Finding common ground

[Katzpur]

This past Saturday, I mentioned wanting to start a thread in the Comparative Religion subforum that would deal with commonalities between the various world religions and Christian denominations. I have hesitated to do this in the past because such threads always seem to ultimately turn nasty. Please, let’s not debate the validity or truthfulness of one spiritual path versus another. This is, after all, a discussion forum and according to the rules, no debating is allowed.

I would also like to ask that anyone who wishes to participate be understanding of other people’s unintentional ignorance concerning your religion. I know that a lot of people have some pretty glaring misunderstandings of Mormonism, and I’m willing to overlook those, at least until I’ve taken the time to correct you. So, if I make a statement about your religion’s beliefs, history, or customs and it’s incorrect, please understand that anything I may say is “to the best of my knowledge.” If you tell me I’ve got it wrong, I’ll take you at your word. You certainly know what you believe better than I do – and vice versa!

I am always looking for things we all have in common. Yes, it’s important for us to acknowledge our differences, but sometimes we get so caught up focusing on those differences that we forget all of the beautiful truths we have in common. Let’s build some bridges of understanding together.

 

[Katzpur]

Since my knowledge of Roman Catholicism is probably better than my knowledge of any other Christian denomination (aside from my own, of course) and definitely better than my knowledge of any other Abrahamic faith and since my knowledge of non-Abrahamic religions is practically nil, I’m going to start by mentioning some of the similarities I see between Mormonism and Catholicism. Yes, folks, you read that right. There are several things these two Christian denominations have in common.

1. Both Mormonism and Catholicism claim to be the true Church established by Jesus Christ.

2. Mormonism and Catholicism both believe in the necessity of apostolic succession. We both believe that this “authority” is essential and that Christ’s Church must hold that authority. Protestants, on the other hand, believe in the “priesthood of the believer.” Mormons and Catholic reject this doctrine.

3. Both Mormonism and Catholicism have male priesthoods which preside over their respective rituals and ceremonies.

4. Both Mormonism and Catholicism have a single religious leader; in Mormonism, it’s the Prophet while in Catholicism, it’s the Pope. Both denominations believe these leaders to be inspired in certain situations.

5. Mormonism and Catholicism both reject the doctrine of Sola Scriptura. In addition to the Bible, Catholics accept Holy Tradition as doctrinally binding. In addition to the Bible, Mormons accept modern revelation as doctrinally binding.

6. Mormonism and Catholicism both accept all seven traditional sacraments of the Christian Church, unlike all of the Protestants, unless I’m mistaken about that. (Luther, for example, accepted only the Lord’s Supper and baptism as Christian sacraments.) Depending upon whether you are LDS or Catholic, these sacrament – which may have different names -- are: baptism, confirmation, penance (confession), the Lord’s Supper, marriage, holy orders (receiving the priesthood), and the anointing of the sick.

7. Mormonism and Catholicism both believe that there is something the living can do for the dead. Catholicism teaches that the living can offer prayers for the dead in Purgatory, and Mormonism teaches that the living can be baptized by proxy on behalf of their dead relatives.

8. Mormonism and Catholicism both believe that “faith without works is dead,” whereas Protestants, for the most part, believe that faith in Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation. Along the same line, unless I’m mistaken, Catholicism, like Mormonism, does not believe in the doctrine of “once saved, always saved.”


These are the similarities that come to mind. There may be others. And of course, these are similarities. That does not mean that our doctrines are identical, because they certainly are not.

 

[Mel B]

>>Mormonism and Catholicism both accept all seven traditional sacraments of the Christian Church<<

What are the seven traditional sacraments?

 

[Katzpur]

>>Mormonism and Catholicism both accept all seven traditional sacraments of the Christian Church<<

What are the seven traditional sacraments?

Depending upon whether you are LDS or Catholic, these sacrament – which may have different names -- are: baptism, confirmation, penance (confession), the Lord’s Supper, marriage, holy orders (receiving the priesthood), and the anointing of the sick. Incidentally, though, while we Latter-day Saints believe in all seven of these, we generally refer to them collectively as "ordinances" and the refer to the Lord's Supper (i.e. Communion, etc.) as "the Sacrament."

