ADVENTIST

A group of Protestant Churches with a belief in the Second Coming - the visible return to earth of Christ in glory - Adventism has roots in the Jewish and Christian prophetic tradition. They believe that when Christ returns he will separate the saints from the wicked.

The founder of the faith, William Miller, was a Baptist preacher. He came to the conclusion that Christ would arrive sometime between March 21 1843, and March 21, 1844. Although he was encouraged in this view by some other clergymen and followers, Miller was also accused of being a fanatic because he insisted that Christ would arrive on schedule with a fiery conflagration.

As is well known, Christ did not appear as predicted. So Miller set a second date: October 22, 1844. That day passed quietly too and was called the "Great Disappointemnt" by Adventists.

Nevertheless, members called Millerites did persist'they believed Miller had set the right date, but it had been interpreted incorrectly.

Some members of the faith independently believed that Christ's advent was still imminent, although they didn't set a new date, which was probably a wise move. They also believed that worshipping on the seventh day, Saturday, rather than Sunday, would help bring about the Second Coming. Thus, they came up with a new name: The Seventh Day Adventists. That was in 1863.

more to come...

I have been told all about it

Give me a bottle of Cognac and I will surely be able to fly to other galaxies and write amazing stories

Interesting note:

Adventists observe Saturday as the sabbath, not Sunday as most Christians do. Saturday, according to the creation story in the Old Testament of the Bible was instituted by God as the day of rest, and the commandment concerning sabbath rest is part of God's eternal law.

This concludes the introduction of "Adventists". If you are a follower of such a faith and wish to share some insight of the religion then don't hesitate to share this with us.

Next up is "Deism". I don't think it is really a Christian denomination but I could be wrong. I will write the basic introduction of this belief system next.

I have always thought about doing a Mormon based religion for a Maztica game in the Forgotten Realms But it would work perfect for a Dragonlance game.

DEISM

Deism is an unorthodox religion, so unorthodox that many wouldn't call it a religion at all;nonetheless it is a belief. Lord Herbert of Cherbury (Edward Herbert) and a group of writers and intellectuals introduced deism in seventeenth century England. It has had a rocky history.

Even the derivation of its name is controversial. According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, deism is from the Latin deus (god,deity) and means "belief in the existence of a supreme being arising from reason rather then revelation." Then there is the word theism, which is said to be a Greek translation from the Latin deism. The dictionary says theisem means "belief in the existence of gods or a god, especially a God supernaturally revealed to man."

It is the translations and interpretations of those two words that symbolically draw the lines between established religions, particularly Roman Catholicism, and Deism.

At first the concept of deism was met with tremendous enthusiasm, followed by equally enthusiastic condemnation; over time the belief waxed and waned. Discusion about it grew stridently acrimonious at times, on both sides, with each party trhowing virtual insults at the other's doctrines.

Deists consider that the following quote from Albert Einstein offers a good Deistic description of God: "My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of god."

more to come...

If you think about it, each religion that is practiced on Earth can be transformed into a religion into a fantasy world. With great imagination, creativity, and ideas one can create realistic worlds that even us Earthlings would believe to be true.

Who knows perhaps what we imagine really does exist, which is why we can imagine it in the first place.

Central Beliefs of Deism

The expressed belief of Deism are based on reason and nature. Deists believe that God exists is good, and gave people free will. They do not insist that a person must believe and have faith in order to be saved or go to heaven. For Deists the best approximation of the will of God is using the combination of reason and free will in the decision making process.

Acting rationally is equivalent to acting divinely. This commonsense approach to God and spiritual philosophy gives Deists a profound sense of peace and happiness, and a way of eradicating religious fear, superstition, and violence.

Deists readily accept the moral teachings of the Bible, but not the historical reports of miracles. They take exception to those who insist on literal interpretation of the scriptures as divinely revealed. Religious fanaticism and overabundant enthusiams are not their bag.

The Catholic Encyclopedia states that "Diesm, in its every manifestation was opposed to the current and traditional teaching of revealed religion." It goes on to say: "The (the Deists) never tired of inveighing against preistcraft in every shape or form, finding as they went so far as to assert that revealed religion was an imposture, an invention of the priestly caste to subdue, and so the more easily govern and exploit the ignorant."

Those two comments, which are relatively mild when compared with others in the literature, indicate the relationship, or lack thereof, between Deism and Catholicism.

more to come...

continue for Deism...


Instead of adhering to the general concept that God shaped and sustained human history, Deists believe that after God created the world, he left humanity to itself to operate according to rational natural rules. The majority of members came to the conclusion that the liturgical practices and trappings of Roman Catholicism were analogous to ancient pagan superstitions and rejected them. To them, the order of nature was evidence of God's design. That led them to postulate moral striving and tolerance of religous reason. Perhaps the most interesting fact about the early acceptance of Deism in America is that the first three Presidents of the United States - George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson - were all Deists.

Interesting note:

"Some books against Deism fell into my hands...It happened that they wrought an effect on me quite contrary to what was intended by them; for arguments of the Deists, which were quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger that the refutations; in short, I soon became a thorough Deist." - Benjamin Franklin

There is an Amish Market near me open four days a week. They evidently make an exception to the electricity there anyway. The food is excellent by the way and responsible for my last pair of {larger} pants,


smiless, good to see you

Holy Writings of Deism

It might be thought that the Deists wouldn't have any holy writings, but this is not quite the case. They did have two early secular books, one by Herbert called "Of Truth (1624) and another by John Toland entitled "Christianity Not Mysterious" (1696). Both books cracked the taboo of challengin Christian dogma, which was a courageious undertaking for both authors because others who had questioned the established religions were subjected to persecution.

