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Cults & Religions. Hinduism. It’s roots go as far back at 2,000 B.C. There is no exact date of origin or founder. “Hinduism is simply the religion of the people of India.” Hinduism is a collective term applied to the many philosophical and religious traditions native to India.
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Hinduism • It’s roots go as far back at 2,000 B.C. • There is no exact date of origin or founder. • “Hinduism is simply the religion of the people of India.” • Hinduism is a collective term applied to the many philosophical and religious traditions native to India.
The origins and authors of it’s sacred texts are unknown. • Its collection of sacred texts is known, as a whole, as Sanatana Dharma, "The Eternal Teaching.“ • This is made up of these texts; Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, and Epics.
The Hindu worldview is grounded in the doctrines of samsara (the cycle of rebirth) and karma (the universal law of cause and effect), and fundamentally holds that one's actions (including one's thoughts) directly determine one's life, both one's current life and one's future lives.
They believe in one reality called, Brahman. • Some Hindus believe the universe is real. Most believe that it is just an illusion. • Some believe Brahman and the universe are one; others see them as two distinct realities. • Hinduism is polytheistic. As many as 330 million different gods.
5 major beliefs in Hinduism: • Ultimate reality, called Brahman, is an impersonal oneness. This is monism: the belief that all is one. Nothing is distinct and separate from anything else.
That just as the air in an open jar is identical to the air around the jar, we extend from and are one with Brahman. All is one, all is god--and that means that we are god. Humanity's primary problem, according to Hinduism, is that we have forgotten we are divine. The consequence is that we are subject to the Law of Karma.
Karma - This is the moral equivalent to the natural law of cause and effect. You always reap what you sow. There is no grace, there is no forgiveness, there is never any escape from consequences. It follows you from life to life.
Samsara - the ever-revolving wheel of life, death, and rebirth, also known as reincarnation. A person's karma determines the kind of body--whether human, animal, or insect--into which he or she is incarnated in the next lifetime.
Liberation from the wheel of birth, death, and rebirth. One can only get off the reincarnation merry-go-round by realizing that the idea of the individual self is an illusion, and only the oneness of Brahman is real. There is no heaven, though--only losing one's identity in the universal oneness.
Buddhism • Started 2,500 yrs ago in 500 B.C. • Started by Siddhartha Gautama, a Hindu. • Siddhartha observed the suffering in the world and set out to find an antidote. • He went out to remote place and sat under a tree and refused to leave until he received the answer.
4 days later through meditation and analysis, he attained an enlightened state of being that marked the end of attachments (and therefore suffering), and ultimately, upon his death, release from the cycle of rebirth (samsara). • He became Buddha. Literally “The Awakened One” or “The Enlightened One”.
Buddhism does not believe in a personal God. It does not have worship, prayer, or praise of a divine being. It offers no redemption, no forgiveness, no hope of heaven, and no final judgment. Buddhism is more of a moral philosophy, an ethical way of life. • Buddhism is pantheistic. There is an impersonal “force”.
The Four Nobles Truths of Buddhism. • Life consists of suffering. • We suffer because we desire those things that are impermanent. Desire is the cause of all suffering. • The way to liberate oneself from suffering is by eliminating all desire.
Desire can be eliminated by following the Eight-Fold path. • The Eight-Fold Path is a set of steps that describe not only a good life but one which will move the follower toward Nirvana, the goal of Buddhism.
Nirvana is not heaven; it is a state of extinction, where one's essence--which does not actually exist in the first place--is extinguished like a candle flame, marking the end of desire and thus the end of suffering.
The 8 fold path: • Right Understanding • Right Thought • Right Speech • Right Action • Right Livelihood • Right Effort • Right Awareness • Right Meditation
One of the important concepts in Buddhism is samsara, a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. • It differs from the Hindu concept of reincarnation in that Buddhism teaches there is no self to continue from one life to the next.
Church of God • The Church of God was founded on August 19, 1886 in Monroe County Tennessee. • Doctrinal differences: • Pentecostal - Baptism of the Holy Spirit is an event that takes place after salvation and is evidenced by speaking in tongues, healings, prophecies, miracles, etc. • “The principle distinctive of the Church of God as a Pentecostal organization is its belief in speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance and that this is the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.” • Charismatic – “The charismata (Gk.) or gifts of the Spirit appeared early in the life and ministry of the Church of God. The gifts can be divided into three categories: the gifts of revelation, the gifts of power and the gifts of utterance or inspiration.”
Sanctification • Sanctification is the process by which one grows in maturity as a believer, but also by which one keeps themselves saved. • “One of the most powerful and destructive heresies to penetrate the Christian community is the teaching that once people are saved they cannot lose their salvation. This is often referred to as “once in grace, always in grace” or “eternal security.” This false teaching has likely gained prominence due to the fact that it has such appeal to the fleshly, carnal nature. According to this doctrine, once a person is saved, he cannot lose that salvation regardless of how far back into sin he strays. This supposedly produces that which is impossible, “the sinning Christian.” To the man who wants to gratify the lust of the flesh while still maintaining the promise of eternal life, this doctrine is enticing.” • Foot washing
FOURSQUARE • The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (ICFG), commonly referred to as the Foursquare Church, is an evangelical Pentecostal Christian denomination founded in 1923. • Nov. 1910 — Our founder, Aimee Semple McPherson, returns from a mission in China as a 20-year-old widow and single mother. • Oct. 1918 — Aimee starts cross-country evangelism, traveling by car. • Dec. 1918 — Aimee establishes Los Angeles as her home base. • Aug. 1921 — Aimee’s prayers to God lead to many miraculous healings, verified by an American Medical Association report. • Jan. 1923 — First Foursquare church, Angelus Temple, opens its doors in Los Angeles, and soon hosts services in five languages. • Fast Forward to Today – ICFG, known casually as Foursquare, has over 8.8 million members in over 90,000 churches across 146 nations.
Where did the name foursquare come from? • The term “Foursquare” stands for the four-fold ministry of Jesus Christ as the Savior (Romans 10:9), Baptizer with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16), Healer (1 Peter 2:24), and Coming King (Acts 1:11). • “Foursquare is a Pentecostal Church, is affiliated with the Pentecostal-Charismatic Churches of North America (PCCNA) and the Pentecostal World Fellowship.” • Doctrinal Differences: • Strong emphasis on the 2nd blessing of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by the working of the “sign gifts”. • Christian perfection and holiness can be attained by surrender and consecration to God. • “The free moral will power of man, who can backslide, apostatize, and be lost,” • “Healing is promised in the atonement.”
