Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ut-emx!bill@emx.utexas.edu (Bill Jefferys) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: The Mormon Religion Message-ID: Date: 30 Aug 90 04:20:32 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: UTexas Computation Center, Austin, Texas Lines: 32 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article frog!jp@bespin.harvard.edu (John Pimentel) writes: # #Tim, I can only say this: There are many churches now in the world, #who claim to be the "True Church", many of which came out of the #Protestant Reformation (Lutheranism cir. 1517, Radical Sects cir 1520 #[Baptists, in all their varieties, Quakers, Congregationals and Unitarians], ^^^^^^^ Quakers have never claimed to be the "True Church." They believe that there is that of God in all people, regardless of the religion, or lack therof, that they may profess. Bill Jefferys -- If you meet the Buddha on the net, put him in your kill file --Robert Firth [And the others mentioned, while possibly claiming to be part of the true Church or a true church, do not claim to be so in any exclusive sense. It is not uncommon for Christians to set up criteria for being a church or being Christian, and to believe that certain churches or individuals do not live up to those criteria. The radical sects cited are an example. They believed in a "gathered church" as opposed to a territorial church, i.e. that a church must be made up of those who have made an individual commitment, rather than of everyone born into a certain community. Thus they rejected the Lutherans. However there is a difference between objecting to a particular group because of its practices and believing that your group is the only one authorized by God. The latter claim is nearly unheard of among Protestants. --clh]