(Originally written February 22, 2007 in Book 14)
Pocket Guide to World Religions
Winfried Corduan
Chapter 11 (continued)
Jehovah's Witnesses
Founded by Charles Taze Russell in 19th century America.
Born as a prophecy movement within Christianity.
Believe one's soul lies in their blood.
Jehovah's Witnesses tries to be considered a legitimate form of Christianity, but their beliefs are truly incompatible.
Juce
Juce is the official religion of North Korea and is a spiritualized form of Marxism.
Mormonism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began in 1830 in America, under Joseph Smith.
Smith claimed to receive new revelations in tablets from the angel Moroni. Moroni told Smith that none of the churches of his day represented Christ.
The Book of Mormon tells the story of how Jesus came to America after the resurrection.
Mormons hold that human beings eventually become gods and rule over their own planets.
Nation of Islam
The American Black Muslim movement.
Founded in 1930 by W.D. Ford and Elijah Muhammad (Poole) who claimed to be the incarnations of Allah and Muhammad.
The Nation of Islam holds that blacks are the only true humans and all other races are evil imitations.
Malcolm X realigned the Nation of Islam with more traditional Islamic teachings. But, Louis Farrakhan and 20,000 followers still adhere to the Nation's more radical teachings.
Rastafarianism
Began in the 1930's with the coronation of the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie.
Some preachers in Jamaica, under the influence of Marcus Garvey's philosophy of black self-determination saw the coronation as the coming of liberation for African people.
They saw Selassie as an incarnation of god.
There are about 600,000 Rastafarians.
A part of Rastafarian worship includes sacramental smoking of marijuana (ganja).
Scientology
Resembles eastern thought like Tibetan Buddhism in certain ways.
Founded by L. Ron Hubbard, an American science fiction writer.
It's aim is to bring about, "increased awareness and spiritual freedom for the individual and rehabilitation of his basic decency, power and ability" (Corduan, 111).
Scientology is known for the book of Dianetics. Hubbard explains his conception of the relationship between the body and soul here.
Soka Gakkai
A Japanese form of Buddhism beginning with the Japanese monk Nichiren (1222-1282). Nichiren claimed the primacy of the Lotus Sutra.
There are about 10 million followers of Nichiren in Japan and 1.5 million followers elsewhere.
Tenrikyo
An offshoot of Shinto.
Tenrikyo means "sect of Tenri".
Founded by a female faith healer in the 19th century. Nakayama Miki claimed to be possessed by the god Oyagami.
She taught suffering was due to spiritual dust accumulating on human souls. This dust is wiped away by devotion to Oyagami.
Followers still believe that Miki is alive today.
Unification Church
Founded by Sun Myung Moon in Korea in the 1950's.
Combined Eastern ideas with Christian teachings.
Believes that spiritual redemption was done by Christ, but full physical redemption would be carried out by the second Messiah, Sun Myung Moon.
It has about 3 million members.
Wahhabite Islam
Began as an 8th century reform movement under Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Wahhab believed Islam had been corrupted by superstitions.
When Saudi Arabia became a nation in 1932, King Abdul Aziz al Saud implemented the harsh Wahhabite principles.
Wahhabite schools eventually produced the Taliban and aided Al-Qaeda.
Wicca
The Western religion of witchcraft.
It does not endorse evil or worship Satan. It promotes goodness and healing by drawing on spiritual powers in the Universe.
It is polytheistic, whose supreme goddess is represented by the moon.
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