What do they believe?

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selenah

Guest
#1
#1
Okay so within a 2 block area there's a Catholic, a Methodist, a Unitarian, a Scientist, a "laughing church", and a Lutheran church. I go to a Baptist church now....don't tell them I'm not baptized :p... I want to go to the other churches just to see what they're like. I've been to catholic churches but don't really know much about what they believe. The Methodist church has two women preachers that's about all I know about them. I seriously could enjoy the "laughing church" hahahaha....okay never mind. But ANYWAYS I was curious, what's the difference between those denominations?
 
resurrection33

resurrection33

Banned
#2
Dec 19, 2009
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#2
selenah said:
Okay so within a 2 block area there's a Catholic, a Methodist, a Unitarian, a Scientist, a "laughing church", and a Lutheran church. I go to a Baptist church now....don't tell them I'm not baptized :p... I want to go to the other churches just to see what they're like. I've been to catholic churches but don't really know much about what they believe. The Methodist church has two women preachers that's about all I know about them. I seriously could enjoy the "laughing church" hahahaha....okay never mind. But ANYWAYS I was curious, what's the difference between those denominations?
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I am no expert on this, but let me give it a crack:

I would encourage you to avoid the Unitarian “Church.” I don’t think it’s really a church.

If you mean “Christian Scientist,” I know virtually nothing about it.

There are two main types of Lutheran churches that I am aware of—Missouri Synod, which is very “conservative,” and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which is more “liberal,” I think. These are both mainstream churches.

Catholic, United Methodist, and Southern Baptist churches are mainstream. Baptist and Catholic churches are more conservative, I think, than the United Methodist Church. (There are other Baptist churches than just the Southern Baptist Church.)
 
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selenah

Guest
#3
#3
resurrection33 said:
I am no expert on this, but let me give it a crack:

I would encourage you to avoid the Unitarian “Church.” I don’t think it’s really a church.

If you mean “Christian Scientist,” I know virtually nothing about it.

There are two main types of Lutheran churches that I am aware of—Missouri Synod, which is very “conservative,” and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which is more “liberal,” I think. These are both mainstream churches.

Catholic, United Methodist, and Southern Baptist churches are mainstream. Baptist and Catholic churches are more conservative, I think, than the United Methodist Church. (There are other Baptist churches than just the Southern Baptist Church.)
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Aww rats. The Unitarians always have cool sounding sermons on their sign lol. The Unitarians do seem kind of weird though. One time a cashier told that the unitarian preacher lady is witch..that was kind of strange. Of course I've had cashiers randomly tell me their son works for the FBI and "there's alot of things going on that we don't know about." I must have a sign on me that tells cashiers to tell me strange things lol.

Anyways, back to the point.

What is the Southern Baptist Church?
 
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RachelBibleStudent

Guest
#4
#4
selenah said:
Okay so within a 2 block area there's a Catholic, a Methodist, a Unitarian, a Scientist, a "laughing church", and a Lutheran church. I go to a Baptist church now....don't tell them I'm not baptized :p... I want to go to the other churches just to see what they're like. I've been to catholic churches but don't really know much about what they believe. The Methodist church has two women preachers that's about all I know about them. I seriously could enjoy the "laughing church" hahahaha....okay never mind. But ANYWAYS I was curious, what's the difference between those denominations?
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the roman catholic church is a very old and traditional church that looks to the pope in rome as a spiritual authority...

there is a lot of variation within the methodist churches...some are conservative and some are extremely liberal... but generally a methodist church that has women preachers is likely to be theologically liberal...

the unitarian universalists take theological liberalism to its furthest extreme...they accept any belief...that is as long as it is not a traditional biblically based belief... for example there are literally professing atheists in the unitarian universalist churches...

the 'church of christ scientist' is a cult...they don't even believe diseases are caused by germs...

i don't know anything about 'laughing churches'...

there are a few major denominations of lutheran churches... if the church is a member of the 'evangelical lutheran church in america' or ELCA...it is going to be very liberal theologically... the smaller 'lutheran church - missouri synod' or LCMS and 'evangelical lutheran synod' or ELS and 'wisconsin evangelical lutheran synod' or WELS are much more biblically based...
 
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selenah

Guest
#5
#5
RachelBibleStudent said:
the roman catholic church is a very old and traditional church that looks to the pope in rome as a spiritual authority...

there is a lot of variation within the methodist churches...some are conservative and some are extremely liberal... but generally a methodist church that has women preachers is likely to be theologically liberal...

the unitarian universalists take theological liberalism to its furthest extreme...they accept any belief...that is as long as it is not a traditional biblically based belief... for example there are literally professing atheists in the unitarian universalist churches...

the 'church of christ scientist' is a cult...they don't even believe diseases are caused by germs...

i don't know anything about 'laughing churches'...

there are a few major denominations of lutheran churches... if the church is a member of the 'evangelical lutheran church in america' or ELCA...it is going to be very liberal theologically... the smaller 'lutheran church - missouri synod' or LCMS and 'evangelical lutheran synod' or ELS and 'wisconsin evangelical lutheran synod' or WELS are much more biblically based...
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Wow I didn't know that about the 'church of christ scientist' They don't believe diseases are caused by germs? That's kind of weird....

