation of church and state, “the first civil government in the world to achieve complete religious liberty” (Sweet 67). The church is not a hierarchical institution but a gathering of believing individuals.

o Critics referred to his “lively experiment” in freedom as Rogue Island (Church, The American Creed, 14).

· Pennsylvania Quakers (also New Jersey, Delaware) – William Penn (1681) also believed in church/state separation. With the forgiveness of a 16,000 pd debt owed by the king to his estate, Penn set up his colony as a “Holy Experiment.” He granted religious liberty to all who “acknowledge Almighty God to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the world” which included Catholics and Jews, although they weren’t allowed to hold public offices. Quakers actually represented less than 5% of Pennsylvanians (Finke 30). Because of their pacifist views, Quakers were considered disloyal to the new nation after the Revolutionary war. Quakers were some of the first to oppose slavery on religious grounds.

· Maryland: Catholic – Lord Baltimore established a colony safe for Catholics, but promoted religious freedom for Protestants for practical reasons, knowing that his colony couldn’t survive if it remained only Catholic. Their Act of Toleration only applied to Trinitarian Christians, all others were to be “punished with death, and their lands and goods confiscated” (Sweet 80). American Catholics remained in the minority until the mid-1800s with massive immigration from Ireland, Germany, and Italy. The 1790 US Census listed less than 2% claimed to be Catholic; in 1906 over 17%.

· Virginia, Carolinas: Anglican – estimated that in Virginia only one in 20 attended church. Many early colonists were suspicious of Anglicans and their continued ties with the Church of England. The church also had trouble obtaining ministers as they had to be ordained by the bishops in England (first American bishop in 1784). After the War of Independence Anglicans changed their name to the Protestant Episcopal church in 1789.

Deists

· First stated in 1624 by England’s Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Deism promoted a universal religion in accord with reason (not revelation), reducing doctrine to a few basic, rational truths on which all could agree (“We hold these truths to be self-evident” echoes Locke). The Divine Architect had created the world, endowed man with reason, and established natural laws that can be understood by reason. After creation, he did not interfere in the world with miracles, or an Incarnation. Newtonian physics explained the universe as a set of self-perpetuating laws, without the need of divine intervention.

· Humans are basically good by nature, not innately sinful. If given the proper education and the opportunity, they could overcome societal ills of poverty, disease, crime. The human condition is not inevitable, but can be improved.

· Christianity does not hold the monopoly on religious truth or morality.

· Ben Franklin on the deity of Christ: “It is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon to know the truth without much trouble.”

· Jefferson: “He who steadily observes those moral precepts in which all religions concur, will never be questioned at the gates of heaven as to the dogmas in which they all differ.” [Placher 261] Jefferson thought that in the atmosphere of religious freedom in America, that the various denominations would eventually crumble and turn to accept the Unitarian beliefs in one God and a moral order alone. Jefferson had little tolerance for metaphysical doctrines such as incarnation and atonement; he called Paul “the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus,” Athanasius “an impious dogmatist,” and Calvin an atheist (Apel, Nine Great American Myths, 1991, 66).

· Jefferson and James Madison wrote the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, passed in 1786: “No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever, … nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief.”

· Deism (along with some Congregationalist churches) eventually transformed into the Unitarian-Universalist church.

19^th Century America: trends in church growth and decline

· In 1776 three denominations dominated the churches in America: Congregationalists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians. By 1850, however, these three represented less than 20% of the religious adherents (although their overall numbers had grown by population increases), whereas Baptists, Methodists, and Catholics had grown to 68% of all churchgoers. “To the degree that denominations rejected traditional doctrines and ceased to make serious demands on their followers, they ceased to prosper” (Finke 1, 55).

