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Comparative Religions and Denominations
Comparative religion refers to the study that analyzes the differences and similarities of concepts, myths, themes and rituals among the religions in the world. It also refers to man’s ideas about the spiritual, the sacred and the divine.
1,699 Questions
Can a Catholic attend a Lutheran Funeral?
Answer 1: Yes... at least as far as Lutherans are concerned. But just try and get it past the Roman Catholics!
What is the difference between the Orthodox Church and the Holy Roman?
The Holy Roman Empire was actually in Germany and was named so by a pope after Charlemagne or Charles the Great conquered most of Europe and became Christan.
The Roman Empire, from around 750 BC, began as a kingdom, then a republic, and finally an empire by around 30 BC, encompassing the entire region around the Mediterranean Sea, including as far west as Portugal and north to the British Isles, west surrounding the Black Sea to Armenia and Mesopotamia, to the south encompassed the northern coast of Africa and all of Egypt. Once Roman military conquest had been accomplished, Roman occupation establish the Latin language, legal system, and culture to these lands and was the origin of what is today referred to as "Western Culture".
The Holy Roman Empire included Germany and the part of Italy ruled by Germany between 800 AD to around 1800. Charlemagne, King of the Franks (which was the territory formerly known as Gaul, approximately France and Germany of today) traveled to Rome, where Pope Leo III on Christmas day in 800, unexpectedly crowned him Emperor of the Romans. This put Charlemagne in direct competition with the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople. Charlemagne's empire included the Germanic empire and that part of Italy controlled by the Germans. From this point on, there is a constant power struggle between the Pope in Rome and the German empire which eventually leads to the decline in the power of the Catholic Church and the rise of Protestantism.
There are said to be thousands of gods that continue to be worshipped today, even if we overlook the ancient gods that are, for various reasons, no longer worshipped. Additionally, I think that belief by even one person(ideally more), could also be considered as "recognition", being that the only requirement for a god to exist is belief. This applies to all past, present, and future gods.
Why do people get married in religion?
People need something to say, we are one we are apart. Getting married is simply away to express this. Society has corrupted the world, it is now thought that to really be in love you must be married.And in religion it's just a contract saying we will always be together and not cheat
What is the definition of Ecumenism?
Ecumenism means friendly dialogue with those of other religious faiths.
How do you compare Zoroastrianism to Christianity?
- Monotheism
- Creation of the world in seven stages
- Angels
- The seven archangels
- Angra Mainyu, or Ahriman, as the evil adversary of Ahura Mazda, foreshadows Satan
- Heaven and hell as places of punishment, and a last judgement
- The Saoshyant, who will be born of a virgin and lead humanity in the last battle against evil
When the author of Matthew's Gospel wrote of the magifollowing a star to come and worship Jesus, he knew that the magi were priests of the Zoroastrian religion and that they expected one day to receive the Saoshyant, a saviour to be born of a virgin. This story shows the priests of this great religion accepting Jesus as their saviour.
Were Methodist and Baptist the same thing?
No. These are two different Christian denominations. Methodists are a Protestant denomination which traces it's roots to John Wesley, George Whitefield, and Howell Harris. Mormons are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which is a Restoration denomination and traces it's roots to Joseph Smith.
As of 2012, there are about 45,000 Christian denominations in the world. That is a great deal too many to list, but for the sake of the question at hand, the attempt will be made to bring up one of the most common differences: Salvation. Oneness Pentecostals generally believe that it is granted through faith alone, but that water and spiritual baptism are both integral parts of that faith. Lutherans believe that salvation is given through faith alone, without the requirement of baptism that Oneness Pentecostals teach; however, they also teach predestination, saying that Christ died for a select group of people throughout history and they alone will come to salvation. Methodists, while believing in salvation through faith, teach that Christ died for all of humanity, and not a select few. Mennonites also believe in salvation through faith, but view baptism to be three-fold: Water, Spirit and self-denial. Finally, Roman Catholics believe that salvation comes through baptism, can be lost by committing mortal sins, and that it can be regained through acts of penance- In short, salvation comes through the combination of faith and works.