 

[shunyadragon]

This past Saturday, I mentioned wanting to start a thread in the Comparative Religion subforum that would deal with commonalities between the various world religions and Christian denominations. I have hesitated to do this in the past because such threads always seem to ultimately turn nasty. Please, let’s not debate the validity or truthfulness of one spiritual path versus another. This is, after all, a discussion forum and according to the rules, no debating is allowed.

I would also like to ask that anyone who wishes to participate be understanding of other people’s unintentional ignorance concerning your religion. I know that a lot of people have some pretty glaring misunderstandings of Mormonism, and I’m willing to overlook those, at least until I’ve taken the time to correct you. So, if I make a statement about your religion’s beliefs, history, or customs and it’s incorrect, please understand that anything I may say is “to the best of my knowledge.” If you tell me I’ve got it wrong, I’ll take you at your word. You certainly know what you believe better than I do – and vice versa!

I am always looking for things we all have in common. Yes, it’s important for us to acknowledge our differences, but sometimes we get so caught up focusing on those differences that we forget all of the beautiful truths we have in common. Let’s build some bridges of understanding together.

As long as the religions and churches, like the LDS, make the exclusive claims of authority, and specific knowledge of God, there is not much hope that the devoted believers will acknowledge common ground beyond polite vague gestures of ecumenism.

The Baha'i Faith does offer common ground in the simplicity of one universal God that Reveals to all humanity over the Millennia as the evolving spiritual evolution of humanity that parallels the physical evolution of humanity and the harmony of science and religion for understanding the physical nature of our existence, but at present by far most if not all cling to the ancient agenda of their own individual religion or church.

 

[shunyadragon]

Depending upon whether you are LDS or Catholic, these sacrament – which may have different names -- are: baptism, confirmation, penance (confession), the Lord’s Supper, marriage, holy orders (receiving the priesthood), and the anointing of the sick. Incidentally, though, while we Latter-day Saints believe in all seven of these, we generally refer to them collectively as "ordinances" and the refer to the Lord's Supper (i.e. Communion, etc.) as "the Sacrament."

LDS and the Roman Church are only two of the many conflicting agenda's of different churches, which as the bottom line at present will not compromise concerning their basic foundation, which includes their claim of authority. At present even between the LDS and Roman Church there is no indication that either is willing to compromise for the lost illusive cause of ecumenism.

Any consideration of unity must go beyond the diverse conflicting divided beliefs of Christianity, and give up the ghosts of ancient mythology.

 

[Katzpur]

As long as the religions and churches, like the LDS, make the exclusive claims of authority, and specific knowledge of God, there is not much hope that the devoted believers will acknowledge common ground beyond polite vague gestures of ecumenism.

I'm sorry that you saw this thread as a "polite, vague gesture of ecumenism." To me, ecumenism implies the willingness to compromise one's beliefs to some degree to attain unity with others. I'm unwilling to do that, but I am more than willing to try to learn what other people believe and look for things that unite us in ways that don't require us to stop believing what which resonates with us and start believing something that doesn't. When we can learn to do that, and unlike you, I believe we can, the world will be a better place. I read a book a number of years ago that was written jointly by an LDS and a Protestant scholar. It was called "How Wide the Divide?" I started out thinking that the Protestant author was going to have a really hard time defending his beliefs by an appeal to the Bible alone. I was surprised at how much I learned about his perspective and how much that knowledge helped me to understand my Protestant brothers and sisters better.

I'm sure you and I could find some similarities in our beliefs if we were to try, but since you seem to not want to do so, I'll wait for @Jim to drop by. He already told me he would be interested in posting in this thread. That's the main reason I started it, actually.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

This past Saturday, I mentioned wanting to start a thread in the Comparative Religion subforum that would deal with commonalities between the various world religions and Christian denominations. I have hesitated to do this in the past because such threads always seem to ultimately turn nasty. Please, let’s not debate the validity or truthfulness of one spiritual path versus another. This is, after all, a discussion forum and according to the rules, no debating is allowed.