· Example: The first Methodist Episcopal church was founded in America, 1766, and by 1850 Methodists with their emotional revivals were the largest denomination in the country. However, as the sect became an official church, it began to change, as John Wesley had forewarned: “Religion must necessarily produce both industry and frugality, and these cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches.” The solution was to make all you can, save all you can, and give all you can. In 1857 one concerned Methodist feared this prophecy had come true: “Prosperity is producing upon us as a denomination the same intoxicating effect that it too often does upon individuals and societies,” noting how elaborate new buildings were paid for by selling pews to affluent members. In 1904 a Methodist bishop lamented that American Methodism, influenced by wealth and more educated, liberal ministers, had become “unevangelical, un-Wesleyan, and unscriptural.” Over a century later, in 1986 another bishop complained of the church’s decline for similar reasons: “Empty speculative babblings are uttered from the pulpit and seminary … where positive truth should be uttered with power of the Holy Spirit, convicting and not creating doubt…. Sermons are preached without a single appeal to the sinner to accept Christ now. … The churches that are drawing people to them believe in sin, hell, and death … If there is no sin, we do not need a Savior.” (Finke, ch. 5)

· In 1867 a group broke from the Methodist church to form the Holiness Movement with a return to Wesley’s emphasis on sanctification through baptism in the Holy Spirit, out of which came the Pentecostal Church of the Nazarene, among others. Modern Pentecostals are the true children of the Wesleyan movement, and their numbers continue to grow.

· Baptist history shows similar trends. When northern and southern Baptists split over slavery in 1845, the north drifted toward the liberalism of the older denominations, with a resulting drop in membership. Northern churches in 1906 had more than double the wealth of southern Baptists but with half the members. In contrast, Southern Baptists have fought to hold onto their conservative roots. Churches are independent of higher boards and choose to hire and fire preachers, thus they are more member-led than clergy-led. Southern Baptists have held their seminary teachers to stricter conservative standards than the north.

US churches as of 2000

1996 Encyclopedia of American [and Canadian] Religions lists 19 different Presbyterian divisions, 32 Lutheran, 36 Methodist, 60 Baptist, and 241 Pentecostal.

Churches that have lost members in the past few decades: Presbyterian, Episcopal, Disciples, Methodists

Churches that are growing: Assemblies of God, Church of God in Christ, Seventh Day Adventists, Baptists, Nazarene, Mormons

Frontier Revival: the beginnings of the Restoration Movement

Barton W. Stone (1772-1844)

· In 1801 Presbyterian minister Barton W. Stone participated in a revival in Cane Ridge, KY, with over 10,000 in attendance (some reports say 20,000). Because his church criticized him for having relationships with Baptists, Methodists, and other Presbyterians not of their particular sect, he broke away and organized the Springfield Presbytery, then dissolved it a year later, wanting to be free from any ties to human institutions.

· The tradition of revivals in America generally ignored the doctrines that divided Christians and focused on the gospel basics: that people are sinners to whom God offers forgiveness, and the importance of holy living. In the Great Awakening of the 1730s-40s, George Whitefield had said, “Father Abraham, whom have you in heaven? Any Episcopalians? No! Any Presbyterians? No! Any Independents or Methodists? No, no, no! We don’t know those names here. All who are here are Christians” (Hughes 96).

· One major difference in the revivals of the 19^th century from the Great Awakening: belief in the freedom to choose God’s grace. Stone rejected the Calvinism of his Presbyterian roots.

· The revivals provoked unusual physical responses such as jerking, barking, dancing. Stone did not disapprove, and continued to be more open to the working of the Spirit than the Campbellites.

· Stone objected to confining the name “Christian” to only the immersed: “We see no more fruits of the Spirit in them, no more holiness in their lives, no more humility and self-denial than in the unimmersed … Talk no more of being washed from your sins by immersion, when we see you living in sin; and many of you living on the gains of oppressing the poor African” (Hughes 104).

· Stone complained that many of his own followers placed biblical knowledge, religious controversy, and debate above godliness, piety, and brotherly love. For him, the emphasis fell not on separating from the denominations, but separating our lives from the ways of the world.

· Stone (like David Lipscomb after him) saw a radical distinction between the Christian and the world. All government, even in America, was demonic and Christians should refuse active participation in politics, voting, going to war.

Alexander Campbell (1788-1866)

· Campbell was a postmillennialist believing that human progress in the sciences and democracy were the beginnings of the new millennial age that the prophets had promised. In the first issue of the Millennial Harbinger (1830) he wrote: “This work shall have for its object the development and introduction of that political and religious order of society called the Millennium, which will be the consummation of that ultimate amelioration of society proposed by the Christian Scriptures.” This would include the uniting of all Christians, the elimination of injustice, and the emancipation of the slaves.

