How old is your Church?

"And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." Matthew 16:18-19

bulletIf you are a Lutheran, Martin Luther, an apostate of the Roman Catholic Church, founded your religion in Germany, in the year 1517.
bulletIf you are a Mennonite, your church began in Switzerland with Grebel, Mantz, and Blaurock, in the year 1525.
bulletIf you belong to the Church of England, also know as Anglican, your religion began with King Henry VIII in 1534, who established his own church because the Pope could not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.
bulletIf you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox, in Scotland, in the year 1560.
bulletIf you are a Congregationalist, your religion was founded by Robert Brown, in Holland, in 1583.
bulletIf you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam, in 1606.
bulletIf you are a Unitarian, John Biddle in London founded your religion in 1645.
bulletIf you are an Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England, founded by Samuel Seabury in the American Colonies in the 17th century.
bulletIf you are a Quaker, your religion was founded by George Fox, in England, in 1647.
bulletIf you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley, in England, in 1739.
bulletIf you are a Universalist, John Murray founded your religion in New Jersey, in 1770.
bulletIf you are an Evangelical, you owe the founding of your religion to Jacob Albright, in Pennsylvania, in 1803.
bulletIf you are a Mormon (a "Latter Day Saint"), then Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, New York, in 1829.
bulletIf you are a Seventh Day Adventist, your religion originated in New York, by William Miller, in 1831.
bulletIf you worship with the Salvation Army sect, then you acknowledge William Booth in London as your originator, in 1865.
bulletIf you are a Jehovah Witness, then your church was founded by Charles Taze Russell, in 1872, and renamed in 1931 by Judge Rutherford, his successor.
bulletIf you are a Christian Scientist, then Mary Baker Eddy founded your religion in Massachusetts, in 1879.
bulletIf you belong to the Assembly of God religion, then a General Assembly in Arkansas started it in 1914.
bulletIf you claim the Church of the Nazarene as your religion, then Union at General Assembly launched it in 1919.
bulletIf you are an Evangelical Reformed, then Union at General Assembly created it in 1934.
bulletIf you belong to "Pentecostal Gospel," your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men in the last 100 years.
bulletIf you are a Roman Catholic, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by Our Lord Jesus Christ.

WHICH IS THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST?

ISSUES OF FAITH AND MORALS

HEBREWS 5:9 ""He became the cause of eternal salvation to all who obey Him."

2 THESSALONIANS 2:14 "Therefore, brethren, stand fast; and hold the traditions which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle."

HEBREWS 13:7-9 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings."

1 TIMOTHY 3:15 "...the Church of the living God, the Pillar and ground of the truth."

List of Faith

and Morals

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Founded in the Year 33 A.D. By

JESUS CHRIST

Teaching by his Authority

 

GREEK-EASTERN, RUSSIAN, ORTHODOX

Broke away from the Catholic Church in 1054 A.D.

LUTHERAN

Founded 1517 by

MARTIN LUTHER

 

ANGLICAN & EPISCOPALIAN

Founded 1532 by

KING HENRY VIII

PRESBYTERIAN

Founded 1560 by

JOHN KNOX

BAPTIST

Founded 1606 by

JOHN SMYTH

METHODIST

Founded 1744 by

CHARLES WESLEY

MORMON

Founded 1829 by

JOSEPH SMITH

JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

Founded 1872 by

CHARLES RUSSELL

PENTECOSTAL ASSEMBLY OF GOD

Founded in 1906 by

CONGREGATION OF AZUSA, STREETMISSION, L.A.

1) DIVORCE/MARRIAGE

CONDEMNS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

2) CONTRACEPTION

CONDEMNS

CONDEMNS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

3) ABORTION

CONDEMNS

CONDEMNS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

ALLOWS

ALLOWS

CONDEMNS

4) FORNICATION

CONDEMNS

CONDEMNS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

CONDEMNS

CONDEMNS

CONDEMNS

5) SODOMY

CONDEMNS

CONDEMNS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

MIXED VIEWS

CONDEMNS

CONDEMNS

CONDEMNS

6) BAPTISM

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

NAS

NAS

SACRAMENT

7) EUCHARIST/ HOLY COMMUNION

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

8) CONFIRMATION

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

9) CONFESSION/RECONCILIATION

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

10) MARRIAGE

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

NAS

NAS

SACRAMENT

11) HOLY ORDERS

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

12) ANOINTING OF THE SICK

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

NAS

13) PAPAL AUTHORITY

ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

14) HONOR OF BLESSED MOTHER

ADVOCATED

DOCTRINE

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

15) IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION

ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

16) INTERCESSION OF  SAINTS

ADVOCATED

DOCTRINE

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

NOT ADVOCATED

 Key to Chart

Black- Teaching of Jesus Christ
Red- Disobedience to God
Mixed Views- Position not definitive due to different sects of the religions and cults and no teaching Hierarchy or Magisterium,
Allows- Allows for exceptions
Not Advocated- Position not taught
NAS- Considered not a sacrament

Please Note: The sacraments that are valid in the religions mentioned are so because the Roman Catholic Church declares them valid by virtue of their nature

 

Evidence of These teachings of Jesus Christ from Sacred Scripture and early Church Fathers

( See above for comparison chart of Religions and Cults on these 16 issues)

1) DIVORCE/MARRIAGE

 Mk 10:2-12, Lk 16:18, Mt 5:32, Mt19:1-19, Rom 7:2-3, I Cor 7:10, Eph 5:31, (Mk 10:9 "What therefore god hath joined together, let no man put asunder.") St. Justin the Martyr (105-165 AD), "They are sinners who contract a second marriage even though it be in accord with human law."

