#it’s the baptists and non-denominational Protestants and the Mormons and the jehovahs witnesses who are the usual suspects

[arcticmist0324]

Some random dude just handed me a religious tract. Let’s see how bad it is.

Okay, verdict: not a bad one at all. It has serene imagery and talks about God’s love. No fucked up theology and weird “YOU’LL GO TO HELL FOR BEING TOO LOUD” (yes I got one that said that once, mom threw it out before I got a picture). Lacks creativity though. I’ll give it a 7/10.

[shitpost-metrostation]

Christian Denominations, explained for Tumblr

Catholic- “While the protestants were arguing about how to excommunicate the pope, we reformed ourselves”

Lutheran- “You’re all wrong. Time to get drunk and go on raves because faith is the only thing that matters.”

Baptist- “We’re either white girls who post instagrammy pictures of their Bibles or tiny southern churches with awesome dinners.”

Presbyterian- “We’re pretty much what everyone thinks of when they think about protestantism, although no one really knows what we believe”

Methodist- “We broke up with the Anglican church because they didn’t believe that if you were really a Christian, you would act perfect.”

Anglicanism- “We have the queen.”

Greek Orthadox- *Crying in the corner because everyone forgets they exist*

Non Denominational- “Our pastor is a young dude who was going to become a pro athlete until he got injured, now he preaches about Jesus to a bunch of bored teenagers”

Unitarian Universalist- “We’re kinda Christian, but you don’t have to be! Everything is true! Be happy!”

7th Day Adventist- “We’re just another term for Christian health nuts.”

Quakers- “Sit silently in church for two hours, when God speaks to you, say it out loud if you want. Perfect denomination for introverts.”

Mormons- “We renamed the Bible, changed 4 words, and now we’re a different religion.”  

Jehovah’s Witnesses- “We’re surprisingly hot and well dressed for uber religious nuts. We may have serious cake, but you can’t eat it, because we don’t celebrate birthdays.”

Pentecostalism- “Sometimes we start screaming in service.”  

[xswestallen]

Are Barry and Iris religious?

No. They seem to be the kind of people who might believe in a god and might consider themselves members of a religion, but really don’t practice said religion. 

Iris said in 4x01 that the West family hasn’t gone to church since she was a little kid. None of the characters have ever talked about praying, reading religious texts, or celebrating the religious significance of holidays (the Christmas episode is secular every year). In desperate times when it seems their deaths are imminent, none of the characters have ever prayed or sated any kind of belief in an afterlife, something most religious people would do.

Barry and Iris both had sex with at least one person they were not married to, Patty and Eddie receptively. Iris even lived with Eddie without being married to him. Then, Barry and Iris had sex with each other and lived together without being married. 

What’s weird to me is Cecile has been sated to be Christian. Joe said in 4x01 that Cecile got him to attend church with her and said in 4x19 that Cecile has taught him prayers. So, not only did Joe not go to church before dating Cecile, he didn’t even know any prayers. So, that means Cecile is knowledgable about her religion and wants Joe to convert to it. Yet, Joe and Cecile live together, have sex, and are having a baby without being married or ever mentioning getting married in the future.

Obviously, premarital sex and living out of wedlock is against every major religion (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, even Jainism and Hinduism). Yes, in modern times many people who consider themselves members of those religious have premarital sex and live out of wedlock, but there is no denying that it is consider a sin by the religion and true devotes would not have done it or they would have expressed some kind of regret for doing it.

Barry and Iris got married in a church, but the officiant literally said he didn’t know them, so they obviously don’t attend that church. They also had two other non-religious venues they’d hoped to get married in, but those fell through, as stated in 4x03. I guess the church was their plan C lol. Iris also tried to marry Barry in a spontaneous moment after a stranger’s funeral at what appeared to be a Catholic church in 4x03. That church was different from the one they actually ended up holding their wedding in during 3x08. 

If they were Catholic, even in name only, a marriage ceremony in a non-Catholic church wouldn’t count as official, since Catholics only recognize marriages preformed in their church. So, Barry and Iris definitely aren’t Catholic. But, if they were protestant they probably would have never gone to a Catholic church to try and get married in 4x03, even as a last ditch effort, as the Catholic church is often considered (especially by Baptists) to be a non-Christian, but more cult like church due to it’s nontrinitarian beliefs deviating from mainstream Christianity. Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist, and other denominations of Christian churches are pretty much interchangeable, but not Catholic. I can tell you as someone who grew up Baptist, Catholics are usually considered off beat, cult like Christian sects more than actual Christians, not unlike Mormon churches, Jehovah’s Witness churches, or Seventh Day Adventist churches. 

So, I wouldn’t say any church or religion is of particular importance to Barry and Iris or any characters on The Flash. They might just be Christians who don’t care enough to become members of any specific denomination.

[carlerinle]

Unity, Liberty And Charity

Tuesday 23rd April 2019

1 John 4:3 – “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist…”

A Christian is a person who has recognised and accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ by acknowledging the implication and value of His death and resurrection for all who believe. As believers, we are believers in the Gospel of Christ, and the Bible holds the valuable knowledge that leads to the understanding of the Gospel. To be sure, there is only one doctrine of Christ, and that is the Gospel which we have all believed, that led to our salvation.

How then were the different denominations in our faith formed? And how are they still in existence today? Was this the original design for the Church? What purpose do the denominations serve in the Body, and what should be the approach of every child of God to other denominations they do not belong to? The word “denomination” means “having a name” and is used to describe groups of Christians who use the same name, are organised in the same way, and have the same general beliefs about Christianity. How is it possible that Jesus preached the gospel of the Kingdom to His disciples, and they were in one accord, and passed that same accord to the early church, and today we have different sects within that same faith? What could have gone wrong with the Church? Today, we have so many denominations/divisions in the Body, which has bred a lot of errors in teaching and living for the Church the world over.

What are the doctrines of your denomination? Do you know what the doctrines of Christianity are? What are the differences between Pentecostals, Methodists, Anglicans, or Baptists? Do we have anything in common? Brethren, there are aspects of the Gospel of Christ that the entire Body of Christ must necessarily believe wholly, and there are those that we may disagree on without any serious consequence to our faith. The classic statement “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity” points us to the truth of the expected unity that the Body must hold when it comes to the doctrine of the Gospel of Christ. Indeed, the doctrines we agree on are more important and more in number than those we disagree on. We were all baptised with one baptism by the Lord Jesus Christ into His Body (1 Cor. 12:12-13). Even though we may differ on being exclusive vegan (Rom. 14:2), or special holidays (Rom. 14:5), in the core aspects like justification, salvation by grace, and resurrection, among many others, there can be no equivocation. All Christians, whether Baptist, Pentecostal or Episcopal, must believe in the declaration in our focal text, and to do otherwise is to fall outside grace.

Even with others like the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, whose beliefs are significantly divergent from the Gospel, we have an abiding duty to love them with the truth of God’s Word. And to everyone who, like us, believes that the gift of salvation is by grace through faith, these ones have a singular identity before God as sons of God. Where there are differences in core aspects of the Gospel, you have the Word of God as the final authority. Heaven keeps no record of Protestant, or Baptist, or Adventist, before God, all are sons. This means that everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is your brother/ sister in Christ. This means that we can fellowship freely with all saints everywhere, and the non-essentials are not strong enough to silence that love. It multiplies and grows unabated till Jesus returns.

Have a blessed day.