· Preaching on the millennium beginning in America can be traced back to Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening in the 1740s. Edwards thought that these events might be “the dawning, or at least a prelude, of that glorious work of God so often foretold in Scripture which in the progress of issue of it shall renew the world of mankind.” Later in his career he became pessimistic about any lasting results of the Awakening and pushed the millennium into the distant future (Bryant, The Coming Kingdom, 1983, 49)

· Optimism for the role of America in reshaping the world was widespread in Campbell’s day. “America in the 19^th century was drunk on the millennium” (Grenz, Millennial Maze 58). New technology inspired religious visions of success. One writer called the arts and sciences “pioneers of the millennium [which] are making all things ready for the children of God to possess the earth” (Bryant 139). A Methodist publication praised the invention of the telegraph: “This noble invention is to be the means of extending civilization, republicanism, and Christianity over the earth … Then will wrong and injustice be forever banished. Every yoke shall be broken, and the oppressed go free. Wars will cease from the earth … Then shall come to pass the millennium” (Mathisen, Critical Issues, 174).

· Unlike premillennialism which anticipates a catastrophic beginning of the millennium with the rise of the Antichrist, postmillennialism expects gradual improvement, the slow but steady influence of the gospel spreading throughout the world, with no clear inauguration of the new age (idea based on Jesus’ parable of the yeast working its way through the dough).

· Campbell had a vision of a restored NT church which would unite all Christians under the authority of the Bible alone, and thus begin the millennium. “Just in so far as the ancient order of things or the religion of the NT is restored, just so far has the millennium commenced, and so far have its blessings been enjoyed” (Christian Baptist, February 1825). At first restoration was only the means to a larger goal of unity.

· In his analysis of Campbell’s career, Richard Hughes argues that there was unresolved tension between the two goals of restoring the NT church and Christian unity. Campbell’s insistence on specific forms of church organization and worship was ultimately divisive and undermined his stated purpose of achieving unity among the denominations.

· Campbell and other leaders demonstrated their naivety about history in insisting that this movement was the first ever to restore the NT church by going back to the Bible (see Anabaptists for instance).

· One critic countered the early Campbell’s insistence that he had not started another sect: “What is sectarianism but an undue confidence in the soundness of our views of Scriptural truth, an excessive partiality for those concurring with us, and the lack of candor, tenderness, and forbearance towards those who dissent from them?” (Hughes 23)

· Campbell insisted that there were NT Christians scattered throughout the various denominations, and he refused to identify nondenominational Christianity with any one group, including his own. Nevertheless, in his early years “he launched a devastating attack on everything and everyone who did not agree with his vision of the ancient Christian faith” (Hughes 22). His example of a hard, combative style in debate and publication set a precedent for the next century of C/C leaders.

· In his later years, he came to see common ground in all Protestant churches, especially in matters of piety and morality, which could form a basis for unity. He was criticized by those who thought he had abandoned his principles (some even thought he was senile).

· Hermeneutics: under the influence of Francis Bacon’s scientific philosophy (as read by John Locke), Campbell saw the Bible as a book of facts to be studied and applied. These “facts” are self-evident, needing no human interpretation. Thus he was confident that all men could read the Bible alike and agree on what it says.

· Campbell changed his views on many issues throughout his life.

o He opposed missionary societies early on, then later became the president of one.

o He vacillated between insisting on immersion as the only means of salvation, and a more inclusive view: “Should I find [a person baptized as a child] more intelligent in the scriptures, more spiritually-minded and more devoted to the Lord than [a baptized adult], I would not hesitate a moment in giving the preference to him that loves most…. He that infers that none are Christians but the immersed as greatly errs as he who affirms that none are alive but those of clear and full vision.” (in Hughes 39)

o On slavery: in 1832 he declared in the Millennial Harbinger that slavery was an economic evil. In 1845 he concluded that the institution was not unchristian.

In 1906 the US Census of religious bodies recognized two denominations: Disciples of Christ and Churches of Christ.

· The roots of this division went back almost to the beginning, the lines drawn between those who focused on Christian unity and cooperation (Disciples), and those who made restoration an end in itself. Certain “Campbellites” moved toward a more radical version of his goals.

· Walter Scott (1796-1861) devised a simple “five-finger exercise” to emphasize the plan of salvation: belief, repentance, immersion, forgiveness, the gift of the Spirit and immortality. In the 20^th century this scheme evolved into a more human-centered approach, with all acts being man’s responsibility: hear, believe, repent, confess, be baptized – no attention to what God does in the process. (Scott eventually became disappointed in the direction of the Restoration, admitting that the church had become another sect.)

