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WORD OF GOD |
CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE |
JEHOVAH’S
WITNESSES |
MORMONISM |
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GOD |
God is a Spirit; and they that worship HIM must worship HIM in spirit
and in truth – Jn. 4:24
In the name of the FATHER, and the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT – Matt.
28:19
There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus – 1 Tim. 2:5
God said let US make man in OUR image – Gen. 1:26; God said let
US go down – Gen. 11:7.
In the beginning God – Gen. 1:1.
JESUS baptized – SPIRIT descended – The FATHER spoke – Matt. 3:16,
17. The Lord He is
God; there is none else beside HIM – Deut. 4:35. |
God is
incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life,
Truth, Love. God is all-in-all. God is good. Good
is Mind. God, Spirit, being
all, nothing is matter. God is infinite,
the only Life, substance, Spirit or Soul. The only intelligence of the
universe, including man. Life, Truth, and
Love constitute the triune Person called God. A trinity in unity
… God the Father-Mother; Christ the spiritual idea of sonship; divine Science
or the Holy Comforter. Science and Health, 1916, 465:9-10; 113:16-18;
330:11-12; 331:26-27; 331:30-31. |
There is no
authority in the Word of God for the doctrine of the Trinity of the Godhead. The Trinity
doctrine is unbiblical in origin. Rebellion in God is a solitary
being from eternity, unrevealed and unknown. No one has existed as His equal
to reveal Him. Jehovah is the
almighty and supreme sovereign of the universe – not omnipresent, but with
power extending everywhere. Studies in the Scriptures, V, 54 ff. unbiblical. Make Sure of All Things, 1957, pp. 191, 386. Pres. Nathan Knorr, Religion in
the 20th Century, p. 388. The Kingdom is at Hand, p. 507. |
I have always
declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct
personage … and that the Holy Ghost is a distinct personage and a Spirit …
three distinct personages and three Gods. In the heaven
where our spirits were born, there are many Gods, each of whom has his own
wife or wives … The heads of the
Gods appointed one God for us… The Father in
heaven has a body of flesh and bones, the Son also… God Himself was
once as we are now, and is an exalted man. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
pp. 345-346, 370-372. Orson Pratt, The
Seer, I, March 1853, p. 37. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22. |
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CHRIST |
The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth – Jn. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten
God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him – Jn. 1:18. He was in the beginning with God – Jn. 1:1. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to
Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy
Spirit – Matt. 1:18. A virgin will be with child and bear a son,
and she will call His name, Immanuel – Isa. 7:14. In Him are hidden all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge – Col. 2:3. Declared to be the Son of God with power,… by the resurrection from the dead – Rom. 1:4. If Christ has not been raised, your faith
is worthless – 1 Cor. This Jesus … will come in just the same way
as you have watched Him go into heaven – Acts 1:11; Jn. 14:3; 1 Thes.
4:13-18. |
Jesus is the human man who demonstrated
Christ. Christ is the ideal Truth, divine idea, the
spiritual or true idea of God. Mary’s conception of him was spiritual. Jesus was the offspring of Mary’s
self-conscious communion with God. At the ascension the human, material
concept, or Jesus, disappeared, while the spiritual self, or Christ,
continues to exist in the eternal order of divine Science, taking away the
sins of the world, as the Christ has always done, even before the human Jesus
was incarnate to mortal eyes. His resurrection was not bodily! He
reappeared to his students, that is, to their apprehension he rose from the
grave – on the third day of his ascending thought! Science and Health, 1916, 473:15; 332:19; 347:14-15;
332:26-27; 29:32 – 30:1; 334:10-20; 509:4-7. |
Jesus Christ, a created individual, is the second greatest
Personage of the universe, the first and only direct creation by his Father,
Jehovah … appointed as his vindicator and the Chief Agent of life toward
mankind. Born as a human
son of God, October, 2 B.C. Became the Messiah
Seed in Fall, A.D. 29. Died on a Stake as
Ransomer in Spring, A.D. 33. Resurrected
Immortal on Third Day … He was raised “as a mighty immortal spirit Son … a
glorious spirit creature. We know nothing
about what became of (his body), except that it did not decay or corrupt. Make Sure of All
Things, 1957, p.
207. Let God Be True, 1952, pp. 207-210. Studies in the
Scriptures, II, p. 129. |
Jesus Christ is
Jehovah, the first-born among the spirit children of Elohim, to whom all
others are juniors. He is unique in
that he is the offspring of a mortal mother and of an immortal, or
resurrected and glorified, Father. He was the
executive of the Father, Elohim, in the work of creation. He is greater than
the Holy Spirit, which is subject unto Him, but His Father is greater than
He. Talmage,
The Articles of Faith, pp. 471-472. Doctrine and Covenants 76:24. Joseph F. Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, I, p. 18. |
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HOLY SPIRIT |
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that
is the Spirit of truth … He will bear witness of Me – Jn. 15:26.