2) CONTRACEPTION

 Ps 126:3, Gal 5:20-21, Rev 21:8,15-22, Gen 38:9-10, Gen 127-28. St. Augustine (354-430 AD) "Intercourse with one's legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked whenever the conception of offspring is prevented." Scripture states the prohibition of: "magic", "drugs"-- euphemistic terms in the 1st century for the widespread practice of contraception. Prior to the Lambeth Conference, England (1930) all Protestant denominations considered contraception to be evil.

3) ABORTION

 Jer 1:5, Ps 21:10-11, Ps 138:15, Amos1:13. Didache (140 AD) " You shall not procure an abortion. You shall not destroy a newborn child."; Epistle of St. Barnabas (117 AD), " Do not murder a child by abortion or commit infanticide"; St. Basil (330-379 AD), A woman who deliberately destroys a fetus must pay the penalty for murder." CCC #2272, " A person who procures a completed abortion incurs automatic excommunication--Latae Sententiae

4) FORNICATION

 I Cor 5:1, 6-9, 6:18, 10:8, I Tim 1:9-10, Heb 13:4, Mk 7:21, Gal 5:19-21, Rom 1:28-32, Eph 5:3-5, Col3:5-8, Mt 15:19-20.

5) SODOMY

 Lev 18:22, Mt 19:4, I Cor 6:10, Rom 1:24-27 "...and receiving in themselves the recompense which was due to their error."

6) BAPTISM

 Rom 6:3-5, Jn 3:1-15, Mt 28:19, Mk 16:16. Aphrates- The oldest of the fathers of the Syrian Catholic Church (280-345 AD), "He sent Christ into the world that a man believe in the resurrection of the dead and moreover that he believe in the Sacrament of Baptism. This is the belief of the Church of God."

7) EUCHARIST/ HOLY COMMUNION

 Jn 6:25-64, I Cor 11:26-31. St Justin the Martyr (105-165 AD) , "We call this Food the Eucharist; and no one else is permitted to partake of It except one who believes the teachings to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins...The Food which has been made in to the Eucharist by the Eucharist Prayer set down by Him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the Flesh and Blood of that incarnated Jesus."

8) CONFIRMATION

 Lk 4:16-22, Lk 24:49. Jn 3:5-8, Jn 14:26, Jn 16:7, Jn 7:37-39, Acts 1:5-8, Jn 20:22, Acts2:1-4. St. Cyprian (258 AD), "It is necessary for him that has been baptized also to be anointed, so that  by his having chrism, that is the Anointing, he can be anointed of God and have in himself the grace of Christ."

9)CONFESSION/RECONCILIATION

 Jn 20:21-23, "He said therefore to them again 'Peace be with you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you'. When He had said this He breathed on them, and He said to them 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."

10) MARRIAGE

 Jn 2:11, Gn 1:27-28, 2:18-24, "Wherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be two in one flesh." St. Ignatius of Antioch (110 AD), "It is proper for men and women who wish to marry to be united with the consent of the bishop so that their marriage will be acceptable to the Lord...Let all things be done for the honor of God."

11) HOLY ORDERS

 Jn 17:17-19, " Sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth. As Thou didst send Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world and for their sake I consecrate Myself that they also may be consecrated in truth." Council of Trent, Session 22-1562, " If anyone says that by these words 'Do this in memory of me' Lk 22:19, Cor 11:24, Christ did not institute the apostles as priest, or did not ordain them, so that priest might offer His body and Blood for themselves and for others: let him be anathema."

12) ANOINTING OF THE SICK

 Jms 5:14-15, "Is there any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed any sins he will be forgiven."

13) PAPAL AUTHORITY

 Mt 16:18. St Augustine (354-430 Ad), "For if the order of succession of bishops (popes) is to be considered, how much more surely, truly and safely do we number them from Peter to whom as representing the whole Church the Lord said 'Upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it'; even if that succession of bishops (popes) which comes down from Peter to Anastatius, now occupying the throne, happened to be a betrayer, there would be no harm to the Church."

14) HONOR OF BLESSED MOTHER

 Lk 1:28. Lk 1:41-55. St. Ephraim (306-373 AD), "...and the handmaid and work of His wisdom became the Mother of God ." St. Irenaeus-- second Bishop of Lyons (140-202 AD), "Mary...was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race."

15) IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION

 Gn 3:15, Lk 1:28, 41-55. St. Ambrose-- Bishop of Milan (333-397 AD), " Lift me up from Mary a virgin not only undefiled, but a virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin."

16) INTERCESSION OF  SAINTS

 Heb 11. Heb 12:1, Mt 17:1-8. Mt 22:32, " 'I am God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,' He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

 

CANON LAW 1364

"An Apostate from the faith, a heretic or a schismatic incurs automatic excommunication (Latae Sententia)"

 

SAINT MATTHEW 16:18-19

"And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven."

 

SAINT MATTHEW 28:18-20

"And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world."

SOME POINT OF INTEREST

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The doctrines of Faith and Morals in the Catholic Church have been the same for 2,000 years. they are usually recorded only when they are challenged. The Roman Catholic Church has proven herself to be the Church of Jesus Christ, as illustrated. Other religions and cults have the burden of proving: 1) They are adhering to the teaching on faith and morals of Jesus Christ 2) They are united as prayed for by our Savior and 3) they were not founded historically by men.

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