· Arthur Crihfield published the Heretic Detector from 1837-42, pointing out all the errors of the denominations.

· Moses Lard insisted that common sense (influence of Bacon and Locke) allows a person to know a thing precisely as it is without any difference in perception. We do not “interpret” the Bible when we simply read it. “It is a humiliating fact that [those in denominations] will not see [the Bible alike] … and a grand lie that they cannot” (Hughes 62). Lard was one who began the principle of establishing biblical doctrine and practice by “command, example, and necessary inference.” He also countered Campbell’s vacillation on baptism: “I mean to say distinctly and emphatically that Martin Luther, if not immersed, was not a Christian … But I shall be told that this is Phariseeism and exclusivism. Be it so, if it be true” (Hughes 63).

· Ben Franklin (not the founding father), coming from a poor, rural background, emphasized a gospel for the common people, and opposed sending money to missionary societies, affluence in churches, new buildings, and the use of instruments (acc to Hughes the first to raise this issue, 1860). Instruments are appropriate “if a church only intends being a fashionable society or a mere place of amusement and secular entertainment. … These refined gentlemen have refined ears, enjoy fine music manufactured for French theaters, interspersed with short prayers and very short sermons.” He seemed more concerned about rising middle-class values. Most churches in the south couldn’t afford instruments. He doesn’t mention any scriptural objections such as the silence principle. One Kentucky preacher defended the practice, because the “singing had degenerated into a discordant bawling and screeching” that would drive away not only worshippers but even the rats (Hughes 86).

· Robert Richardson, Campbell’s successor as editor of the Millennial Harbinger, criticized those (specifically Tolbert Fanning, first editor of the Gospel Advocate) who viewed the Bible as a scientific blueprint, who “glory in its letter … and rejoice in its facts,” who reduce spiritual life to a process of reasoning and thereby “mistake the shadow for the substance” (Hughes 70).

Seventh-day Adventists

· William Miller predicted that Christ would come again in 1843. He based his calculations on Dan 8:14 (2300 days until the cleansing of the sanctuary, assuming days = years). When is the starting date? Dan 9:24-27 speaks of seventy weeks beginning with the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem (Neh. 2:5-8), dated 445 BC by most historians, but Miller (and others) used 457 BC as the starting date, when Ezra was allowed to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 7:11-26).

· When Christ didn’t come in 1843, further calculations led to a more specific date of Oct. 22, 1844 (Day of Atonement). Many followers quit their jobs, donned white robes, and stood on rooftops waiting to receive the returning Jesus. When he didn’t come again, some lost faith in Miller’s prophecies. This event is called the Great Disappointment by Adventists today.

· Ellen G. White in a vision reinterpreted the prophecies as the time when Christ “came again” by entering the heavenly sanctuary to begin a new work of investigative judgement. At this time, Christ began cleansing the heavenly temple by reviewing the book of life, purging false believers, and blotting out the sins in the record books (which were previously forgiven on the cross) of the faithful. These sins will be placed on Satan, the scapegoat of OT sacrifices (Lev 16), who will bear these sins during the millennium (not in an act of atonement but carrying the responsibility as the originator of sin).

· Adventists believe they are the Remnant, the few faithful people living in the last days. The church as a whole has fallen into apostasy. It is left to the Remnant to purify the church with strict obedience to all ten commandments. Adventists obey many OT food laws for health/purity of the body: no pork, shellfish (Lev 11, Dt 14), no caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes. Many avoid secular entertainment such as movies and TV, dancing, card playing, certain music: “Christ’s followers will shun any melody partaking of the nature of jazz, rock or related hybrid forms, or any language expressing foolish or trivia sentiments.”

· The gift of prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the remnant church. In these last days, prophets will arise to guide the church, one being Ellen White (died 1915). Her writings are not considered equal to scripture, however. All prophets must be tested to see if their statements agree with the Bible, they must confirm the incarnation of Christ (1 John 4:2-3), and they must bear good fruit (Matt 7:16-20).