I looked at the Unitarian website and they do have alot of weird stuff on there too.
 
O

OldOrthodoxChristian

Banned
#6
Nov 23, 2011
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#6
resurrection33 said:
I am no expert on this, but let me give it a crack:

I would encourage you to avoid the Unitarian “Church.” I don’t think it’s really a church.

If you mean “Christian Scientist,” I know virtually nothing about it.

There are two main types of Lutheran churches that I am aware of—Missouri Synod, which is very “conservative,” and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), which is more “liberal,” I think. These are both mainstream churches.

Catholic, United Methodist, and Southern Baptist churches are mainstream. Baptist and Catholic churches are more conservative, I think, than the United Methodist Church. (There are other Baptist churches than just the Southern Baptist Church.)
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The Monophysites (Oriental Orthodox) date to after 450 AD and Chalcedon.
The Catholics date to 1054 after Christ. The Lutherans to 1517 after Christ. The Baptists to 1605 after Christ. The Methodists to the 1700s. The Unitarians are less than 500 years old. The Christian Scientists to the 19th century. The Orthodox Church dates to the beginning of the NT in 30 AD with the Day of Pentecost St Peter the Virgin Mary in a few years later St Paul and the rest of the 12 Apostles from Pentecost. It was Greek speaking and Orthodox (right belief).
 
resurrection33

resurrection33

Banned
#7
Dec 19, 2009
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#7
selenah said:
Aww rats. The Unitarians always have cool sounding sermons on their sign lol. The Unitarians do seem kind of weird though. One time a cashier told that the unitarian preacher lady is witch..that was kind of strange. Of course I've had cashiers randomly tell me their son works for the FBI and "there's alot of things going on that we don't know about." I must have a sign on me that tells cashiers to tell me strange things lol.

Anyways, back to the point.

What is the Southern Baptist Church?
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I don’t think the Unitarians are Christians—they don’t even necessarily believe in God. They, and I know very little about this, apparently see themselves as truth seekers.

The thing I’d say about Southern Baptists is that they believe in baptism by submersion. Some denominations, such as mine (United Methodist), will baptize you simply by sprinkling water on your head, unless you want to be completely submersed in water.
 
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shroom2

Banned
#8
Apr 13, 2011
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OldOrthodoxChristian said:
The Monophysites (Oriental Orthodox) date to after 450 AD and Chalcedon.
The Catholics date to 1054 after Christ. The Lutherans to 1517 after Christ. The Baptists to 1605 after Christ. The Methodists to the 1700s. The Unitarians are less than 500 years old. The Christian Scientists to the 19th century. The Orthodox Church dates to the beginning of the NT in 30 AD with the Day of Pentecost St Peter the Virgin Mary in a few years later St Paul and the rest of the 12 Apostles from Pentecost. It was Greek speaking and Orthodox (right belief).
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Scott. to put it bluntly, you are duped.
 
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shroom2

Banned
#12
Apr 13, 2011
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OldOrthodoxChristian said:
Since you don't know the truth, you engage in personal attacks against someone who does know the truth.
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It was not meant to be a personal attack, but a statement of fact.

I may not know all the truth, but I do know the EOC does not have it.
 
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Bloodwashed

Guest
#13
#13
Ha Ha Ha!!! I'd try the Laughing Church! Thats probably a slang name, just what people in the hood say. It is most likely a Full Gospel, or what is called a pentecostal Church. You should at least cheak it out, you may have a good laugh! If they were preaching Grace I'd stick around. But if it was guilt and condemnation I'd get out of there!
Unitarian, & Christian Science are really not Christ centered churchs! I don't even consider them Christian. Luthern & Methodist, it is hard to say about them, you'd have to visit them and see how Christ centered they were. Catholic is fine, if you are Catholic. Baptist can be just fine. If they wanted to rebaptise me cuz I wasn't baptised in a Baptist Church, I'd be out the door! God Bless You! I hope you find The Church God has for you. In His Love Mark!
 
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selenah

Guest
#14
#14
Bloodwashed said:
Ha Ha Ha!!! I'd try the Laughing Church! Thats probably a slang name, just what people in the hood say. It is most likely a Full Gospel, or what is called a pentecostal Church. You should at least cheak it out, you may have a good laugh! If they were preaching Grace I'd stick around. But if it was guilt and condemnation I'd get out of there!
Unitarian, & Christian Science are really not Christ centered churchs! I don't even consider them Christian. Luthern & Methodist, it is hard to say about them, you'd have to visit them and see how Christ centered they were. Catholic is fine, if you are Catholic. Baptist can be just fine. If they wanted to rebaptise me cuz I wasn't baptised in a Baptist Church, I'd be out the door! God Bless You! I hope you find The Church God has for you. In His Love Mark!
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Yeah I do want to visit the "laughing church" just to see what it's like. I should fit right in since I like laughing hehe
 
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SantoSubito

Guest
#15
#15
resurrection33 said:
I suspect different Catholics believe different things just like we United Methodists believe different things.
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That may be true but unlike in the UMC their is no toleration for diversity in dogma or doctrine. Also unlike in the UMC the theological bent of that particular church congregation won't affect the teaching from the pulpit. Basically what I'm saying is that the UMC will tolerate a lot of diversity on things the RCC considers settled.

