New Religions

1364 Words6 Pages
New Religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity are religions that have been around for thousands of years. At some point in time all four of these religions were new, and I am sure viewed with some skepticism of this ideology being taught. Within all of these religions there have been people who have disagreed with the beliefs being practiced and this has caused many to leave to form their own religious groups. The road to finding one's faith is not always easy and that is why religions are constantly being recreated to fit one's perception of God. The new religious movement for this paper will be defined as religions less then two hundred years old. They were formed due to separation from an established church or by an individual having a "vision" from God. There are two in particular that I will cover Branch Davidians and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will not be focusing on the religion from where it came but rather on the history of the person, beliefs and the practices of these new religious movements. The Branch Davidians were once known as The Shepherds Rod, a Seventh-Day Adventist Branch. Victor Houteff first heard the teachings of the Seventh- Day Adventist Church in 1918 at a revival meeting. Houteff eventually came to believe that the Seventh-day Adventist doctrines and teachings were inaccurate and he called for reform. The church isolated Houteff and his followers that resulted in a brake from SDA and the foundation of "The Shepherd's Rod." Houteff saw himself as a divine messenger sent by God to reveal the secret information in the scroll mentioned in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 5. Houteff compiled his beliefs in his book "The Shepherd's Rod." He began the proc... ... middle of paper ... ... performed in the Church's temples do not end at death; rather, both the marriage and family relationships are sealed for "time and all eternity." This idea - of an "eternal family" - governs their way of life; every effort is made to live a life worthy of returning to live with God the Father (and thus their family in the Celestial Kingdom). The Branch Davidians, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints both have separate ideologies but they are the same in the aspect that their religious perspectives are less then two hundred years old. There are websites, movies, and books about Koresh and each hold a slightly different perspective about The Branch Davidians. I feel is due to the fact that each author has slightly bias opinion according to his or her religious beliefs. This in turn makes Koresh to be either a martyr or a deranged maniac.
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