Roman Catholic Faith vs Apostolic Faith - Essay Example

Roman Catholic Faith verse Apostolic Faith In the quest to understand the major comparisons between the two Faith differences, a major understanding of the history explains these. Understanding the History of the two religions, the differences, similarities and the different doctrines that exist mark the churches relationship. History of the Roman Catholic Faith According to the Doctrines of the Catholic Church, Jesus Christ founded the church. The Faith uses the confession by Peter as a symbol that Christ considered making Apostle Pater as the temporal head of the church. The church has its apostles, Bishops and authority of the Pope all stem from these same teachings. There developed struggles among the churches and the populations until the acceptance of Christianity by Emperor Constantine marking it as a religion for the Roman Empire. At this time, the Pentarchy of Christianity marked by five primary items of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Constantinople. Through the church, there was need for the preservation of the classical civilization hence the maintenance of the church in the West after the destruction of the Roman Empire. At these times, their developed monasteries and the missionaries established were sent across to the northern Europe area to preach and convert people there to believe in the religion at that time. There followed an invasion by the Islamic religion that tried to win believers form the Catholic Church. Considering the history, it is believed that Catholic was one of the founding blocks of Christianity that is believed to have its roots to Jesus Christ. The church with the Islamic wars existent, it was split with the five Pentarchies split, some won over by the Islam wing while others remained dominated and destroyed by internal politics of the Catholic Church that involved the authority and designation of the Pope among other authorities. At this time, the Protestant Reformation grew from the same developments. At this time, the church underwent a counter reformation that saw a followed spread of Catholicism around the world. The most of the significant changes happening after the formation of the Second Vatican Council also marked this era. Considering the different teachings in the New Testament that have Jesus address apostolic issues and teachings, the appointment of the Apostles and the Pentecost day that marks the Holy Spirit coming to them (Nuaesse, p.34). Among the same teachings, Peter is considered as one of the first Bishops that are followed by the Popes that made a line of those considered top most in the Catholic discipline. Following these, the organization of the church and the development of strategies that would hold the church together and develop a systematic flow of authority and discipline ensued. Among the many details existing in the Catholic Church are the following On formation, the church’s formation is not easily determinable. The distinction of Catholicism from the different Christianity aspects marked the beginning of its identification. As stated in the history, the distinction from the other faiths emerged through the different division that developed in religion. These included the Islam influence, the Protestantism and the Eastern Orthodoxy. A number of institutional changes, theological developments and cultural developments marked the development. Through these, there came the Council of Nicea, the first council of Constantinople, Pope Leo I, the council of Chalcedon, the Great Schism and the development of the term Roman Catholic in the 16th century. A number of sacred texts that stem from the Old Testament that the protestant church rejected mark the church. The same biblical books are used by all religions but the interpretations mark the difference between the different faiths. History of the Apostolic Faith Azusa revival that occurred in the 1906 in Los Angeles marked the earlier developments of the Apostolic Faith. Florence Crawford the founder of the faith received the Holy Spirit’s guidance and message that led her to form the church with the head quarters established in the Portland Oregon. Hundreds of churches sprung up at this time after this formation spreading across more than six continents. The affiliation of the founder to William Seymour at the Azusa Street Revival marked the earlier years of the faith. With developed presence in Canada, United States its origin, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia. The church went further to spread through the publications that the church involved in throughout time. The members continued increasing and the growth of the church continued to date. Many churches have so far established and the development of a strong management system has made the church grow and influence more people in the whole world. The name Apostolic Faith Church has maintained throughout with only a few of the churches choosing to use the Trinity Apostolic Faith Church just to distinguish it from the other many churches within the area. Among other things, that the church marked includes the miracles that the church spread during these times and the presence of many believers during their performance played a role in spreading the church and encouraging people to join. Among the publications includes the higher way and others accessible through the Library Index of the church. Besides the publications, music, camp meetings also play a role in leading the Apostolic Faith. Comparison between the two faiths Considering the comparisons between the two faiths, their doctrines play a major role. The Catholic Church has grown with different principles and doctrines that have guided their believers and followers while the apostolic church has also developed its own doctrines to guide their faithful. A number of similarities exist that cover these two faiths and they range from the considerations that both the two follow the bible as their guiding manual. The bible being one of the oldest books in history has governed the development of many religions and guidance of the faithful. The bible has teachings that dominate the thoughts of Christians and makes them have guiding principles. Among