Holy Family Catholic Church
826 West Central Ave.; P.O. Box 130
Davidsonville, MD 21035
Washington Line: (301) 261-7399
Baltimore/Annapolis Line: (410) 269-0586
FAX: (410) 798-5315
Email: holyfamilychurch_davidsonville_md@juno.com
Pastor: Rev. Joseph Barr
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Comparative Religions
(Part 2 of 2)
| Christians | Unitarians |
| God | |
| God is revealed in the Scriptures as Father, Son and Holy Spirit--the Trinity. | "God is one." They deny the doctrine of the Trinity. They also deny that God is a personal deity and the use of the term "God" to refer to the living processes of nature and conscience at work in humanity. |
| The Bible | |
| The Bible is divinely inspired and is a guide and authority for faith. | The Bible is a collection of "myths and legends" and philosophical writings. They deny the authority and accuracy of the Scriptures. |
| Sin | |
| Humanity is inherently sinful (Eph. 2:8,9; 4:20-24) | Man is essentially good and he can save himself by improvement--"redemption of character." |
| Jesus Christ | |
| Christ is divine, a part of the Trinity, God Himself. | Jesus was no more or less divine than any man. They deny the doctrine of the Trinity as well as the deity of Christ. |
| Christians | Jehovah's Witnesses |
| God | |
| God is eternal, personal, spiritual Being in three persons--the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. | There is one solitary being from all eternity, Jehovah God, the Creator and Preserver of the Universe and all things. They deny the doctrine of the Trinity. |
| Immortality | |
| Scripture teaches that we have an eternal, immortal soul. | We do not have an immortal soul. They teach that the soul is not separate from the body. |
| Jesus Christ | |
| Christ is divine, a part of the Trinity, God Himself. | Christ was not God but God's first created creature. They deny Christ's deity. |
| Atonement | |
| Christ's death was the complete payment for our sins. | Christ's death provides the opportunity for us to work for our salvation: perfect human life for eternity on an Eden-like-earth. |
| Christ's Resurrection | |
| Christ was bodily resurrected from the grave. | Christ was raised a "divine spirit." They deny the bodily resurrection of Christ. |
| Christ's Return | |
| Christ will return to earth physically. | Christ returned to earth--invisibly--in 1914 and now rules earth from heaven. |
| Hell | |
| There is eternal punishment for sin. | There is no hell or eternal punishment. Those who do not measure up to Jehovah's standards will be annihilated, meaning they will be or know no more. |
| Christians | Christian Scientists |
| God | |
| God is a Person. He created the universe, and created humanity in His own image. God, as a Person, sees, hears, speaks, remembers, knows. | God is an impersonal Principle, not a Person. Mrs. Eddy writes: "God is all...the soul, or mind, of the spiritual man is God, the Divine Principle of all being." |
| Jesus Christ | |
| Christ is one with God. Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." | Jesus was not God. Science and Health states: "Jesus Christ is not God..." Scientists make Christ an outstanding man, a great teacher, but deny His deity. |
| Matter | |
| What man sees, touches, feels, smells and hears is real. Jesus demonstrated the reality of matter. He became flesh. He was hungry. He gave others food to eat. | Only Principle (God) exists and everything else is an "illusion." There is no matter; material things (a person's body,etc.) are not real. |
| Sin | |
| Sin is real. It originates in the heart and mind of humans, and separates us from God. The ultimate result of sin is death. | Sin, evil and death do not exist. Science and Health states: Since God is All, there is no room for the opposite...therefore evil, being the opposite of goodness, is unreal. |
| The Atonement And Resurrection | |
| Christ's shed blood atoned for our sins and Christ died and rose from the dead in bodily form. | Christ's shed blood on the cross did not cleanse us from sin and His disciples were fooled into thinking Him dead when He was really alive in the tomb. |
| Christians | Mormons |
| God | |
| God is uniquely eternal and all-powerful, the only God--and He is a Spirit. | God is a material creature who was once a man as we are now men. They say humanity can finally achieve Godhood through works and that there are many gods. |
| The Bible | |
| The Bible, given by God's Spirit, is complete in itself and needs no additions. In fact, additions to the Bible are forbidden. | They have "new Scripture" and the writings of Joseph Smith are divinely inspired revelations--God's nineteenth century additions to the Bible. |
| Sin | |
| Humanity is not godlike, but sinful and separated from God. Humanity can only approach God and have a relationship with Him through faith in Christ. Man, apart from Christ, is lost. | Humanity is progressively becoming god. Mormons teach that Adam's sin in Eden was necessary in order to provide parentage for the spirit children of God who were ready and waiting for the experience of earth life. |
| Salvation | |
| Salvation is a free gift provided by the grace (unmerited love) of God for all who believe and accept His plan. | Salvation comes by works and all will spend eternity on some level of a multistoried heaven. The level will be determined by the scope each one’s good works. |