...churches: first, such Protestant churches as Episcopal, Lutheran, and Presbyterian; second, the Roman Catholic (beginning in 1967); and third, the Greek Orthodox (beginning about 1971).2 by now the charismatic movement has become worldwide and has participants in many countries As one involved in the movement since 1965, I should like to set forth a brief profile of it.3 A profile of the charismatic movement within the historic churches would include at least the following elements: (1) the recovery of a liveliness and freshness in Christian faith; (2) a striking renewal of the community of believers as a fellowship of the Holy Spirit; (3) the manifestation of a wide range of "spiritual gifts," with parallels drawn from 1 Corinthians 12-14; (4) the experience of "baptism in the Holy Spirit," often accompanied by "tongues," as a radical spiritual renewal; (5) the reemergence of a spiritual unity that essentially transcends denominational barriers; (6) the rediscovery of a dynamic for bearing comprehensive witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ; and (7) the revitalization of the eschatological perspective. In one sense, Charismatics have finally achieved a certain level of respectability within the Evangelical movement. Today, we have academic societies and publications [ii] dedicated to the study of Charismatic and Pentecostal issues in which even non-Charismatics participate. Our books can now be published outside of denominationally-based publishing houses.[iii] One could...
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...How does this statement explain the significance of baptism for the Christian community and the individual? Baptism allows adherents of Christianity to acquire a deeper understanding and resonate with the beliefs of their religion. Baptism refers to the religious rite of passage involving the application of water in association with an individual’s admission to the Christian Church. It is a significant rite practiced by a majority of Christian adherents with the exception of Quakers and followers of The Salvation Army. In many denominations, baptism is performed on young children and is accompanied by name-giving, referred to as ‘Infant Baptism’. These denominational families include Catholics, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians and other Reformed denominations, Methodists and some Nazarenes, as well as the Moravian Church. Another form of baptism involves the initiation of adults and is referred to as ‘Believers Baptism’ practised by a minority of Christians including Protestants and followers of the Pentecostal and Baptists sect. A key concept in believer's baptism is that a credible profession of faith must be given by the recipient before baptism. The American Baptist Church, for example, declares: "We insist that baptism be administered only to those who have the maturity to understand its profound significance: resurrection to new life in Christ”. All major denominations use water as a part of the purification ritual. For some this may involve...
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...teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. Christianity is the world's largest religion, with approximately 2.2 billion adherents, known as Christians. Most Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, fully divine and fully human, and the saviour of humanity whose coming was prophesied in the Old Testament. Consequently, Christians refer to Jesus as Christ or the Messiah. The foundations of Christian theology are expressed in ecumenical creeds. These professions of faith state that Jesus suffered, died, was buried, and was resurrected from the dead in order to grant eternal life to those who believe in him and trust in him for the remission of their sins. The creeds further maintain that Jesus bodily ascended into heaven, where he reigns with God the Father. Most Christian denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge everybody, living and dead, and to grant eternal life to his followers. He is considered the model of a virtuous life. His ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as "the gospel", meaning "good news" (a loan translation of the Greek: εὐαγγέλιον euangélion). The term gospel also refers to written accounts of Jesus's life and teaching, four of which – the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – are considered canonical and included in Christian Bibles. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Jewish sect in the mid-1st century. Originating in the Levant region of the Middle East, it quickly...
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...Spanish Catholicism from 1492, and of the Church of England from 1620; the arrival of the Evangelicals or nonconformist missionaries, Moravians, Methodists, Baptists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians from the mid-eighteenth century; consolidation and growth of various European denominations in the region in uneasy tension with the proliferation of independent black Christian groups and African religions in the post-emancipation era from 1833; the contest for political, economic and religious independence after 1870, including the shift from British Imperial intervention and influence to those from North America, and national independence after 1962. Contemporary studies in anthropology and sociology of religion speak of 'religions on the move', or the process of transmigration and transculturation, as it refers to dynamic, reciprocal, transitory and multidimensional creations in shaping a 'poly-contextual world'. This implies that religions have to be regarded as cultural and spiritual phenomena whose 'taken-for granted' essence1 has resulted from transcultural and transnational processes of mutual 1 Klaus Hock, University of Rostock, abstract for an essay on the African Christian Diaspora in Europe, January 2002 (unpublished); R. Stephen Warner, and Judith G. Wittner (eds.), 1 influence, interaction and continuous adaptation to new environments, developments and encounters. The emphasis here is on 'a new model of understanding religion which...