other similarities associated with the Churches, the two considered Jesus Christ as the son of God and all have considerations for the Holy Spirit. The two consider Sunday as the holy day, that needs blessing with prayers and it is through this day that the people consider a Sabbath to come unto the lord. Among the difference between the two faiths are the following The development of the Apostolic church through the 1906 and 1908 years have grown through the doctrines of the church that have classified the church as a Trinitarian one whose fundamental standings rotate on the born-again aspects of religion. The faith associates with the Christian perfection and emphasizes aspects of baptism through the Holy Spirit. The teachings of this faith differ from those of the other religions in relation to sin, eternal security and predestination aspects concerning Christian doctrines. Among the many doctrines that the Apostolic faith stands on include the divine trinity and its contents, aspects of repentance, salvation, baptism, divine healing, washing the feet of the disciples, marriage and aspects of eternal heaven and hell as detailed later. These aspects define the difference between the two churches and their faith. Following the above doctrines, the apostolic church has constructed its own path in relating to Christianity and differentiating itself from the other faiths. The divine trinity for the two churches constitute the God the father, the Son as Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. These as related in Mathew 3:16-17 and John 5:7 that describes the three and their relationship in detail. According to the apostolic faith, the aspect of repentance as detailed in Isaiah 55:7 and Mathew 4:17 consider godly sorrow for sin as repentance. This is a way of renunciation of sin. Salvation as an act of God considers that each of us is made holly in the way of God and forgiveness of sins is a way of normal cleansing for all believers. These as per Romans 5:1 and 2 Corinthians 5:17. Sanctification and baptism through the Holy Ghost are also preached to the populations. Among others, divine healing from sickness guides the faith in relation to their miracles. James 5:14-16 and 1 Peter 2:24 relate to the healing. The second coming of Jesus is also preached over to the multitudes. The relation to the bride and the return for judgments that will have the sinners separated from those that befit the heavenly kingdom. Among others is the great tribulation, Christ’s Millennium Reign, the great white throne the new heaven and new earth among the many doctrines considered vital for the apostolic faith. These relate to modern Christianity. Among the doctrines considered for the Catholic Church, there include a difference between it and those that control the apostolic faith. The Catholic Church follows tradition and considers the teachings of Jesus Christ as their Conner stone to religion and the effects as filtered by the leadership of the church. The leadership of the church runs from the bishops and the union with the pope that originates from the teachings of the Bible as the origin of its divine tradition. Through the bible, the church disseminates the fundamentals that drive its religious stands. The doctrines of the church consider the church as the custodian of the full revelation and the church for Catholics is considered the single universal body that controls the religion. The doctrine of succession in marks the catholic faith. According to this doctrine, indicates the Pope referred to as the Vicar of Christ and the different bishops as the highest in authority and all have the spiritual authority that the bible dictates that Jesus designed for his apostles. The Pope is considered the highest and his Voice marks the authority of the church. The authority is considered infallible in relation to faith and morals that relate to the bishops and their thoughts. God’s existence and his objectives, the interest vested in the different individuals that only connect to God through prayers. Considered vital in this faith are the trinity, the divinity that Jesus portrays, and the immorality that each person relates with that relates that each person will account for his or her sins on death. These accounts will determine where one ends up either in heaven or hell. Among other considerations are the resurrection of the dead for judgment, the Gospel and its historicity, the commission of the church in its divine state and the respect for Mary the mother of Jesus that holds the dead and living together and non is forgotten throughout the prayers of the church. The Catholic Church also has great respect for the Holy Spirit that they include in all their prayers. The church believes that leading its people the Holy Spirit way rids them of the humanly mistakes and the fact that God shows his hand through the Holy spirit ignites the feeling further. The catholic religion has attached their devotion to the Holy Spirit strongly to have their faith intact (Chinnici). The system that God has placed in order for the cementing of the relationship and the authority of the different people in the Catholic Church provides the church with a base for management that has provided the church with management ease. As one of the churches, that has remained strong for a long time, the system considered to convey God’s grace in relation to humanity is what holds the church together. The Catholic Church is marked with penance that each member is required to obtain each year, the Eucharist that each Easter time and is considered the center form which public worship in catholic churches rotates through celebrations in mass. Prayers on a private base are considered essential for the church too mysticism and the devotion f some time for prayer by each individual marks the appreciation of the grace of God rather than the constant request for favors from God. Among the prayers recommended for the catholic followers includes the rosary, Thomas a Kempis and Saint Ignatius of Loyola with fasting and the respect of Lent as part of the major prayer deeds required of all Catholics. The Catholic Church considers the love of God as the major ethical direction each member needs to respect. The religion considers