REL 270 LESSON 11

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School

Rio Salado Community College *

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31516

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History

Date

May 20, 2024

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docx

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2

Uploaded by GeneralRaccoon4101

The American Catholic church has experienced much upheaval and transformation over the centuries. American Catholics faced frequent persecution during much of the colonial periods. This was due to the rise in Protestantism which occurred because of the Great Awakenings (Rio Salado, 11.1., n.d.) Protestants who had faced persecution and exile from the Catholic Church in England had traveled to the U.S. in search of religious freedom, however tensions between the Catholic church and Protestants were brought over to the states. Once Catholics became the minority denomination, the persecution began. In different states Catholics were denied the right to vote, were banned from settling in certain colonies and many of their religious practices were outlawed (Pyne, T. T. (1997.) The eighteenth century once again saw an increase of Catholic persecution after the arrival of German and Irish Catholic immigrants. With Protestant ministers continuing to preach anti-Catholic messages targeting the immigrants, mob attacks were launched in many colonies, with one incident resulting in a Charlestown Catholic school being burnt down (Rio Salado, 11.1., n.d.) Tensions between Catholics and Protestants were also present within the education system (Dillon, M. (2013.) Catholic persecution began to die down after President Robert F. Kennedy who was Catholic, became president and Second Vatican Council took place (Rio Salado, 11.1., n.d.) The council resulted in the Catholic church adopting more modernized views, emphasizing ecumenism, and encouraging more harmonious relationships between bishops. Although these changes brought forth more tolerance to the Catholic faith, it also created division within the church, as some bishops and members opposed the transformation. The views of the Catholic church began to take a drastic turn however with the rise of child sexual abuse allegations in the twentieth century (Rio Salado, 11.1., n.d.) In the aftermath of the scandals, the church implemented new protective policies and higher governance to safeguard members and officials from any further abuses and scandals (Dillon, M. (2013.) (Pyne, T. T. (1997.) Today, Catholicism is the second largest Christian denomination in the United States after Protestantism. Jehovah Witnesses, formerly known as the Bible Students, is a branch of Christianity that was founded by Charles Taze Russell in the 1870’s (Rio Salado, 11.3., n.d.) The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints is another branch of Christianity that was founded by Joseph Smith Jr in 1830 (Rio Salado, 11.3., n.d.) Though they vary drastically in most areas the two denominations have a couple things in common with each other. For starters, both the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormon church were founded in America in the 19 th century. Both churches also each consider themselves to be the only true authorized Christian church (Rio Salado, 11.3., n.d.) They also both use the bible however, to different degrees. Witnesses, rely on literal interpretations of the Bible, using a specific translation known as the New World translation (Stein, S. J. (2011.) Mormons consider the Book of Mormon to hold equal religious authority to the Bible itself in addition to other religious canon like the Pearl of Great Price , and Doctrine and Covenants (Rio Salado, 11.3., n.d.) One major similarity the two churches share is their rejection of the Trinity. Witnesses believe “Jehovah,” is the only true God and Jesus was the only created being, and that it is through Jesus that everything else was created (Rio Salado, 11.3., n.d.) Mormons on the other hand, believe the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are three separate people, that share a unity of purpose (Rio Salado, 11.3., n.d.) The biggest similarity between the denominations is the importance they each place on missionary work. Both churches train and encourage their members to go door-to- door sharing the gospel and trying to gain new converts (Rio Salado, 11.3., n.d.) It is also worth noting that both denominations are often criticized and not accepted as true form of Christianity by mainstream Christian groups due to their differences in beliefs regarding scripture and practices (Queen, E., & Prothero, S. (2018) (Stein, S. J. (2011.)
Rio Salado College. (n.d.) Module 11.1: Catholicism. Retrieved on December 6, 2023 from, https://riosalado.coursearc.com/content/rel270-in-v1/lesson-11-christianity-in-the-united-states-part- 2/module-11-1-catholicism Dillon, M. (2013). Catholic church. In R. Chapman & J. Ciment (Eds.), Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices. Routledge. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NDA4NTE4?aid=102590 Pyne, T. T. (1997). The Politics of Identity in Eighteenth-Century British America: Catholic Perceptions of Their Role in Colonial Society. U.S. Catholic Historian , 15 (2), 1–14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25154580 Rio Salado College. (n.d.) Module 11.3: Christianities Originating in the United States. Retrieved on December 6, 2023, from https://riosalado.coursearc.com/content/rel270-in-v1/lesson-11-christianity-in- the-united-states-part-2/module-11-3-american-born-christianity Stein, S. J. (2011). Jehovah's witnesses. In I. McFarland, D. Fergusson, K. Kilby, & Et. al. (Eds.), Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6MTAyNTk1OQ==?aid=102590 Queen, E., & Prothero, S. (2018). Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. In E. Queen, P. II, S. Stephen R., & J. Gardiner H. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of American Religious History. Facts On File. Retrieved December 6, 2023, from https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6ODM3MjE0?aid=102590
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