I would also like to ask that anyone who wishes to participate be understanding of other people’s unintentional ignorance concerning your religion. I know that a lot of people have some pretty glaring misunderstandings of Mormonism, and I’m willing to overlook those, at least until I’ve taken the time to correct you. So, if I make a statement about your religion’s beliefs, history, or customs and it’s incorrect, please understand that anything I may say is “to the best of my knowledge.” If you tell me I’ve got it wrong, I’ll take you at your word. You certainly know what you believe better than I do – and vice versa!

I am always looking for things we all have in common. Yes, it’s important for us to acknowledge our differences, but sometimes we get so caught up focusing on those differences that we forget all of the beautiful truths we have in common. Let’s build some bridges of understanding together.

There are some things in common between Catholics and Baptist denomi' The sacraments of Christ is defined differently but has the same focus. Mass or Sermon. Communion. Blood and Body of Christ (join worshipers under one church). Baptism (bring born again in christ). Repentance/confession to god. Sacredness of marriage and the vocal confirmation of faith.

JW and Catholics are similar in works. They both believe in evangelization (going to homes to spread jesus word vs charity and prison ministry among others)

Christianity and Buddhism are similar as they both address the nature of suffering even though they differ in the what, how, when, and why. (Differences are cool)

Jews, Muslim, and Catholics all heavily depend on culture and tradition with their beliefs. Some of which defines their beliefs.

nichiren Buddhism SGI believe in world peace like bahai. Like bahai they have their own main founder. SGI is an organization, Soka Gokai International and like bahai it's members depend, for lack of better words, on the interpretations and teachings of their founders by their differing organizational religious beacons.

Can't think of others. They seem to be similar in things like wanting peace and no pain and suffering. But not all religions see the need to bring similarities within their spiritual growth so, it makes it hard to find specific things in common.

 

[Mel B]

The Baha'i Faith does offer common ground in the simplicity of one universal God that Reveals to all humanity over the Millennia as the evolving spiritual evolution of humanity that parallels the physical evolution of humanity and the harmony of science and religion for understanding the physical nature of our existence, but at present by far most if not all cling to the ancient agenda of their own individual religion or church.

Don't most Christian religions claim to "offer common ground in the simplicity of one universal God" who reals all to humanity?

 

[Katzpur]

Don't most Christian religions claim to "offer common ground in the simplicity of one universal God" who reals all to humanity?

Uh... not in my experience, they don't. Christians seem to always be at one another's throats.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Depending upon whether you are LDS or Catholic, these sacrament – which may have different names -- are: baptism, confirmation, penance (confession), the Lord’s Supper, marriage, holy orders (receiving the priesthood), and the anointing of the sick. Incidentally, though, while we Latter-day Saints believe in all seven of these, we generally refer to them collectively as "ordinances" and the refer to the Lord's Supper (i.e. Communion, etc.) as "the Sacrament."

Im assuming LDS doesnt believe in the Roman Catholic view of the Blessed Eucharist. How do they define and how are communion, petenance, and lords supper commemorated?

 

[Dawnofhope]

This past Saturday, I mentioned wanting to start a thread in the Comparative Religion subforum that would deal with commonalities between the various world religions and Christian denominations. I have hesitated to do this in the past because such threads always seem to ultimately turn nasty. Please, let’s not debate the validity or truthfulness of one spiritual path versus another. This is, after all, a discussion forum and according to the rules, no debating is allowed.

I would also like to ask that anyone who wishes to participate be understanding of other people’s unintentional ignorance concerning your religion. I know that a lot of people have some pretty glaring misunderstandings of Mormonism, and I’m willing to overlook those, at least until I’ve taken the time to correct you. So, if I make a statement about your religion’s beliefs, history, or customs and it’s incorrect, please understand that anything I may say is “to the best of my knowledge.” If you tell me I’ve got it wrong, I’ll take you at your word. You certainly know what you believe better than I do – and vice versa!

I am always looking for things we all have in common. Yes, it’s important for us to acknowledge our differences, but sometimes we get so caught up focusing on those differences that we forget all of the beautiful truths we have in common. Let’s build some bridges of understanding together.

We share many similar beliefs in regards Christ:

As to the position of Christianity, let it be stated without any hesitation or equivocation that its divine origin is unconditionally acknowledged, that the Sonship and Divinity of Jesus Christ are fearlessly asserted, that the divine inspiration of the Gospel is fully recognized, that the reality of the mystery of the Immaculacy of the Virgin Mary is confessed, and the primacy of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, is upheld and defended. The Founder of the Christian Faith is designated by Bahá’u’lláh as the “Spirit of God,” is proclaimed as the One Who “appeared out of the breath of the Holy Ghost,” and is even extolled as the “Essence of the Spirit.” His mother is described as “that veiled and immortal, that most beauteous, countenance,” and the station of her Son eulogized as a “station which hath been exalted above the imaginings of all that dwell on earth,” whilst Peter is recognized as one whom God has caused “the mysteries of wisdom and of utterance to flow out of his mouth.” “Know thou,” Bahá’u’lláh has moreover testified, “that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive and resplendent Spirit. We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened and the soul of the sinner sanctified…. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him.”

Mormons don't drink alcohol and smoke. Baha'is don't consume alcohol and smoking is strongly discouraged.

Both Mormons and Baha'is are active participants in my cities interfaith movement.

We have a lot in common.

 

[sun rise]

I have a little book on my bookshelf "Oneness: Great Principles Shared By All Religions" by Jeffrey Moses that has quite a long list of shared principles with short quotes from various religions. Here's a partial list: Golden Rule, Honor your parents, Speak truth, Love your neighbor, "as ye sow, so shall ye reap", wisdom is more important than wealth, be slow to anger and God is Love.

 

[arthra]

I am always looking for things we all have in common. Yes, it’s important for us to acknowledge our differences, but sometimes we get so caught up focusing on those differences that we forget all of the beautiful truths we have in common. Let’s build some bridges of understanding together.

Sounds "good"!

 

[LuisDantas]

Uh... not in my experience, they don't. Christians seem to always be at one another's throats.

That is not entirely surprising, either. It is easier to accept disagreements, even when they are severe, if there is no pressure to share a descriptor with those that we disagree with.

 

[Jim]

... I am more than willing to try to learn what other people believe and look for things that unite us in ways that don't require us to stop believing what which resonates with us and start believing something that doesn't. When we can learn to do that ... the world will be a better place. I read a book a number of years ago that was written jointly by an LDS and a Protestant scholar. It was called "How Wide the Divide?" I started out thinking that the Protestant author was going to have a really hard time defending his beliefs by an appeal to the Bible alone. I was surprised at how much I learned about his perspective and how much that knowledge helped me to understand my Protestant brothers and sisters better.

I have trouble finding points of agreement between my views and the views of other members of my own religion! The only agreement that comes to my mind for now, between my theology and the theology of other people in my religion and some others, is the recognition of some Biblical prophets, including Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jesus for example, as authentic prophets of God. I include Jesus because even if He was more than a prophet, He was a prophet, and He is recognized as such in Islam. Whatever disagreements there might be about Jesus between Muslims and Christians, they all agree that He was an authentic prophet.

My interest in this thread is in the idea of fellowship across ideological divides. Finding points of agreement between theologies might be one way of practicing that, but I see other ways that interest me more. Most of all I'm interested in collaboration across those divides in helping to spread what some of us call the knowledge and love of God. In more general terms I would say, the kinds of love and knowledge that do the most for human progress, and to help improve the lives of all people everywhere.

One way I see for this to happen, which I think now might be happening a lot more than I've realized before, is people from within widely diverging factions working together on various kinds of initiatives for human progress and to help improve the lives of all people everywhere. Some examples might be free neighborhood medical clinics, job training, working with homeless people, and initiatives for the environment. People working side by side in those initiatives might be members of opposing religious factions, or even a member of a religious faction working side by side with a person with anti-religious views.

I think that in each faction, religious or anti-religious, there are people who are using their ideologies, lore and writings to help them learn to live more fruitful and beneficial lives, and what can be common ground between us, across those factional divides, is encouraging and supporting each other in what we're learning to do, and exchanging ideas and information about it. For example, in some other discussions I've seen people saying that they're trying to learn little ways of helping to brighten up the day for other people around them, in their everyday lives. I'm sure that in every faction there are people who are doing that, and encouraging and supporting each other in that can help reduce cross-divide stereotypes, prejudices, animosities and hostilities all around.

Another possible way of encouraging and supporting each other across those divides is in exchanging ideas and experiences in learning to practice and promote some of the virtues we agree on, which for some of us for example might include honesty, fairness, kindness, generosity, patience, compassion and courtesy. Whatever virtues any two of us agree on across those divides, we can encourage and support each other, and exchange ideas and experiences, in learning to practice and promote them.

 

[Regiomontanus]

This past Saturday, I mentioned wanting to start a thread in the Comparative Religion subforum that would deal with commonalities between the various world religions and Christian denominations. I have hesitated to do this in the past because such threads always seem to ultimately turn nasty. Please, let’s not debate the validity or truthfulness of one spiritual path versus another. This is, after all, a discussion forum and according to the rules, no debating is allowed.

I would also like to ask that anyone who wishes to participate be understanding of other people’s unintentional ignorance concerning your religion. I know that a lot of people have some pretty glaring misunderstandings of Mormonism, and I’m willing to overlook those, at least until I’ve taken the time to correct you. So, if I make a statement about your religion’s beliefs, history, or customs and it’s incorrect, please understand that anything I may say is “to the best of my knowledge.” If you tell me I’ve got it wrong, I’ll take you at your word. You certainly know what you believe better than I do – and vice versa!

I am always looking for things we all have in common. Yes, it’s important for us to acknowledge our differences, but sometimes we get so caught up focusing on those differences that we forget all of the beautiful truths we have in common. Let’s build some bridges of understanding together.

Hello. I think I can name one thing all faiths have in common. This is part of the wisdom shared by @sun rise above

If anyone knows of an exception, please let me know. That common factor among all faiths is: LOVE

Anyone disagree?

If we start there we can go far! The path to follow is

Love ---> Understanding ---> Peace

(by understanding I mean acceptance, or at least toleration).

And I think all relationships start with love. Without it all else is futile. The phrase 'peace, love, and understanding' is well known but I think the ordering above is the correct one.

Peace

 

[SalixIncendium]

Uh, I was going to say something, but no, it is not worth it. Nope, I didn't say anything at all.

If you aren't going to say anything, why does this post exist? Help us to understand the point you are trying to make in posting this.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Don't most Christian religions claim to "offer common ground in the simplicity of one universal God" who reals all to humanity?

No. Not as a whole. To their own members, yes. But, it's not a universalist faith. Individually, it can be different.

 

[shunyadragon]

I'm sorry that you saw this thread as a "polite, vague gesture of ecumenism."

I did not see your thread this way. It is the reality of the authorities and believers of the individual religions and churches.

Unfortunately the desire for 'finding common ground is faced with the chasm of the divide of the claims

To me, ecumenism implies the willingness to compromise one's beliefs to some degree to attain unity with others. I'm unwilling to do that, but I am more than willing to try to learn what other people believe and look for things that unite us in ways that don't require us to stop believing what which resonates with us and start believing something that doesn't. When we can learn to do that, and unlike you, I believe we can, the world will be a better place. I read a book a number of years ago that was written jointly by an LDS and a Protestant scholar. It was called "How Wide the Divide?" I started out thinking that the Protestant author was going to have a really hard time defending his beliefs by an appeal to the Bible alone. I was surprised at how much I learned about his perspective and how much that knowledge helped me to understand my Protestant brothers and sisters better.

I'm sure you and I could find some similarities in our beliefs if we were to try, but since you seem to not want to do so, I'll wait for @Jim to drop by. He already told me he would be interested in posting in this thread. That's the main reason I started it, actually.

The basis of the Baha'i Faith is common ground of the spiritual evolution of humanity. It is still very apparent that your appeal to a greater communion or unity only extends to within the various churches of Christianity, which is a problem.

When looking at the different churches from the perspective of ecumenism the Methodists probably come the closest to embracing the common beliefs shared by the churches. The LDS and the Roman Church have the greatest barriers essentially grounded in their very different claims of 'authority.'