· White had a vision of the ark of the covenant, in which she saw the original ten commandments with a halo highlighting the 4^th commandment. Adventists believe that the Sabbath commandment remains in force today. Indeed, no NT text authorizes a change from Saturday to Sunday. Only two passages (Acts 20:7, 1 Cor 16:2) refer to the church meeting on the first day of the week. As a Christian Jew, Paul continued to observe the Sabbath (Acts 16:13). In Col. 2:16-17, Paul says Gentiles are not bound to observe sabbaths, but in context he refers to the special sabbaths of the annual Jewish festivals, not the regular weekly worship.

· The Sabbath is a day of rest, beginning at sunset on Friday evening. Like the Jews, Adventists prepare food the day before. Acts of mercy are permitted, as Jesus argued (Matt 12:12). “Activities that enhance communication with God are proper; those which distract from that purpose and turn the Sabbath into a holiday are improper.”

· In worship Adventists include a foot-washing rite before partaking of communion (about every three months).

· Unlike many evangelicals, Adventists are not Calvinists, and teach believer’s immersion for forgiveness.

· Adventists see signs of the End in modern history. The great Lisbon earthquake (1755), meteor shower (1833) were seen as natural signs. The great spiritual awakening in America in the 19^th century, the spread of the gospel worldwide, and the resurgence of the Papacy are spiritual signs. Moral decline, the sexual revolution, global wars such as WWI and WWII.

· Adventists believe in conditional immortality, that only those in Christ will receive immortal bodies at the resurrection. At death the soul “sleeps” until then.

· NOTE: The Bible never says that the soul goes to heaven immediately after death; this would de-emphasize the importance of the Resurrection. If the dead are already in heaven with God, why do they need bodies? Scripture never describes the soul as immortal and capable of existing by itself. A soul needs a body just as a body needs a soul. The dead will be raised at his coming and along with the living will be transformed into new immortal bodies (1 Cor 15).

· According to Adventist eschatology, only those in Christ will rise at his coming. At the end of the 1000 years unbelievers will be raised, judged and be totally destroyed (both body and soul, Matt 10:28), but not before suffering the guilt of rejecting God (those who rebelled more will “suffer” more). “The punishment of the wicked will be eternal, not eternal duration of conscious suffering but punishment that is complete and final.” Unbelievers are never promised in scripture the immortality given to Christians at resurrection.

· Once the earth has been cleansed of all wickedness, the redeemed will return to live on their re-created home, the new earth.

· Resource: Seventh Day Adventists Believe, 1988.

Mormons

· The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was one of several restoration movements in the early 19^th century, seeking to restore primitive Christianity from the apostasy of the denominations.

· Joseph Smith had a series of visions beginning in 1820. In 1823 he claimed to be visited by the angel Moroni, whose father Mormon had recorded a history of God’s people in early America on gold plates written in Reformed Egyptian. Certain Israelites, tribes of Nephi and Laman, came to America in 600 BC. Jesus came and preached to them after his resurrection. The unbelieving Lamanites exterminated the Nephites about 400 AD. Native Americans are the descendants of the Lamanites. This restored history gave America an even more important role in God’s kingdom plans.

· The new Mormons caused controversy wherever they went. To escape persecution in Missouri, they founded the community of Nauvoo in Illinois. In 1844 Smith and his brother were arrested, then murdered by an angry mob who broke into the jail. The next leader, Brigham Young led the Mormons to Utah, their promised land, in 1847.

· According to Mormons, the Bible is considered to be inerrant if “translated” correctly. Smith “corrected” over 3400 verses in his “translation” of the Bible from the KJV (not Hebrew or Greek). The canon remains open to new revelation, however. Besides the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants (continuing revelations to Mormon presidents) and the Pearl of Great Price (other teachings by Smith, including the books of Moses and of Abraham) are considered authoritative, and are needed to correct biblical omissions.

· Mormon doctrine changes according to new revelations. In 1890 they revoked their earlier practice of polygamy. (One early Mormon apostle claimed Jesus was married to Mary, Martha and Mary Magdalene, but this is no longer official doctrine)

· Mormons are tritheists, believing in three separate deities. God, Elohim, was once a man on another world who died and was resurrected, and grew in wisdom and power to become the Almighty. He continues to have a physical, glorified body of flesh and bones.

· Jesus was the incarnation of Jehovah, the first spirit child of Elohim (similar to Arianism). When the Bible speaks of God as a spirit, it refers to Jehovah before he had a body. Jesus/Jehovah was the creator of this world.