And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and
righteousness, and judgment – Jn. 16:8.
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all
truth – Jn. 16:13.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit … He will teach you all things – Jn.
14:26. … the SPIRIT of GOD DWELLS IN YOU – |
The Holy Ghost is
Divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love. Science and Health, 1916, 588:7-8. |
The holy spirit is
the invisible active force of Almighty God which moves his servants to do his
will. Let God be True, 1952, p. 108. |
The Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and
bones, but is a personage of Spirit … A Man may receive the Holy Ghost and IT
may descend upon him and not tarry with him. The bestowal of the Holy Ghost … is
effected through the ordinance … pronounced by the specified authority of the
Holy Priesthood, accompanied by the imposition of the hands of him or those
officiating. Such references as being filled with the
Holy Ghost … have reference to the powers and influences that emanate from
God … The actual person of the Holy Ghost cannot be in more than one place at
a time. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22-23. Talmage,
The Articles of Faith, pp. 161,
165. |
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WORD OF GOD |
CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE |
JEHOVAH’S
WITNESSES |
MORMONISM |
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SIN |
Sin is the transgression of the law – 1 Jn.
3:4. All unrighteousness is sin – 1 Jn. 5:17. Whatever is not of faith is sin – Rom.
14:23. The one who knows the right thing to do,
and does not do it, to him it is sin – Jas. … SIN, because they do not believe in Me –
Jn. 16:9. There is none righteous, not even one … For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – Rom. 3:10, 23. If we say that we have no sin, we are
deceiving ourselves (and make Him a
liar), and the truth is not in us – 1 Jn. 1:8, 10. |
Here also is found the cardinal point in
Christian Science that matter and evil (including
all inharmony, sin, disease, and death) are
unreal. Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and
death. Whatever indicates the fall of man … is the
Adam-dream, which is neither Mind nor man… Death is another phase of the dream that
existence can be material. Misc. Writings, p. 27. Science and Health, 1916, 475:28-29; 282:28-30; 427:13-14. |
Adam and Eve’s sin (was) a literal eating of the tree; their missing the mark
brought death upon all mankind. Adam disobeyed God, and for this the
penalty was death to the whole man, body and soul. For man IS a soul; he does
not possess a soul separate from the body. Death is “utter cessation of conscious,
intellectual, or physical activity, celestial, human or otherwise,”
“termination of existence.” No soul is conscious after death. Adam was not sent to Eternal torment, but
to Unconscious Annihilation in Dust of the Ground. New Heavens and New Earth, p. 207; Make Sure of All Things, 1957, pp. 86,
157, 287, 344-345, 348-349. |
Adam fell that men might be; and men are
that they might have joy. Men will be punished for their own sins,
and not for Adam’s transgression. Every spirit of man was innocent in the
beginning. Were it not for our transgression we should
never have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy
of our redemption, and the eternal life which God gives to all the obedient. Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi |
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REDEMPTION |
The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from
all unrighteousness – 1 Jn. 1:7. My blood … which is to be shed of behalf of
many for forgiveness of sins – Matt. 26:28. Redeemed … with the precious blood of
Christ – 1 Pet. In Him we have redemption through His blood
– Eph. 1:7. Released us from our sins by His blood –
Rev. 1:5, 6. Without shedding of blood there is no
forgiveness – Heb. 9:22. Having made peace through the blood of His
cross – Col. 1:20. He offered one sacrifice for sin for all time – Heb.
10:11-14. |
One sacrifice, however great, is
insufficient to pay the debt of sin. The atonement requires constant
self-immolation on the sinner’s part. The way to escape the misery of sin is to
cease sinning. There is no other way. The material blood of Jesus was no more
efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon ‘the accursed tree’
than when it was flowing in his veins as he went daily about his Father’s
business. Science and Health, 1916, 23:3-5; 327:12-13;
25:6-10. |
Jesus Christ laid down in sacrifice … a
perfect HUMAN life, equal to that which Adam forfeited. His sacrifice was the RANSOM which releases
from inherited sin and from prospects of eternal death as a result of sin. His atonement provided the redemptive price
whereby mankind by obedience and service could gain perfect human life with
its rights and EARTHLY prospects. Adam, with some others, was willfully
rebellious, beyond repentance, and his sentence is beyond recall. You May Survive Armageddon, p. 39; Make Sure of All Things, 1957, pp.
293-294; Let God Be True, 1952, p.
