ThoughtLetters filed under Cults & World Religions

AREOPAGUS PROCLAMATION Volume 20 • No. 4 • July-August 2010 Download PDF

AREOPAGUS PROCLAMATION Volume 20 • No. 2 • Mar-Apr 2010 Download PDF

by Rick Carver Rick Carver is AIIA’s Associate Director. He is also senior pastor of County Road Baptist Church in New Limerick, Maine. He, his wife Cathleen, and their five children live in Houlton – where I-95 ends. Today we are hearing a lot about a movement known as the Emerging Church. What is it? […]

AREOPAGUS PROCLAMATION Volume 19, No. 1 January-February, 2009 Category: C&WR   Theosophical Deception by Daryl E. Witmer   As is the case with all original articles written for AIIA about non-Christian worldviews, we welcome examination by, and response from, readers who are themselves adherents of the belief system in review – in this case, theosophy. […]

by Dr. David Doherty The New World Translation is the version of the Bible endorsed and used by Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide. But is it an accurate translation? We asked David Doherty, B.D., M.B.S., Th.M., D.B.S., Th.D., to address that question. Dr. Doherty was a local church pastor for 13 years before joining the faculty of […]

by Daryl E. Witmer Volume 17, No. 2 November, 2006 Download PDF

by Daryl E. Witmer The Quakers are an international religious affiliation also referred to as The Religious Society of Friends or, simply, Friends. Founded by George Fox (inset) in England in the 1650s, today Quakers are thought to number approximately 300,000 worldwide. About one-third of all Quakers live in the United States and Canada. The […]

by Robert T. Pardon Bob Pardon is director of the New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR), and of MeadowHaven, a cult recovery facility, in Lakeville MA (see www.neirr.org). He has been an AIIA Resource Associate since 1995. I recently received an e-mail that contained the following message in its subject line: “URGENT! CRISIS!”  My […]

by Daryl E. Witmer You’ve probably been on the receiving end of the relatively recent, yet enthusiastic, advertising blitz sponsored by The Church of Christ, Scientist. Their campaign has included brief radio testimonials, signs in store windows for spirituality.com, and even strategically placed kiosks in malls, peddling church material. One item regularly promoted by the […]

by Daryl E. Witmer What follows here is a brief summary of Wiccan belief. In some cases we have followed a particular point with what we believe to be a relevant excerpt from the Bible (in italics), or with a brief comment of our own. We especially welcome the response (favorable or critical) of those […]

by Daryl E. Witmer In spite of the fact that Mormons are among the most polite, pleasant, moral, family-oriented, ostensibly reasonable people in the world, the religious views of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) with which they choose to affiliate are, in the particulars, highly unorthodox and even – in many […]

by  Daryl E. Witmer Test your knowledge of Shinto with the following 10 questions, then read the answers with commentary that follow. 1. Shinto is the native, traditional, national (i.e. cultural) religion of what country? a) China b) Japan c) Korea 2. Shinto means: a) Sacred shrine b) The way of the gods c) Sunshine […]

by  Mary Joni Harris This month’s never-before-published article is guest-authored by Mary Joni Harris of Denton, Texas. Joni studied Buddhist teachings independently for three years, having been drawn by Buddhism’s emphasis on peace, know-ledge, and self-awareness. She first contacted AIIA in August of 2002, having read and related to our web-posted article, Ten Questions for […]

by Dr. Tom Woodward Tom Woodward, