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FIVE BELIEF SYSTEMS

TOPIC	CHRISTIAN THEISM	NEW AGE PANTHEISM	HUMANISTIC ATHEISM	MORMON POLYTHEISM	WATCHTOWER FINITE GODISM (Jehovah's Witnesses)
The Bible
Origin	"God-breathed"	By "spiritual" humans	Purely human product	Inspired by Heavenly Father	Inspired by Jehovah
Nature	Inerrant (without error)	Has many errors	Has many errors	Many transcription/ translation errors	Texts reliable but needed own translation
Authority	God's final Word	One of many inspired books	No authority whatsoever	Modern-day revelation needed	As interpreted by the WT
Knowledge
Source	Biblical Revelation	Intuition	Observation/ Reason	Biblical and modern-day revelation	Bible and "theocratic direction" of WT
Right and Wrong	Based on God's Word	Ultimately no distinction	Determined by society	Modern-day revelation	Bible and directives of WT
Truth	Determined by God	Relative	Pragmatism/ empiricism	Modern-day revelation	Bible as interpreted by WT
God
Nature	Personal and infinite	Impersonal force	"Meaningless concept"	Many finite gods with physical bodies	Finite Jehovah with spiritual body
The Trinity	Three Persons in one essence	Denied or spiritualized	Considered nonsense	Father, Son, Spirit are three gods	Of pagan origin
The Universe
Origin	Created ex-nihilo by God	Emanation from god-force	The "Big Bang"	Gods creating worlds eternally	Created by Jehovah
Relationship to God	Distinct from God	Within god-force	Not applicable	Each god has own world	Jehovah lives in a certain place
Existence	Dependant on God	Illusion	Self-existent	Pre-existent matter	Will exist eternally
Origin of life	Created by God	Emanation from god-force	"Primordial soup"	Infinite regress of gods creating worlds	Created by Jehovah
Spiritual world	Distinct from physical	True reality	Non-existent	We lived as pre-existent spirits here	Invisible parts of creation
Jesus Christ
Person	Full God and full man	Reincarnated human being	Just a human being	First son of Father/ brother of Lucifer	Michael the archangel
Conception/ birth	"Born of the virgin Mary"	Normal reincarnation	Normal conception	Father had sex with with Mary	By a virgin
Unique?	Only begotten Son of God	One of many avatars	Normal human being	Eldest brother/ physical body via Father	First creation of Jehovah
Purpose	Die for His people's sins	"Way-shower"	Good teacher (if that)	Make it possible to return to Father	Pay for sin of Adam
Resurrection	Vindication of Messiahip/ bodily	Showed power any can have	Denied	Pattern for all persons	Spiritual, not bodily
Intercession	Only Mediator	One of many mediators	Not needed	Shared with Joseph Smith	Mediated by the WT
Second Coming	Personal and bodily	Spiritualized/ "Age of Aquarius"	Denied	To set up earthly kingdom	Already occurred in 1914
The Holy Spirit
Nature	Full Deity and personality	Power source	Existence denied	Finite god without a physical body	Jehovah's invisible, active force
Regeneration	Via the Holy Spirit	Through own power	Through own determination	Via baptism by Mormon elder	Only needed for the 144,000
Human Beings
Nature of	Image of God, but fallen	Inwardly divine	Same as all animals	Same as Heavenly Father	Not inherently sinful
Salvation
What is it?	Sins atoned for and forgiven	No more reincarnations	Improvement in life	Exaltation to godhood	Live forever in paradise on earth
Why needed?	The Fall/ personal sins	Don't remember we are god	Problems in life and society	We wanted to be like the Father	Sin of Adam
How attained?	Faith in Christ	Realization of own divinity	Faith in own abilities	Keeping ordinances and commandments	Become a JW, persevere in good works
Purpose	Glorify God and enjoy Him forever	Loss of personality	Self-gratification	Attain physical bodies	Vindicate Jehovah's right to rule
Result	Relationship with God	Reunion with the One	Improved self/ society	Become a god with own world to rule/ populate	End of suffering
Satan/ Demons
Nature	Personal, evil, spiritual beings	Bad thoughts	Non-existent	Personal spiritual beings	Personal spiritual beings
Future	Damnation in hell	Eliminate by realizing divinity	Not-applicable	Punishment, but not necessarily eternal	Annihilation
The Afterlife
After death	Judgement/ resurrection	Repeated reincarnations	Non-existence	Second chance to receive Mormonism	Unconscious until resurrection
Heaven	Place of joy with the Lord	Union with the One	Non-existent	3 degrees; highest - exaltation to a god	Only for 144,000; rest on paradise earth
Hell	Eternal, conscious torment	Bad thoughts	Non-existent	Punishment, but not necessarily eternal	Annihilation into non-existence
Human Suffering
Origin	The Fall	Law of karma	Evolution	Our desire to be like the Father	Sin of Adam
Final defeat by	The Second Coming	Human spiritual awareness	Human efforts, if ever	New cycle of each new world	Battle of Armageddon

Notes:
"WT" is an abbreviation for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the organization Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) belong to. In this chart it is being used more specifically to refer to the "governing body" of the WT.

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The order of the topics above parallel the points on Darkness to Light's Confession of Faith.

For in-depth discussions and documentation for many of the above points, see the various articles and other items listed at Subject Index and Scripture Studies. The order in which the items are listed on these pages parallel the order of the topics above.

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The above chart originally appeared in Darkness to Light newsletter in 1993.
It was posted on this Web site in July 1996 and updated August 1997.

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