· The Holy Spirit is a spirit without a body but in the form of a man. He can only be in one place at a time, but his influence reaches everywhere.

· Like Jesus we are the spirit children of our heavenly “parents” (our divine mother is never identified). We are of the same species as God and have the capacity to become gods ourselves. Human souls existed before this life (cf. Origen), and in some way our lives now were predetermined by actions in our pre-mortal life. (For Smith, this explained why some are born black or white.) We had to become physical, mortal beings to develop our godlike qualities by testing and experiencing free will on earth.

· Lucifer, another spirit son of God, rebelled when he was rejected and Jesus/Jehovah was chosen for incarnation. He wanted to be the savior as well, and swore to save everyone, not just a few, as he would have forced everyone to obey. God cast him out for desiring to take away our free will (agency). Satan and his demons are spirit only and envy our bodies. (recorded in Smith’s revised Genesis)

· When Adam (who was the angel Michael) and Eve became flesh, they first had immortal bodies and were incapable of bearing children. But God had commanded them to multiply. When Eve disobeyed God, she became mortal, and Adam faced a dilemma: if he did not join her in disobedience, they could not remain in the garden together. He chose to give priority to God’s first command to procreate, ate the fruit, and became mortal as well. In the Book of Moses, Adam says, “Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy.” Eve responds, “Were it not for our transgression, we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption.” The fall was actually God’s plan, by which Adam and Eve could become mortal, and provide billions of pre-mortal spirits with mortal bodies, the necessary step in man’s ultimate exaltation to godhood. Mormons highly regard Adam, but do not worship him (as is sometimes accused).

· OT saints knew of Jesus and the plan of salvation. Adam and Eve were baptized believers. Noah preached repentance and baptism into Christ before the flood. These OT truths were obscured by poor translations, truths which Smith “restored.”

· Only Mormons are allowed in a temple once it has been consecrated. In the temple, they perform special ceremonies including celestial marriages (united for all eternity) and baptism for the dead, those who didn’t hear the gospel (1 Cor 15:29). Christ preaches to the spirits in the afterlife (1 Peter 3:18-20) who must accept the vicarious baptism for it to be valid. See early Christian writings Hermas, Similitude 9.16 for suggestions of this idea.

· Mormons abstain from coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco.

· Every member is considered a missionary.

· Some Mormons claim to speak in tongues.

· Eschatology: Mormons teach their own version of Premillennialism. During the 1000 years Mormons will witness to “good” unbelievers and to Christians of other denominations, giving them the opportunity to accept the “true” church.

· Baptism for the dead will continue during the millennium as there is too much work to complete before then; the resurrected dead will help to correct the ancestral records.

· After the millennium, there are three degrees of glory in heaven. The celestial glory is reserved for faithful Mormons and children who died before the age of 8. Those in the highest level of the celestial were eternally married on earth, become gods, and continue to have spirit children. The terrestrial glory is for lukewarm Mormons, other Christians, or those who accepted Christ only in the afterlife and someone was baptized for them. The telestial glory, the lowest state of heaven, seems to be like Purgatory, where unbelievers are purged of their sins, without accepting Christ. The telestial glory is far better than this life, but will seem as punishment in comparison to the celestial. Mormons believe that all but those who commit the unforgivable sin will eventually be in at least the lowest heaven (almost universalism). Only “sons of perdition,” those who were once believers but then deny the Holy Spirit’s testimony of Christ, will be banished to outer darkness.

· Common ground with C/C: not Calvinist, believer’s immersion for remission of sins necessary for salvation (but by the proper priestly authority), weekly communion (but water instead of wine).

· Sources: Gospel Principles. 1978, 1997. Hoekema, Anthony. The Four Major Cults. 1963. Millet, Robert L. The Mormon Faith. 1998.

Jehovah’s Witnesses

· Charles Taze Russell broke from the Presbyterian church, disagreeing with the Calvinist doctrines of predestination and eternal torment. He started the Watchtower tract society in 1881, and later published Studies in the Scriptures. The New World “Translation” is their authorized Bible text (1950). The Bible cannot be understood without the Society's explanations. "It is not sufficient to possess a Bible and study it, or join in with some religious body that believes in open Bible study. No matter how hard and seriously and prayerfully we study, we cannot get the true understanding apart from the [Watchtower] organization and the spirit."