What are the differences between the interiors of Anglican and Catholic church buildings?
Jesus guaranteed to be with His church until the end of time, and prayed that It would be One. Believing in His promise we note that breaking away from the Catholic church at any point, sooner or later, results in more fragmentation as, in breaking away from the One, Holy, Catholic church, they lose Christ's guarantee and break into more and more different and differing denominations. Currently, there are more than 120 different "Anglican" churches which are not even in communion with "The Anglican Church" (see web page). It is a sad situation which happens over and over again once leaving the Catholic church.
What did humanists believe about human life?
We believe that humans are responsible for our own thoughts and actions. No super being is necessary for human beings to realize that doing good is better than going evil. No god necessary to forgive us for our mistakes and love us even when we do wrong.
Mature human beings must take responsibility for themselves. We cannot hide behind a god who made them sinners from birth. We cannot get a 'do over' by praying for forgiveness. We only have this one life and should use our time wisely to help others and leave behind a world better than when we entered it.
Are Anglican ministers required to marry?
Yes. There is absolutely no restriction on marriage for both female or male priests in the Anglican Church. My wife has been an Anglican priest since 2001 and I am due to be ordained a priest in 2012.
Within the Anglican Church even homosexual priests (both male and female) are allowed to be in a civil partnership. However, the diocesan bishop sponsoring them for ordination must be satisfied that the partnership is for non-sexual reasons (eg so that a surviving partner inherits as next of kin on the death of the other partner) and that the relationship between them, though loving, is non-sexual.
List of differences between pentecostal church and Roman Catholic church?
Some not all Catholics can be pentecostal , most are not. Pentecostal Christians recognize the value of the Holy Spirit today in our lives. All Catholics believe in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, too! Pentecostals focus a lot on 'speaking in tongues' even though it is one of the lesser gifts. They really like to focus mainly on Acts in the New Testament and forget that there is the Old Testament and many other books to learn and pray on.
What are the similarities and differences between abrahamic and eastern religions?
Hinduism probably first came to India prior 2,000 BC from the proto-Indo-Iranian culture of southern Russia and has some features in common with Zoroastrianism, which also arose in that culture. Unlike Zoroastrianism it is generally polytheistic, but spans from animism to monism.
Reincarnation is a fundamental belief of Hinduism. According to the law of reincarnation, the manner in which a person lives his or her life determines whether he or she rises or falls in the caste system when reborn, until finally the virtuous Brahman will be released from the cycle of earthly life and ushered into the heavenly world of eternal peace and knowledge. Hinduism's caste system has no counterpart in Abrahamic religion.
Judaism, the parent religion of the other Abrahamic religions, arose in the Near East and any early influence came from other nearby religions. Judaism came into contact with Hinduism's distant relative, Zoroastrianism, during the Babylonian Exile (7th century BC) and absorbed some concepts that are arguably somewhat similar to concepts that form part of Hindu belief. However, reincarnation is not part of Abrahamic belief.
Modern Abrahamic religions are considered to be monotheistic, with the significant exception of Mormonism.
What religions are angels believed in?
Judaism, Christianity and Islam
All mainstream Christian religions believe in or teach of angles as intermediaries between God and human beings. The Christian scriptures show that God created angels to be instruments of His holiness or goodness. The Roman Catholic church along with the eastern rite Christian religions have angels ranked in a hierarchy of authority or duty. Very basically, angels are ranked as Archangels and angels but there may be other rankings as well dependant upon the teachings of any partiucular religion. Christians of the Roman rite also believe that every living person on earth has a guardian angel to protect them and keep them on "God's path".
Judaism and Islam believe in angels have a similar belief about their purpose in that they were created by God as messangers between Heaven and earth.
Other religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism believe in angles although they may not specifically refer to them as such. For example, Buddhists believe in angels as a form of energy or light or highly evolved beings who may visit people in dreams. Hindus may not specifically refer to angels but they do recognize them as "devas", meaning "shining ones". Hindus also believe that every living person has two guardian angels.
