Re: Apostolic Congress---Some links below. It's enough to give one a headache.
One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church
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One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is a phrase that appears partly in the Apostles Creed ("the holy catholic church") and fully in the Nicene Creed. (Creeds are common statements of doctrine in Christianity.) It refers to the premise that all true Christians belong to a single united group, which was founded by the apostles and which remains holy. However, opinions vary within different parts of Christianity on how to define or interpret that grouping. In this case, "catholic" means universal (from the Greek katholikos).
The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and the Anglican Communion claim that the phrase is explicitly referring to an unbroken and personal lineage from Christ and his disciples symbolized in the laying on of hands when a priest is ordained. This is the Apostolic Succession. With this practice comes the conviction that branches of Christianity which do not claim descent from the apostolic succession have not properly ordained their leadership as Christ taught. Implicitly, then, such churches are mere sects.
The tradition within the Protestant churches is more complicated. Anglicans of the 'high church' or 'Anglo-Catholic' tradition define themselves as part of the 'Catholic Communion' associated with the apostolic succession, but not in submission to the Roman Church. Like Roman Catholicism and the various Orthodox Churches, they share similar beliefs in the sacraments and a use of ritual in church ceremonial. However while many Protestants and the majority of Anglicans also affirm the Nicene Creed, they believe that no one denomination embodies the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church referred to in the Creed to exclude all others. Instead, they believe that this Church is the aggregation of all true Christians, likely encompassing multiple denominations but whose full membership is known only to God.
See also:
Creed
History of Christianity
Ecumenism
Apostolic Congress
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Intra-religious pluralism (between different denominations within the same religion)
Jewish views
Jewish views on relations between different Jewish denominations is covered in the entry on Jewish views of religious pluralism.
Christian views
Classical Christian views
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism refers to the attitude that one can overcome religious differences between different religions, and denominational conflicts within the same religion. For most religious traditions, religious pluralism is essentially based on a non-literal view of one's religious traditions, hence allowing for respect to be engendered between different traditions on core principles rather than more marginal issues. It is perhaps summarized as an attitude which rejects focus on immaterial differences, and instead gives respect to those beliefs held in common.
The existence of religious pluralism depends on the existence of freedom of religion. Freedom of religion is when different religions of a particular region possess the same rights of worship and public expression. Freedom of religion is consequently weakened when one religion is given rights or privileges denied to others, as in certain European countries where Roman Catholicism or regional forms of Protestantism have special status. For example see the entries on the Lateran Treaty and Church of England; also, in many Muslim countries Islam is the only officially allowed religion, and other religions are prohibuted to one degree or another (see for example Saudi Arabia.) Religious freedom has not existed at all in some communist countries where the state restricts or prevents the public expression of religious belief and may even actively persecute individual religions (see for example North Korea).
Table of contents [showhide]
1 History of Religious Pluralism
2 Religious Pluralism as Opportunity for Change and Dialogue
3 Literal truth and spiritual truth
4 Classical Greek and Roman pagan religious views
5 Intra-religious pluralism (between different denominations within the same religion)
5.1 Jewish views
5.2 Christian views
5.2.1 Classical Christian views
5.2.2 Modern (post-enlightenment era) Christian views
5.3 Muslim views
5.3.1 Classical Muslim views
5.3.1.1 Modern (post-enlightenment era) Muslim views
5.4 Bahá'í views
5.5 Hindu views
6 Intra-religious pluralism (between different denominations within the same religion)
6.1 Jewish views
6.2 Christian views
6.2.1 Classical Christian views
6.2.2 Modern (post-enlightenment era) Christian views
6.3 Muslim views
6.3.1 Classical Muslim views
6.3.2 Modern (post-enlightenment era) Muslim views
6.4 Buddhist views
6.4.1 Classical Buddhist views
6.4.2 Modern Buddhist views
7 See also
8 References
American Islamic Congress
Muslims Against Terrorism
Bahá'í views
Bahá'u'lláh urged the elimination of religious intolerance. God is one, and has manifested himself to us through several historic Messengers. We therefore must associate with people of all religions, showing the love of God in our relations with them, whether this is reciprocated or not.