· The Watchtower teaches that only the Father "Jehovah" is the true God. The doctrine of the Trinity was invented by Satan and came to Christianity through pagan religions such as Hinduism.

· Jesus is "a god" (Jn 1:1 NWT) but not "the God." He is a created god (classical Arianism), the firstborn of creation (Col 1:15); all else was created through him. Jesus was originally the archangel Michael, whose life-force and personality were transferred to earth to be born as the man Jesus.

· The holy spirit is God's active force. The holy spirit is not capitalized in their publications, and is not viewed as a person.

· There are two classes of Christian Witnesses. The "ransom sacrifice" of Jesus covers only the 144,000 or Anointed Class (Rev 7:4). Only the 144,000 are justified by faith, sanctified, reborn, baptized with the spirit, and will live for eternity in heaven. The second class is known as the Great Multitude (Rev 7:9) or other sheep (John 10:16). The doctrine of the other sheep arose in 1935 when the Watchtower’s membership was soon going to pass 144,000. A new revelation explained what would happen to those who were not anointed, to give them some hope. If you ask a Jehovah’s Witness if he is going to heaven you’ll often hear, “No. That’s for the Anointed Class only.” The rest of the approximately 6 million Witnesses will live on a paradise earth where they must strive on their own to attain human perfection, “molding themselves to righteousness” until the end of the 1000 years.

· A critical date for Witnesses is 1914, when Jesus “returned” invisibly in the heavens “turning his attention toward earth,” the "appointed time of the nations" ended, and the beginning of the end of the world commenced. This year also witnessed upheaval in the demonic world as seen in WWI. This is another example of Witnesses reinterpreting failed prophecies, as 1914 was supposed to be the End (“Millions alive today will never die”), as was 1874, 1925, and 1975 (“Stay alive ‘til ‘75”).

· To arrive at this date, the Witnesses use “rook-jump hermeneutics” as one critic described it, taking the seven “times” of Daniel 4, associating that with Rev 12:6, 14 (3 ½ years = 1260 days, so seven years = 2520 days), then making each day a year (Ezek 4:6). They add this date to 607 BC, their date for the fall of Jerusalem under Nebuchadnezzar (rather than 586), and arrive at 1914.

· The beast of Rev 17 is the United Nations (formerly the League of Nations), and the great harlot is the rest of Christendom. All who oppose Jehovah and his Society will be destroyed at Armageddon. Witnesses will remain unharmed and will be the only survivors to gather the billions of bones on the earth (Ezek 39:11-16). Afterward the earth will become a paradise for 1000 years (Isa 11). All people will be united by one language, the original pre-Babel Hebrew.

· During the millennium, the earth will be repopulated. Surviving Witnesses will have more children (this doctrine may have changed in recent years), and people will be resurrected with mortal bodies and have a second chance to accept God’s message preached by the Watchtower. So that the earth will not become overcrowded, these resurrections will not occur at one time but at various intervals during the millennium (some say each century). Christ will determine who deserves this second chance; they will include godly people who lived before Christ and others who might have obeyed if given the chance to hear the “truth.” Some of those who will not be raised are Adam and Eve, Cain, victims of the flood, Sodom, Judas, and apostate Witnesses. Judgement Day actually extends over this 1000 years of testing. Those who reject God and his Witnesses in this second chance will die during the millennium and never rise again (no eternal punishment). Those on Paradise Earth will have resurrected bodies that must be maintained through eating, rest, etc. The 144,000 in heaven will be pure spirits with no need of bodies.

· The Jehovah's Witnesses celebrate the communion supper once a year at the Jewish Passover. During the service the cup is passed from member to member, none of whom partake except the few who are of the 144,000 (to whom God has revealed this truth in their hearts).

· They deny the traditional shape of the Cross: Jesus was crucified on a simple upright stake, with His hands nailed above His head.

· At one time blood transfusion was forbidden (Lev 17:14). Since the 1960's, however, there has been a slow but steady easing of that restriction, so that now many components of blood are allowed, and, under certain circumstances Witnesses can even store and re-use their own blood.

· Witnesses cannot serve in the military or in politics; they cannot vote or serve on a jury. To salute a national flag or sing a national anthem is an act of idolatry. Holidays and celebrations, such as Christmas (Jer 1