114; The Truth Shall Make You Free,
p. 113. |
Even the unbeliever, the heathen, and the
child who dies before reaching the years of discretion, all are redeemed by
the Savior’s self-sacrifice from the individual consequences of the Fall …
the resurrection of the body is one of the values achieved by Christ through
His atoning sacrifice. (General
Salvation.) Unconditional Redemption “means to restore
us from this mortal state to the immortal state; in other words, to give unto
us the resurrection. That comes to every creature, not only to men but also
to the fish, the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field … All of them
had spiritual existence before they were placed upon the earth; therefore
they are to be redeemed. Talmage,
The Articles of Faith, p. 85. Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 11, pp. 10-11. |
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SALVATION |
But as many as received Him, to them He
gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His
name – Jn. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who
does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God – Jn. 3:18, 36. He saved us, not on the basis of deeds
which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy… - Titus 3:5. For by grace you have been saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of
works, that no one should boast – Eph. 2:8, 9. Being justified as a gift by His grace
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus – Rom. 3:24. This is the work of God,
that you believe in Him whom He has sent – Jn. 6:29. For Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone who believes – Rom. 10:4. |
The great work of Jesus was to teach the
way of Life by demonstration. He was the way-shower, and his crucifixion
demonstrated practical affection and goodness for mankind. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of
Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life,
even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the
nothingness of matter. Man is saved through Christ, through Truth,
Life, and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick
and overcoming sin and death. Science and Health, 1916, 24:27-28; 497:16-22. |
All who by reason of faith in Jehovah God
and in Christ Jesus dedicate themselves to do God’s will and then faithfully
carry out their dedication will be rewarded with everlasting life … Some of
these, that is 144,000, will share in heavenly glory with Christ Jesus, while
the others will enjoy the blessings of life down here on earth. The greater mass of humankind will be
resurrected to find life here on earth amid paradise conditions. This will
take place, after Armageddon, at the beginning of the great Judgment Day,
1,000 years long (Millennium). He
that exercises faith (in that Day)
has everlasting life; the disobedient is judged adversely and will sleep a
perpetual sleep. Let God Be True, 1952, pp. 279, 281, 298. |
The sectarian dogma of Justification by
Faith alone has exercised an influence for evil. We believe that through the Atonement of
Christ all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of
the gospel. The priesthood of Aaron … holds the keys of
baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. The living may be baptized for the dead
“who died without a knowledge of the restored gospel.” Only those married “for time and eternity”
(Celestial Marriage) in Mormon temples can receive fullness of glory and
“continuation of seeds forever and ever. Then shall they be gods, because
they have no end.” Talmage,
The Articles of Faith, p. 479. 3rd Article of Faith; Doctrine & Covenants
13; 128:5; 132:19-20. |
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JUDGMENT |
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the
ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and
everlasting contempt – Dan. 12:2. Die once … after this comes
judgment – Heb. 9:27. I saw the dead, great and small, standing
before the throne; they were judged according to their deeds – Rev. 20:12. Hell … the unquenchable fire – Mk. 9:43,
47, 48. The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution
(judgment) to
those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the
presence of the Lord – 2 Thes. 1:7-10. |
Hell is mortal belief, error, lust …
suffering and self-destruction, self-imposed agony, effects of sin. Now is the time for so-called material
pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because
impossible in Science. No final judgment awaits mortals, for the
judgment day of wisdom comes hourly and continually, even
the judgment by which mortal man is divested of all material error. Mortal belief dies to live again in renewed
forms, only to go out at last forever. Science and Health, 1916, 588:1-3; 39:22-24;
291:28-31; 556:10-12. |
Certain are excluded from any hope or resurrection,
and from any second chance. These include Adam and Eve (Paradise Lost, p. 236), Cain, those who died in the Flood, Judas
Iscariot, and others. There is no hope for those destroyed at the Battle of
Armageddon. The final test will come (at the end of the Millennium) by the
loosing of Satan the Devil out of his restraint. All who then yield to Satan’s temptations …
will be consigned to the second death, symbolized by the lake of fire. This
is annihilation, “as if they had never existed before.” Let God Be True, 1952, p. 293. New Heavens and New Earth, p. 354. |
Sons of Perdition are “those whose sin is
the unpardonable one, whose transgression has carried them beyond the present
horizon of possible redemption … They, having learned the power of God
afterward renounce it … sin willfully in the light of knowledge, etc.” They are “doomed to suffer the wrath of God
… in eternity … There is no forgiveness in this world nor
in the world to come.” Punishment will be graded according to sin. Any punishment ordained by God is eternal,
for He is eternal. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, pp. 60, 409-410; Doctrine & Covenants 76:33-34. |