Bahá'í's refer to the concept of "Progressive Revelation", which means that God's will is revealed to mankind progressively, as mankind matures and is better able to comprehend the purpose of God in creating humanity. In this view, God's word is revealed through a series of messengers: Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Bahá'u'lláh (the founder of the Bahá'í Faith) among them. In the Book of Certitude, Bahá'u'lláh acknowledges that what these messengers say about themselves is inevitably true, thus if Jesus claims Divinity then this cannot be denied, since God is speaking through him.
According to Baha'is there will not be another messenger for many hundred of years.
Hindu views
The Hindu religion is naturally pluralistic. As such the Hindu religion has no theological difficulties in accepting degrees of truth in other religions. Just as Hindus worshiping Ganesh is seen as valid those worshiping Vishnu (who accepts all prayers), so someone worshiping Jesus or Allah are accepted. Indeed many foreign deities become assimilated into Hinduism, and some Hindus may sometimes offer prayers to Jesus along with their traditional Gods. For this reason, Hinduism usually has good relations with other religious groups accepting pluralism. In particular, Hinduism and Buddhism coexist peacefully in many parts of the world.
Despite the lack of theological barriers to pluralism, relations with other religions are not always good. In particular, in India there is a history of conflict with Islam. Muslims view Hindus as the worst kind of infidels, as unlike Christians and Jews they do not worship Allah, and are not "people of the book". This is reciprocated by Hindus, who view Muslims as hostile to their religion. In India, a number of Muslims mosques have been built on the sites of ancient Hindu temples; this has lead to violence such as the sacking of the Babri mosque in 1992. The number of sites where mosques have been built on Hindu temples is disputed. Some Hindu group claim that tens of thousands of sites are effected, whereas some historians claim that the number is less than a thousand.
Intra-religious pluralism (between different denominations within the same religion)
Jewish views
Jewish views on relations between different Jewish denominations is covered in the entry on Jewish views of religious pluralism.
Christian views
Classical Christian views
Before the Great Schism, mainstream Christianity confessed "one holy catholic and apostolic church", in the words of the Nicene Creed. Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Episcopalians and most Protestant Christian denominations still maintain this belief.
Church unity was something very visible and tangible, and schism was just as serious an offense as heresy. Following the Great Schism, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have generally continued to recognize each others' baptisms as valid, although they are still not in full communion. Both generally regard each other as "heterodox" and possibly even "schismatic", while continuing to recognize each other as Christian. Attitudes of both towards different Protestant groups vary.
Modern (post-enlightenment era) Christian views
Most fundamentalist Protestant Christian groups hold that only their Church provides a pathway to God and salvation. All other Christian groups are held to be heretical, and are sometimes attacked as Satanic. Neo-evangelical Protestant Christian Churches reject this view outright, and hold that most forms of Christianity are valid pathways to God. They continue to believe in "one" church, but see the Church as being generally invisible and intangible. Many Protestants doubt that either Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy are still valid manifestations of the Church.
Modern Christian ideas on intra-religious pluralism (between different denominations of Christianity) are discussed in the article on Ecumenism.
Muslim views
Classical Muslim views
Like Christianity, Islam originally did not have ideas of religious pluralism for different Islamic denominations. Early on, Islam developed into several mututally antagonistic streams, including Shiite Islam, Sunni Islam and Sufi Islam. In some periods believers in these two communities went to war with each other over religious differences.
Modern (post-enlightenment era) Muslim views
Many Muslims brought up in Western nations now accept some modern views of religious pluralism. Some Shiite, Suni and Sufi Islamic leaders are willing to recognize each other's denomination as a valid form of Islam. However, many other Islamic leaders are unwilling to accept this; they view other forms of Islam as outside the Islamic religion.
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