As for holy writings, one must turn to Thomas Jefferson and his Jefferson Bible (1816). He wrote in a letter to a William Canby: "Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern, which have come under my observation, none appear to me so pure as that of Jesus. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen."

He told John Adams that he was rescuing the philosophy of Jesus and the "pure principles which he taught," from the "articial vestments in which they have been muffled by priests, whoh have travestied them into various forms as instruments of riches and power for themselves."

After havin selected from the evangelists "the very words only of Jesus," he believed "there will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."

He proceeded to gather together sections of the Bible and arrange them in a certain order by time or subject. He literally did a cut and paste job on the then existing Bible by removing tiems such as the virgin brith and the resurrection, which he felt were supernatural. The result was a work he titled "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, whcih was completed around 1819.

Other books were produced by Colonial patriots Thomas Paine and Ethan Allen. Both not only spoke openly about Deism but also expressed their views without hesitation. Paine's "The Age of REason (1793) was attacked by both preachers and politicians. In England, a bookseller who sold copies was arrested for blasphemy. Ethan Allen was equally outpoken about his Deist beliefs. His book "The Only Oracle of Man (1785) provides an in depth view of Deism. Apparently, when Ethan Allen said he did not believe in teh Christian doctrine of original sin, he was told that without original sin there is no need for Christianity. It's said that he agreed.

more to come...

I don't recomend cognac by the shot like my whisky and Rum, that stuff took my breath away,

I could imagine they make great food! Nice to see you also my friend

Non Denominational Christian

My way, not necissarily the "highway"

I always say whatever floats your boat is okay with me

I am just going through the introductions of each religion. Well that would be impossible as there are over 4000 of them, but at least 30 or 50 of the best known ones for historical and educational purposes.

It is always interesting to see how they started and for what reasons.

Diversification into Modern Society of Deism

While it is claimed that Deism is growing rapidly throughout the world because of people's disillusionment with the established religions, the numbers of adherents do not appear to be available, and if they were, would probably be difficult to substantiate. However, the World Union of Deists, founded in 1993 by Robert L. Johnson, has offices in various parts of the United States, England, and Ireland.

This concludes the basics of "Deism". If you are a Deist and wish to share some more about the religion or idealogy then don't hesitate to post them in here.

Next up will be "Lutheranism", in which I will start tommorow

Have a great time on Mingle2 and will see you later.

I think the actual "founding" of Wicca is debated to some degree and bottom line it would appear to be an earth based spirituality with its roots firmly placed in much older Pagan beliefs and therefore predating Christianity. Witchcraft is even older.

I feel that we will probably see a steady decline in the big three world religions, those being Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Statistically, you can already see this happening in the US, with Christianity's membership falling by approximately a percentage point per year. However I dont think you can arbitrarily determine a specific date and time when we no longer will have these organized religions. It will probably be a more of a "lessening of their overall influence" on the masses that occurs with time.

LUTHERANISM

Lutheranism, a major Protestant denomination, originated in the sixteenth century and was founded by a German Augstinian monk - Martin Luther. He was also a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg in Saxony.

He wanted to reform the Western Christian Church. But because he criticized what he saw as immorality and corruption in the Roman Catholic Church, he was excommunicated by the Pope.

So Lutheranism went its separate way, which essentially broke up the organizational unity of Western Christendom. Martin Luther's teachings spread through Germany and Scandinavia and, in the eighteenth century, to America, then to the rest of the world.

Lutheranism is the state religions of many north European countries. Lutherans claim to see their movement centred in the understanding that, thanks to saving activity of God in Jesus Christ, they are themselves "justified by grace through faith." Lutherans, like most Protestants, base their teaching not on churchly authority but on the divinely inspired Bible.

Central Beliefs

Lutherans belief that all human beings are sinners, and because of original sin, are in bondage to the power of Satan. Their faith, therefore, is the only way out.

Worship is firmly based on the teachings of the Bible, which Luther insisted was the only way to know God and his will. The Bible was the divine word, brought to man through the apostles and prophets.

Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, wich conductd worship in Latin, Luther preaches in the language of the people. Apparently the use of the vernacular enhanced the delivery and accpetance of the sermons, to say nothing of the rest of service. Because of this, every member of the community was able to understand, and to participate in, church services. Luther also reduced the established seven sacraments to two: baptism and communion, or the Lord's Supper. Infant baptism was considered to be God's grace reaching out to the newborn, and as such, a symbol of unconditional love. Congregational partiicpation in worship was encouraged, particularly through singing of the liturgy and of humns, many of which Luther himself wrote, such as "A Mighty Fortress is our God."

more to come...

Lutheranasim Today

Lutheranism, like many religions went through various phases. One such movement - Pietism - which was of German origin, emphasized personal faith in protest against secularization in the church.
It spread quickly and expanded to include social and educational aspects.

It is estimated that Lutheranism throughout the world constitutes the largest of the churches that have come out of the Reformation. Lutherans number about seventy million worldwide.

This concludes the basic introductory of "Lutheranism".

Next up "Methodist".