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...founded by Charles Fox Parham (1873-1929) * Some students there had a particular concern for the account in the Christian New Testament recorded in the book of Acts, chapter two, describing what happened to Jesus’ disciples as they gathered in a private room in Jerusalem during the Jewish festival of Pentecost. * This festival attracted thousands of tourists who spoke many different languages. According to the account, the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to speak in these different languages. This phenomenon is called “speaking in tongues” or glossolalia. Those who spoke in different languages believed the Holy Spirit granted them the gift or power to do so. Much of the Christian tradition restricted such miraculous gifts to the age of the apostles and did not expect them later. * Parham’s students in Topeka found nothing in the biblical text that limited such spiritual gifts to an ancient time. On New Year’s Day, 1901, Agnes Ozman received the gift of speaking in tongues. Parham soon embraced the idea, equating such spiritual gifts with a “second baptism” that followed the traditional baptism which used water to anoint individuals. This second baptism was a baptism of fire * Speaking in tongues is a form of ecstatic experience when for a time another power seized control of one and manifests itself. * The Pentecostal style also echoes the sense of divine invasion in individual lives marking conversion at frontier camp meetings a century...
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...Australia is home to increase religious diversity and religious variety. Its current religious landscape is shaped through the dramatic effect of immigration, the movements to and from religions or denominations, the exploration of new religious movements and the acknowledgement of no religion. These many reasons have created an increase and decrease of many religious traditions, as well as ethnic and cultural diversity in Australia. Post war immigration is directly linked to the emergence of Australia’s new wave of migration. This helped greatly in reshaping Australia’s religious connections with many religions and denominations in terms of ethnic diversity. Many religions existed elsewhere in the world but only appeared in Australia as migration and refugee patterns changed. When Indigenous Australians were counted in Census forms in 1960, a vast majority were Christian whilst some still had a desire to integrate Aboriginal spirituality and customs into Christian expression. Migrants whom entered after World War 1 were simply those who chose to assimilate and not change the British-European culture. This was because the ‘White Australia Policy’ was in place and it was racially prejudice, religiously intolerant and only accepted whites. However, by World War 2 Australia had to ‘Populate or Perish’, thus they were desperate to increase population for national security reasons and economic growth. This ultimately led to a huge population increase, as Australia accepted over 3...
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...Beliefs in society: • Different theories of ideology, science and religion, including both Christian and non-Christian religious traditions. • The relationship between religious beliefs and social change and stability. • Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice. • The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs and practices. • The significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world, including the nature and extent of secularisation in a global context. 1. Religion serves to restore faith and the set basic guidelines for living that people should adhere to; an example of this is the Ten Commandments. 2. It can help to restore faith and a sense of individuality. 3. Maintains a sense of unity and creates hope with the promise of heaven. Explaining belief systems: Belief systems: are broadly defined as the framework of ideas through which an individual makes sense of the world. Ideology: originally a Marxist idea meaning a set of beliefs that serve the interests of a dominant group by justifying their privileged positions. The term usually implies that the beliefs are false or only partially true. Theories of ideology Ideology can be defined in a variety of ways - As a set of political beliefs - As the ideas and beliefs of a particular...
