Episcopalians — a comparison of the doctrine of 17 current religions
Prepared by and presented by Rex Bennett
An overview of the beliefs of the Episcopalians
- Episcopalians
- Atonement — Christ atoned for the sins of the world. Original sin is washed away when the individual is baptized. Christ’s death redeems us from all our sins, according to our faith.
- Baptism — By immersion or pouring. In an emergency, any Christian may baptize another by saying, “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” Baptism is necessary for salvation. Infants are baptized.
- Did Christ organize a church while on earth? — Yes, and he inspired his apostles to further organize the church and expand it. It exists today and has existed since the time of Christ. The Episcopal Church is part of the Church of Christ.
- Ecclesiastical authority — Authority comes from the apostles of Christ, the Bishops, and their successors. No divine appointment of any particular type of ministry. Other churches may have this authority from the same source.
- God — God is a personal, infinite, transcending, and eminent spirit. Has no form, body, parts, or passions, so that his divinity will not and cannot be lost.
- Heaven and Hell — Heaven and hell are conditions of life or states of existence. Heaven is where God is. Good and bad do not enter the same state after they are dead.
- Holy Bible — The Bible is the word of God, and contains all of the necessary doctrine for salvation. It also contains all of the revelations God has given to man. There are no other canonical scriptures.
- Holy Ghost — The Holy Ghost is one of the tri-characters of the one God-substance. The Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son. It is known as the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.
- Holy Trinity — The Trinity is three persons in one God. God the Father-Creator, God the Son-Redeemer, God the Holy Ghost-Sanctifier. They are one substance.
- Is membership in a church needed for salvation? — One does not have to join our church to be saved. You must, however, join some church to be saved, for this is the only want to enter sacramental relationships with Christ.
- Life after death — After we die, we enter an intermediate state where we remain until the general resurrection, at which time the intermediate state will end. There is still the possiblity of growth after death.
- Marriage — Marriage is for this life only because the Church does not believe in the doctrine of indissolubility. Believe in “until death us do part”.
- Miracles — Miracles exist today and have never ceased. They are demonstrations of the dominance of spiritual forces over material conditions.
- Future status of non-believers in Christ — The intermediate state of continual progression and discipline is to help us to become reconciled to God. This is because God is not willing to lose any souls.
- Pre-existence of man — God lived before His birth at Bethlehem and is the only one to live before birth. Do not have any knowledge of the preexistence of man.
- Purpose of life — Our purpose is to glorify God and learn to obey His commandments, to become righteous, and to prepare to live with Him. Our purpose is to bring home the Kingdom of God.
- Resurrection — The dead will be resurrected, but the body will not be as the one laid in the grave. It will be a spiritual body, in continuity with life on earth but with no identity with the body laid in the grave.
- Revelation — God’s revelations come to us through the Church interpreting the Bible. God reveals himself through science, and discovery, and developing of intelligence and spiritual life.
- Sacrament — The Sacrament is an outward sign of bread and wine, an inward reality of the actual presence of Christ’s body and blood. Both are given to confirmed persons. It can be taken daily.
- Satan — Satan is a personal spirit that is also a physical and moral evil, understood as these evils affect different people. He undermines all that is good, and is against God and Christ.
- Second Coming of Christ — Christ will come again to the earth. He will be the Judge of the living at the time and the also the judge of the dead. Many believe that His coming is only to be found through the growing holiness of Christian people.
- Vicarious work for the dead — There is no ordinance work performed for the dead, but prayer is valuable for all souls, both the living and the dead. There are intercessions for the dead and the living.
- Virgin birth, immaculate conception — God was born of the Virgin Mary to perform the mission of Christ. He thus became God the Father and man in the form of Jesus Christ. They believe in the virgin birth.
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