At this point it should be remembered that demons or devils are recognized by most Christian religions as having once been angels. The book of Revelations speaks of a war in Heaven, where the archangel Michael led his force of 'good angels' against Lucifer who was disgruntled at having to serve God and threw Lucifer and his cohorts out of Heaven down to earth where they crawled underground and became ugly by virtue of their ugly deeds. A reading Milton's "Paradise Lost" will show that Lucifer said "Better to rule in hell than serve in Heaven.
Judaism, Christianity, Islam and possibly Incan, Myan, and Hinduism. Also I think some of the Egyptian and some of the Mesopotamian faiths believed in winged supernatural beings.
Is the Christ redeemer sign of some thing?
The Christ Redeemer pays homage to Rio's religiosty. or Its a symbol of "Chritianity" and statue has become an icon of Rio and Brazil.
What is the difference between puritans and pharisees?
Puritans were a Christian religious sect in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Pharisees were a group of Jews around the time of Jesus. Both are known for their strict adherence to religious laws. The words have entered the English language with negative connotations--a "puritan" implies a purist or prude, and a "Pharisee" implies a self-righteous adherence to minute religious regulations. Both would view people not like themselves in a negative way.
Whether these connotations reflected the reality of Puritans and Pharisees, the scholars probably know more about this. I'm guessing the connotations have to do with popular perceptions.
He is the last prophet of Islam Hazrat Muhammad (SAW).
(As a point of clarity, Muslims do not use the same definition for the word "Messiah" as Jews do nor the same definition as Christians do. A Messiah in Islam is a human messenger of a divine message who provides the basis for a religion.)
What is the name of the part of the holy book in christianity that was taken from judaism?
The holy book of Christianity is the Bible. It has two main divisions - the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is basically the same as the Tanakh the religious book of Judaism
What happens to Christians when they die?
Christians beleive that if you trust jesus christ as your lord and savior. That he came to this earth to die for your sins and that there is God which is also his "father" you will go to heaven. If you don't you will spend eternity in hell. It is not a works based faith.
What are the religons in Russia?
Most of the western ('European') Russians belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, a branch of Christianity. East of the Ural Mountains, and especially in the southern areas, many Russians are Muslims.
Are all religion's holy books called the Bible?
No they are not all called the Bible. Some examples of other religion's holy books would be the Book of Mormon, the Quran, the Torah, Buddhavacana, etc.
What did the jewish essenes groups do?
Nothing much. They withdrew from general society to form their own community in the desert. They were peaceful scholars who minded their own business.
Many people practice a religion for guidance and finding ones self. For example, Christians read the bible and pray to Jesus so that one day they can enter the kingdom of Heaven and live a peaceful life. During the practice of any religion one may find themselves and feel right. In some cases people will join a religion to feel part of a society or something bigger then themselves.
What is the most friendly religion?
Nevertheless there are two important exceptions to the rule of monotheistic religions being less tolerant. The Persians, monotheistic worshippers of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda encouraged the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple, even providing the funding for the construction. They justified this because they identified Ahura Mazda with the Jewish God, saying that it did not matter what people called Ahura Mazda, as long as they worshipped him. The Nestorian Christians are also worthy of mention. When Nestorian missionaries arrived in Xi'an, the ancient Chinese capital, they met Buddhist missionaries who also wished to spread their religion in China but were unable to translate their texts into the Chinese language. The Nestorian missionaries willingly assisted the Buddhist missionaries in their task, with the result that Buddhism was able to spread through China.
Why does Jesus not answer Pontius Pilate?
Jesus was a bit cryptic over the question of whether or not He was a "king"... but He did answer Pilate:
"...Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto Him, Thou sayest." (Matt.27:11)
"...Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth. Every one that is of the Truth heareth My voice. Pilate saith unto Him, What is Truth?..." (John 18:37-38).
It was the Jews whom He didn't answer:
"And when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing." (verse 12)
Jesus didn't answer Pilate on his question about "Truth," however.