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...examines the diverse religious beliefs and practices of American adults. It looks first at the various degrees of importance Americans assign to religion in their lives and explores their views of God, Scripture, miracles and other religious beliefs. It then moves into a discussion of worship and other congregational activities, followed by a look at devotional practices, spiritual experiences and other practices. The chapter concludes by examining beliefs about religion, including how exclusive people are in their claims to salvation, as well as by examining the ways in which members of different religious traditions think about morality. Along the way, four key measures of religious commitment – importance of religion in people’s lives, belief in God, frequency of prayer and frequency of worship service attendance – are singled out for in-depth demographic analysis. These four measures will be used in the next chapter as lenses through which to examine social and political attitudes within the religious traditions. These measures were chosen because they each touch on an important element of religious experience – overall attachment to religion, religious belief, frequency of private devotional activities and engagement in communal religious activities. Just as the first report of the Landscape Survey detailed the remarkable diversity that exists in the religious affiliation of adults in the United States, the pages that follow document the great diversity the survey finds in the religious...
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...THE HANDY RELIGION AN SWE R BOOK JOHN RENARD Detroit The Handy Religion Answer Book™ C O P Y R I G H T © 2002 BY VI S I B LE I N K PRE SS® This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine or newspaper. All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended. Visible Ink Press® 43311 Joy Rd. #414 Canton, MI 48187-2075 Visible Ink Press and The Handy Religion Answer Book are trademarks of Visible Ink Press LLC. Most Visible Ink Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, or groups. Customized printings, special imprints, messages, and excerpts can be produced to meet your needs. For more information, contact Special Markets Director, Visible Ink Press, at www.visibleink.com or (734) 667-3211. Art Director: Mary Claire Krzewinski Typesetting: Graphix Group Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Renard, John, 1944The handy religion answer book / John Renard. p. cm. ISBN 1-57859-125-2 (pbk.) 1. Religions--Miscellanea. I. Title. BL80.2 .R46 2001 291--dc21 Printed in the United States of America All rights reserved ...
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...WORSHIP MANUAL by David C. Stone Third edition (May 1998) Revised (October 1998) © 1998 David C. Stone. All rights reserved. This document is very much a continuing effort. It is an attempt to express a theology and philosophy of corporate worship that is becoming increasingly prevalent in churches across both denominational and international borders. This third edition contains greatly expanded content in chapter 1 (The Meaning of Worship) and some additional material in chapter 2 (Corporate Worship). This includes corrections, additional references and a short Bible survey that fills in some of the background material to the text. The first revision finally includes the material on the Tabernacle (section 2.5) and the beginnings of a study on the history of worship (chapter 3, incomplete), as well as some minor section renumbering. I still fully intend to add a chapter on leading worship, but I got a little sidetracked! If you enjoy reading this document, or have any comments or suggestions, please write to me at the address below. I look forward to hearing from you! post: David C. Stone 25 Mabelle Avenue, Apt. 2702 Etobicoke, ON M9A 4Y1 Canada email: dstone@chem.toronto.edu Notice: this email address is provided for comments and requests regarding this document only. Please do not send commercial or bulk mailings to this address, or add this address to any mailing list(s). Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. Contents Copyright Notice &...
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...all, it is a commandment of Jesus Christ and an important part of His great commission. Christ said, “… go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). It is obvious that if we do not properly understand or practice baptism, we are in danger of neglecting a very important desire of our Lord and Savior. Understanding the Bible’s teaching concerning water baptism is also important because we have an obligation to ensure that new converts to Christ understand the biblical view of baptism and its significance to their relationship with Christ. It would be very unfortunate for any believer to experience water baptism without really understanding its meaning. Finally, it is important to discuss this issue because there are a number of disagreements within Christianity related to baptism. Some of these are relatively minor, but others are extremely important and are worth some discussion. Section A will first discuss some introductory matters regarding the meaning of the word “baptism” and the different kinds of baptism in the New Testament (NT). Section B will cover specifically what the Bible teaches concerning the purpose, recipients, and method of water baptism. Finally, Section C will address some of the more controversial issues such as the place of baptism in salvation and infant baptism. A. The Biblical and Historical Background...
