Thursday, January 26, 2017

Denominational Doctrines: Part 1

As part of our studies at home, Jon and I have compared the doctrines of ten religious groups with the teachings of the Scriptures using Stafford North's Handbook on Church Doctrines

Jon first taught a class at the Owasso Congregation to the older high school group and college kids to give them an understanding of the belief system of their peers. 

Later we would go through the study with Caleb and now with Abigail.  The first religion we looked at was the Catholic Church because so many other denominations stem from that religion.  

While we were downtown today we were able to attend mass at the Cathedral Santuario de la Virgen de Guadalupe.  It is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas, Texas. The structure dates from the late 19th century and is located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas.

The building is magnificent and you get a real sense of the reverence the parishioners have for Christ.  The most striking difference was that no one had a Bible, or that scripture wasn't cited so that it could be verified as Truth.  But having studied their beliefs, we had an understanding that the Catholic church puts as much value on papal writings as divine scripture because they believe the Pope to be ordained by God making his teachings infallible.  

It was fascinating to observe.  I'm thankful that the curtain was torn and we no longer have to go through man to reach God.  I look forward to learning about other religions and comparing them to the example of the Lord's body that we have in the book of Acts. 

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. Revelation 22:18-19

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