Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
19 April 2011
Christianity Part Seven
METHODISTS
John Wesley (left), who lived from 1703 to 1791, founded the Methodist Church in
England. He encouraged personal holiness and a disciplined (hence “methodical”) Christian
life.
Methodists emphasize repentance for sins, individual faith, and taking on responsibility for society at large.
Individuals are believed to be free to accept or reject God’s grace, and that it is possible to attain “perfection” (the overcoming of the desire to sin) in this life.
Social activism has been an important part of Methodism, and there have usually been informal ties between this denomination and social democratic political parties such as the New Democratic Party (NDP) in Canada. The first leader of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (the predecessor of the NDP), J.S. Woodsworth, was a Methodist minister; so too, was a subsequent CCF/NDP leader Tommy Douglas.
MORMONS
Properly known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
Many Gentiles (non-
The Mormon Church was founded in upstate New York in 1830 by Joseph Smith (right)
and now claims a worldwide membership of more than 10 million.
Smith believed he had visions of God and Jesus who revealed certain truths to him. It is upon these revelations that he founded the Mormon Church.
According to Smith, one of the heavenly messengers directed him to some inscribed metal plates. Smith translated the inscriptions as the Book of Mormon.
The translation describes the history, wars, and religious beliefs of a group of
people (c.600 BCE -
Mormons believe in: the truthfulness of the Bible as it was originally recorded by
the books’ authors; resurrection; the giving of one-
The Church also teaches that both Jesus and God the Father have a flesh and blood existence, and that God the Father engaged in sexual intercourse with Mary so Jesus could be conceived.
A person’s final destination after death depends upon their knowledge and belief in Christ, the good works they have done on Earth, and the Mormon ordinances they have completed while on Earth.
The highest levels of the Celestial Kingdom are reserved for Mormon couples who have been married in a Mormon temple, and thus have had their marriage sealed for eternity. The couples can eventually become a God and Goddess. They will have an eternal family and govern it as God governs His family.
Christians who are not Mormons and have led exceptional lives will also spend eternity in the Celestial Kingdom if they meet certain conditions.
There is an intermediate Terrestrial Kingdom, which is visited by Jesus but not by God. It is reserved for people who have led good lives, but have never accepted the Gospel.
Mormons also believe that before being born, we pre-
Devout Mormons do not smoke. They avoid coffee, black teas, drugs, and alcohol. Some also avoid pop containing caffeine. The church sponsors a huge missionary movement involving about 50,000 young missionaries at any one time. They dedicate two years of their lives to seeking converts. Missionaries live under very strict restrictions devoid of entertainment and contact sports. They finance their own way.
There are approximately 120,000 Mormons in Canada.
PENTECOSTALS
Towards the end of the 19th century, some odd things started to happen at religious revivalist meetings, particularly in the Carolinas. People with no knowledge of a foreign language would suddenly be able to speak it fluently. This is called xenoglossia and it was seen as a sign that a person had been baptized by the Holy Spirit.
Matt Malone
Some Pentecostal churches, such as this one in Australia, attract enormous congregations.
There was a widespread concern that the year 1900 might see the end of the world.
On New Year’s Day 1900, Charles F. Parham, head of the Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas conducted a revival meeting in that city. Agnes Ozman, a Methodist, shocked the meeting by speaking fluently in a number of foreign languages that she had never learned. This event is often regarded as the founding of the Pentecostal movement.
Some days later, many “spoke in tongues.” Then, Parham did as well. This ability to “speak in tongues” is a distinguishing feature of the Pentecostal movement.
There is a whole family of churches that come under the Pentecostal umbrella; one source lists 177 separate denominations. There are 1,077 churches in Canada offering Pentecostal forms of worship. It is a rapidly growing form of faith.
Most Pentecostal congregations fall within the conservative Christian tradition, although an unusual feature is the freedom and spontaneity exhibited during their religious services.
PRESBYTERIANS
Presbytarianism is more a system of church governance than it is a branch of faith. Presbyterian churches are governed by lay people, called elders, as well as ministers.
In the 16th century, the first Presbyterians noted that in the New Testament “elders” had been appointed to rule the early churches (Acts 14:23) and that the term elder had been used interchangeably with the word bishop. The Greek work for elder is presbuteros.
In Canada, Presbyterians joined other Protestant denominations to form the United Church in 1925. However, about a third of all Presbyterian congregations, mostly in Montreal and southern Ontario, stayed out of the union.