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...American Political Science Review Vol. 106, No. 2 May 2012 doi:10.1017/S0003055412000093 The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy ROBERT D. WOODBERRY National University of Singapore T his article demonstrates historically and statistically that conversionary Protestants (CPs) heavily influenced the rise and spread of stable democracy around the world. It argues that CPs were a crucial catalyst initiating the development and spread of religious liberty, mass education, mass printing, newspapers, voluntary organizations, and colonial reforms, thereby creating the conditions that made stable democracy more likely. Statistically, the historic prevalence of Protestant missionaries explains about half the variation in democracy in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania and removes the impact of most variables that dominate current statistical research about democracy. The association between Protestant missions and democracy is consistent in different continents and subsamples, and it is robust to more than 50 controls and to instrumental variable analyses. ocial scientists tend to ignore religion in the processes of post-Enlightenment modernization. In individual cases and events, the role of religious actors is clear—especially in the primary documents. Yet in broad histories and comparative analyses, religious groups are pushed to the periphery, only to pop out like a jack-in-the-box from time to time to surprise and scare people and then shrink...
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...CREED CASE LAW REVIEW May 2012 INTRODUCTION When the Ontario Human Rights Code became law in 1962, creed was one of the original grounds of discrimination. This was likely to deal with the fact that at the time, there was significant overt discrimination against religious minorities. Over time, Canada’s legal and societal approach to creed rights has evolved significantly. However, it continues to be one of, if not the, most complex and controversial area of rights law. Perhaps more than any other ground in human rights codes, creed rights tend to give rise to strong opinions, even among those who may not otherwise have much to say about human rights. Everything from what is creed (and what beliefs and practices are protected under the ground of creed), how creed claims are proven, how creed must be accommodated and what to do where creed bumps up against other rights have led to judicial interpretation and public debate. In Quebec, the provincial government appointed a Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences 1 in response to public discontent concerning accommodation of, among other things, creed rights. This may be in part because creed is unique in some respects. It encompasses not just innate personal characteristics but also covers associated practices and beliefs. Rights in relation to religion have been recognized as not just equality rights, but also among the “fundamental freedoms” of every Canadian as listed in s. 2 of the Canadian Charter...
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...Supernatural: The Life of William Branham Book 6: The Prophet and His Revelation 1960 – 1965 by Owen Jorgensen 1 Acknowledgments: In a project of this magnitude, it is understandable that I should owe many people a debt of gratitude for their help. First of all I want to thank Pearry Green for his vision, his encouragement and his efforts in publishing and distributing these books. I also want to thank Saundra Miles, David Buckley, Jay Weber, and the other people who spent many hours editing and proof reading the six manuscripts in this series. Their suggestions helped to make this a better book and a more accurate account of William Branham‘s life. Also, I want to thank Steven and Kathy Strooh, who put these books into audio format for all those people who would rather listen than read. I must certainly thank those people who have translated these books into their native languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Norwegian, Hindi, and many other languages. Supernatural: the Life of William Branham took me 17 years to complete. I was 34 when I started and 51 when I finished. To put that into perspective, my four children were in grade school when I began writing this biography. By the time I finished, three of my children were married and I had nine grandchildren. During the 17 years I worked on this project, my life had its ups and downs. I want to thank everyone who prayed for me during those 17 years. Finally I want to thank my four children—Benaiah...
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...CARIBBEAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate CSEC® RELIGIOUS EDUCATION SYLLABUS Effective for examinations from May/June 2012 CXC 28/G/SYLL 09 Published by the Caribbean Examinations Council © 2010, Caribbean Examinations Council All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the author or publisher. Correspondence related to the syllabus should be addressed to: The Pro-Registrar Caribbean Examinations Council Caenwood Centre 37 Arnold Road, Kingston 5, Jamaica, W.I. Telephone: (876) 630-5200 Facsimile Number: (876) 967-4972 E-mail address: cxcwzo@cxc.org Website: www.cxc.org Copyright © 2009, by Caribbean Examinations Council The Garrison, St Michael BB14038, Barbados CXC 28/G/SYLL 09 Contents RATIONALE ................................................................................................................................... 1 AIMS ................................................................................................................................................ 1 CRITERIA FOR CONTENT SELECTION .................................................................................... 2 ORGANISATION OF THE SYLLABUS ....................................................................................... 2 APPROACHES TO TEACHING THE SYLLABUS .......
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