In fact the Archbishop where I live makes a conscious effort to assign liberal priests to staunchly conservative parishes and staunchly conservative priests to liberal parishes, and strangely enough it works well.

The liberal congregations apparently will conform their beliefs to the beliefs of the pastor while the staunchly conservative congregations get liberal priests in line (often because of the knowledge that the congregation will report him to the Archbishop who will eventually de-frock him if it continues). If it's worked for us maybe the Methodists should try it?
 
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OldOrthodoxChristian

Banned
#16
Nov 23, 2011
772
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#16
shroom2 said:
It was not meant to be a personal attack, but a statement of fact.

I may not know all the truth, but I do know the EOC does not have it.
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Protestants do not have it, because they follow the spirit and tradition of Martin Luther, who said something is so because "Martin Luther says it is so". So it's self-authority, not Bible authority.
No one in the EOC does what Luther did. Most Protestants expect us to "only believe things that have been taught in the last 494 years (500 years)". No major Protestant doctrine comes before 500 years ago, except for the Protestant teachings derived from Augustine of Hippo, rejected by the EOC as heretical.
 
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shroom2

Banned
#17
Apr 13, 2011
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#17
OldOrthodoxChristian said:
Protestants do not have it, because they follow the spirit and tradition of Martin Luther, who said something is so because "Martin Luther says it is so". So it's self-authority, not Bible authority.
No one in the EOC does what Luther did. Most Protestants expect us to "only believe things that have been taught in the last 494 years (500 years)". No major Protestant doctrine comes before 500 years ago, except for the Protestant teachings derived from Augustine of Hippo, rejected by the EOC as heretical.
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I follow the bible, not Luther.

The longevity of a doctrine is not an indication that the doctrine is truth.
 
resurrection33

resurrection33

Banned
#18
Dec 19, 2009
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#18
SantoSubito said:
That may be true but unlike in the UMC their is no toleration for diversity in dogma or doctrine. Also unlike in the UMC the theological bent of that particular church congregation won't affect the teaching from the pulpit. Basically what I'm saying is that the UMC will tolerate a lot of diversity on things the RCC considers settled.

In fact the Archbishop where I live makes a conscious effort to assign liberal priests to staunchly conservative parishes and staunchly conservative priests to liberal parishes, and strangely enough it works well.

The liberal congregations apparently will conform their beliefs to the beliefs of the pastor while the staunchly conservative congregations get liberal priests in line (often because of the knowledge that the congregation will report him to the Archbishop who will eventually de-frock him if it continues). If it's worked for us maybe the Methodists should try it?
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I don’t think there is perfect church, and I am hardly qualified to judge churches, including my own, though that doesn’t stop me from issuing an opinion once in a while.

I was brought up in the United Methodist Church, eventually joined a United Methodist Church here in the Reno-Sparks area, and I remain a member of this church because the people are great.

I do not agree with everything my pastor says, but how many people really pay that much attention to a sermon?

And I get very annoyed sometimes when I hear what changes some people are trying to put through at the global and national level. I once sent a critical email to more than 300 of the churches in our conference, since our conference seems to be the most troublesome of them all.
 
resurrection33

resurrection33

Banned
#19
Dec 19, 2009
27,513
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#19
SantoSubito said:
That may be true but unlike in the UMC their is no toleration for diversity in dogma or doctrine. Also unlike in the UMC the theological bent of that particular church congregation won't affect the teaching from the pulpit. Basically what I'm saying is that the UMC will tolerate a lot of diversity on things the RCC considers settled.

In fact the Archbishop where I live makes a conscious effort to assign liberal priests to staunchly conservative parishes and staunchly conservative priests to liberal parishes, and strangely enough it works well.

The liberal congregations apparently will conform their beliefs to the beliefs of the pastor while the staunchly conservative congregations get liberal priests in line (often because of the knowledge that the congregation will report him to the Archbishop who will eventually de-frock him if it continues). If it's worked for us maybe the Methodists should try it?
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Congregations do not conform their beliefs to anyone, including their pastors. They either put up with their pastor or they don’t. (Probably in most cases they like their pastor.)
 
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SantoSubito

Guest
#20
#20
resurrection33 said:
Congregations do not conform their beliefs to anyone, including their pastors. They either put up with their pastor or they don’t. (Probably in most cases they like their pastor.)
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I don't know I've been to that particular liberal parish before and after they got a priest that wouldn't enable them. They seemed to get back in line. The main thing wasn't that the homily had changed since even liberal priests will usually give a more or less doctrinally sound homily, but that everything they were being told in the various bible studies, ACC, and CCC was no longer liberally minded.
 
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