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"Brief Outline of Influences in the 3 Main Religions"
If from top to bottom one were to briefly order the main ideas and influences of Protestantism, ethically it would roughly look like this (the main ideas, and the golden mean, are in gold):
|
Grace |
Law |
|
"Do not let mercy AND truth abandon you!" |
|
Lutherism |
Calvinism |
|
Remonstrantism |
Hypercalvinist/ Baptist sects |
|
Modernism |
Charismatic Cults |
|
-- |
--
|
|
|
culture |
attitude |
|
We are in the world, BUT not of the world |
|
Arminianism |
Separationism |
|
Universalism |
(Double) Predestinationism |
|
Liberalism |
Ritualism |
|
-- |
--
|
|
|
credo |
bible |
|
"Thou shalt live off EVERY word that cometh out of the Mouth of God" |
|
Credo-ism/ Theologism |
Interpretationism/ Bibliophilia |
|
Philosophism/ Scientism |
Bibliomania/ Exaggerationism |
|
Evolutionsism/ Hedonism |
Bibliomagic |
|
Satanism |
Black Magic
|
|
In passing I would like to comment that separation from the pernicious influences of the world, is, in the first place, a matter of the HEART, and not of literally cutting out your territory. For that is what people in the world do as well. That is why it is so important to live the golden mean and not to veer off into a compromise, either on the left, OR on the right side of truth. And we would do better "to take captive each thought in obedience to Christ, so as to eliminate bullworks (that have taken hold in us and even of us)" and to heed the words of the Lord "I will mercy and not offering" and "mercy boasts against judgment!" Mostly, when people separate, it is to please only themselves. (And with a similar group they drive each other even crazier).
But there is also the biblical rallying call for collective separation, not only from the world, but also from unhallowed and worldly fellow christians. However, it is clear that as a collective testimony Christendom has miserably failed to answer the Lord's pleas for unity and love. This seems to be the only prayer of the Lord in the gospels that has not been fulfilled as yet.
In practice a separation from these failing systems must find a middle ground between the adherence to an address book of local testimonies and an uncondemning attitude towards other testimonies. Unfortunenately we remain entrenched in our own set of attitudes and ideas, instead of making peace and unity between the various testimonies.
Whereas protestantism is plagued by splintering and subdivisions that keep subdividing (with a superficial and often bible ignoring, unitive exception here and there) into many churches and splinter groups; there the RCC is a half-hearted show of sham union, with 80% of its members being non-compliant. But, I must say, many of their leaders are learned. But, oh Lord, when will we be 'learned of Thee'!?
The RCC might be roughly represented by the following trends:
|
learning/objectivism |
mystery/subjectivism |
|
Solomon: "Guard your heart more than anything that is to be protected; for from it are the sources of Life!" |
|
scholasticism |
mysticism |
|
counterreformation |
ritualism |
|
humanism |
antisexualism |
|
-- |
--
|
If one were to concisely arrange Judaism and Islam ethically according to their main streams, it would roughly look like this:
|
divine |
angelic |
|
reformed |
orthodox |
|
liberal |
chassidic |
|
secular |
kabbalist |
|
-- |
--
|
|
|
freedom |
responsibility |
|
moderates |
Sunnite |
|
liberal |
Shiite |
|
secular |
Taliban |
|
-- |
El Qaeda
|
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