each religion and persons considering the fact that the people are only wrong if they do not repent their sins to the almighty. The church does not consider ignorance and excuse and considers proper teachings and fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom. The above doctrine differences create a distinction between the Catholic faith and the Apostolic faith that has come as a wave that is aimed at portraying a picture of a new and washed person free from sin as portrayed by the term born-again. The apostolic faith has centered on the failures of the Catholic Church and their association with tradition that has made their services long and boring with the same routine on a regular basis. The classification of the church to this level has helped the apostolic church gain more faithful with the modern improvements in the way of life of people. Among other aspects of criticism of the Catholic Church that have featured, include the devotion to Mary the mother of Christ as pictured in their prayers. The apostolic church believes that the Catholic Church values Mary more than the Catholic Church values Christ himself and hence the popular believe that catholic churches worship Mary rather than Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the current tensions between the Latino Catholics and the Latino Pentecostals have also come to the center of attention for the religious world. The two have had a number of differences that have led to many Catholics crossing the bridge to the Pentecostal side with regard to the nature of the catholic prayers and the completely religious setup. The catholic is considered a long and boring way of worshiping God with the same routine each day f prayer. The fact that many populations are born Catholics considers a huge population as catholic but the continued pressure and differences between the church has led to a massive loss of followers to the Pentecostal side. Most of the competition between Catholicism and Pentecostals has majorly included verbal jousts although the presence of some violent encounters still exists (Espinosa). In addition, persecutions have featured in the fights leading to unfair treatment of religion and the disrespect of many other religious rights that each believer is entitled to and their human rights. These have marked the difference between these two sides of religious centers for years that have seen the battles refreshed regularly. These among many have marked the political wings of the religious world. The identity of the two different sides has changed overtime and their positions on the religious believe surrounding their composition. The challenges that the converts have faced have ranged from segregation and despise from communities due to the rivalry and tensions existing between the two religions. The tensions range from social settings to familial tensions that have had people rejected and chased from their families due to conversion from one side to another (Walsh). The social challenges have seen one lose a social life due to changes in religion and either an adoption of another or independent association proves more applicable to the converts. The tensions arising have had many remain in their religions even with negative minds about it. Others have changed sides against their own will and maintained a silent religious believe as a way of maintaining their religious strength within their different communities. As a way of also maintaining the respect from the communities and social statuses, some members have remained silent about their religious standings making it difficult to identify the side they lean on hence making their existence safe within the society. The religious identity of the American populations especially the Latinos for years remained questioned based on the nature of conflict and the background that one comes from. These have either had tensions exist when one converts form one side to another or when one despises their religion. Most of the difficulty is in the conversion of a catholic to a Pentecostal that has left many conflicts arising with each religion fighting to obtain a part of the followers to their end. The tensions existing between the two different communities and their religious backgrounds have cost the two their relations and affected the coexistence of the communities. It is believed that even their social classes have considerably become affected and have had religious believes brought to the forefront of all traditional aspects. Interreligious marriages have become difficult with each religious setting wanting the other to convert to their own for the marriage to succeed, and other families totally rejecting a marriage between their own to that of a another religious background. These mark the difficulties that the two religious sides have resulted due to their unending conflicts that have also left scores dead. The latest on the difference shows that the populations of the Latino Pentecostals are growing indicating a considerable number of converts stemming from the Latino Catholics. These portrayed in the religious scenes of the Latino America in their quest for the development of their faith. The book explains the beliefs of the Latino Americans and considers one as a Latino American if they believe that the same God that interacts with humanity continuously will continue so even in the future. The willingness to question and challenge the innocent are among the believes that the Latinos impart in their believers from their historical confines of the US and the Latinos. The faith also calls upon the country to repent and address the sins that it carries on a corporate scale as a way of confessing and accepting the Lord as their personal savior. Works Cited Chinnici, Joseph P.. Devotion to the Holy Spirit in American Catholicism. New York: Paulist Press, 1985. Print. Espinosa, Gastón. Latino Pentecostals in America: Faith and Politics in Action. N/A: Harvard University Press, 2014. Print. Nuesse, C. Joseph. The Catholic University of America: A Centennial History. N/A: CUA Press, 1990. Print. Walsh, Arlene M. Latino Pentecostal Identity Evangelical Faith, Self, and Society. New York: Columbia University Press, 2003. Print. Read More