In the 1991 Census, 636,295 people identified themselves as Presbyterians. By the time of the 2001 Census this had declined to 409,830; that is 1.4% of the population.
QUAKERS
The Religious Society of Friends, the proper name for 
Quakers, was founded in England
by George Fox, who lived from 1624 to 1691 (left).
At the age of 19, Fox left home on a four-
He sought guidance from a variety of the country’s spiritual leaders. Gradually, he became disillusioned with those leaders and with the existing Christian denominations.
At the age of 23, he heard a voice, saying “there is one, even Christ Jesus, who can speak to thy condition.” He felt a direct call from God to become a preacher and promote the concept of the Inward Light, or Inner Voice.
He believed that an element of God’s spirit is implanted within every person’s soul. He called this “the seed of Christ,” or “the seed of Light.” Thus, everyone has an innate inner capacity to comprehend the Word of God and express opinions on spiritual matters.
Quakers believe that every man and woman has direct access to God so there is no need for priests or churches. There is also no need for elaborate ceremonies, rituals, gowns, creeds, dogmas, or other “empty forms.” They believe that every person is of equal worth, and that following the inward light leads to spiritual growth and towards individual perfection.
Fox taught his followers to worship in silence. At their meetings, people would speak only when they felt moved by the Holy Spirit. He promoted simple living, and the prohibition of alcohol. He spoke against holidays, sports, theatre, wigs, jewelry, etc. There are more than 359,000 Quakers worldwide, but only about 1,000 in Canada.
Quakers are pacifists and have been active in Canada in the peace movement and in opposing capital punishment. In the United States, Quakers led the fight to abolish slavery.
Sources used in this series
Religions in Canada, Directorate of Human Rights and Diversity, Government of Canada.
The Encyclopedia of World Religions, Robert S. Ellwood (ed.) Facts on File, 1998.
Religion for Dummies, Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman, For Dummies Publishing, 2002.
Religious Tolerance, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Religion, CBC Montreal
Return to Christianity Part Six
© Canada and the World, April 2011
All rights reserved
There are said to be 70 million Methodists in the world.
ANCESTRAL ASSISTANCE
Mormons place tremendous importance on tracing family trees.
This is because they believe that dead ancestors can be baptized into the Mormon Church with the help of living relatives. In this way, they can gain entry to the Celestial Kingdom thus advancing them towards the status of a god.
Through patient genealogical research, Mormons have traced and baptized millions
of ancestors. The enormous library of genealogical material is available to non-
AIMEE SEMPLE MCPHERSON
Born in Ingersoll, Ontario in 1890, Aimee Semple McPherson became world famous as
a Pentecostal evangelist.
She started out holding revivalist meetings in tents. In 1918, she moved to Los Angeles where she opened the Angelus Temple of Foursquare Gospel in which she held highly theatrical revival meetings.
The temple, which cost $1.5 million, was built for Ms. McPherson by her followers.
Sometimes, she would dress up to express the themes of her sermons -
Known as “Sister Aimee,” she was a dynamic and attractive woman who had a huge following.
She became very wealthy and lived through several scandals; none of which dimmed her popularity which reached its heights in the 1930s. She died in 1944 of an apparent drug overdose.
WHAT'S IN A NAME
The man at the centre of Christianity has a name just about everyone is familiar
with -
However, Jesus is the
Latinized form of the Greek name “Iesous.”
But, the man and God Christians worship was more likely called by the Hebrew name “Yehoshuah.”
The word “Christ” is not
really a name; it is more a description. Again, it is a variation of the Greek word “Christos” meaning “the anointed one.” And Christos is a translation of the Hebrew word “Mashiakh,” which in Jewish tradition is a figure chosen by God to bring salvation to Israel.
Jesus himself spoke Aramaic, which is related to Hebrew, and he was an observant Jew. It’s a point that’s often missed, but Jesus himself was not a Christian.
Quakers usually
arrange the
congregation in a square or circle, so that each person is aware of everyone else, yet no one
person appears raised above another
in status.
Quakers never take oaths. Their belief is that one should tell the truth at all times.
Taking an oath
implies that there
are two types of
truthfulness: one for
ordinary life and
another for special occasions.
George Fox was
persecuted a lot
during his lifetime and put in prison often. Once, when he was hauled into court, he suggested that the judge “tremble at the word of the Lord.” The judge called Fox a Quaker; meaning he quaked or trembled. The term stuck, and has become the
popular name for the
Religious Society
of Friends.