[Apologetics] Side by side comparison of religions

Thu Jul 29 21:58:10 EDT 2010

I think "Catholic Perspectives" might mean that each religion or denomination had its own expert to write that section.  There probably are Baptist Perspectives, Lutheran Perspectives, Oriental Orthodox Perspectives, Eastern Orthodox Perspectives, etc.

So, from an Eastern Orthodox perspective, THEY are the original Christian church, from which the Catholic Church separated in 1054.  It's historically ridiculous, but I think a lot of Eastern Orthodox faithful believe it.  Other members of Eastern Orthodox churches would say there were co-equal eastern and western branches of Christianity, but they got a divorce in 1054.

Of course, there is a boat load of evidence that the Pope functioned as the Chief Shepherd of the whole Church for 1,000 years after Jesus and his authority as the successor to St. Peter was well recognized by the eastern churches.  Any contention that everyone was equal flies in the face of the facts.

But in putting together a website comparing religions and denominations, if it is to work, you have to let each church describe its own beliefs, practices, and perceived history.

Since the website is comparing various Christian denominations with various non-Christian religions, they are using the CE abbreviation in order to not offend anyone.  I don't know how many Jews, Muslims, and Hindu are bothered by AD, but there are probably some.

As for the other errors, I guess each denomination should speak up for itself.  If I were a Baptist, I'd make sure that it was clear that the website stated that the deity that we worship is God (Trinity), which is the way it is listed for the other Christian churches.  As it is now, the website makes it look like the Baptists have a different deity that the rest of Christianity.

I'll take a good look at what it says about Catholics. Although a priest apparently wrote the Catholic section, that doesn't guarantee it is true and correct.

Art
--- On Thu, 7/29/10, Dianne Dawson <rcdianne at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Dianne Dawson <rcdianne at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Apologetics] Side by side comparison of religions
To: "Art Kelly" <arthurkelly at yahoo.com>, "Apologetics Group" <apologetics at gathman.org>
Cc: "Jimmy Murphy" <jmurf80 at gmail.com>, "Francis Thomas" <francis.thomas at CatholicFaithForum.com>, "Ward Collins" <wcollins at netins.net>
Date: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 7:12 PM

Art,

"By the way, who runs this website?"  I don't know.  I didn't check either and I don't even remember where I came upon the website.

I did some searching around on the website and found some interesting info.  Check out http://www.patheos.com/About-Patheos/Patheos-Advisors.html  Among other info there is this:

Catholic Perspectives
Rev. Emile R. Boutin, Jr. - Pastor, Blessed Sacrament Parish
Tim Muldoon, PhD - Assistant to the Vice President for University Mission and Ministry, Boston College

I think you should write them and express your concerns/corrections.  I agree with you about the "CE."

Dianne

Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul longs for you, O God.
Ps 42:1

From: Art Kelly <arthurkelly at yahoo.com>
To: Apologetics Group <apologetics at gathman.org>
Cc: Jimmy Murphy <jmurf80 at gmail.com>; Francis Thomas <francis.thomas at CatholicFaithForum.com>; Ward Collins <wcollins at netins.net>
Sent: Thu, July 29, 2010 6:18:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Apologetics] Side by side comparison of religions

It's an interesting website, which I will list as a Favorite so that I can refer back to it.

However, just at a glance, I have already noticed serveral errors.

For instance, it lists the dates formed for Catholicism (I detest the inaccurate designation Roman Catholicism) and Eastern Orthodoxy as 33 AD and Oriental Orthodoxy as 451 AD.  (Oh wait, it uses the phrase CE, which I also detest, instead of AD).

It is true the Oriental Orthodox churches separated from the Catholic Church in 451 AD, but the Eastern Orthodox churches separated from the Catholic Church in 1054.  Neither the Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Orthodox, nor the Protestant churches can claim independent origins.  They were all part of the Catholic Church until they decided to go their own ways.

(There is a very small portion of Baptists who claim apostolic succession but cannot provide any valid historical evidence to support this claim.  Their claims to have been part of the Montanists, Donatists, and Novatians are easily disproven, as these groups were all definitely Catholic schismatics.)

I notice that the deity for Catholics and most other Christian groups is listed as "God (Trinity)" but strangely as "Christian God" for Baptists.  In fact, Baptists hold to an understanding of the Trinity that is identical to other Christians and may be more orthodox than some mainline Protestant groups.

The Sacred Text for Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Methodists is listed as the Bible, but listed as the Bible (Protestant Canon) for Baptists. Obviously, Lutherans, Baptists, Anglicans, and Methodists have the same Protestant canon, but it is not exactly the same as the Catholic canon.  The chart is also listed as the Bible for Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox, but in fact these two groups have various canons that are more extensive than the Catholic canon.

There is also a listing for general Protestantism, which is puzzling, since each Protestant denomination is also listed.

I'll study the chart some more. I'd be interested if any of the folks in the Apologetics Group find other problems with it.

By the way, who runs this website?  I haven't had a chance to check yet.

Art
--- On Thu, 7/29/10, Dianne Dawson <rcdianne at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Dianne Dawson <rcdianne at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Apologetics] Side by side comparison of religions
To: "Apologetics Group" <apologetics at gathman.org>
Date: Thursday, July 29, 2010, 4:31 AM

http://www.patheos.com/Library/Lenses/Side-By-Side.html?path1=x900&path2=x776&path3=x807

What do you think? Fairly accurate?

Dianne

Like a deer that longs for running waters so my soul longs for you, O God.
Ps 42:1

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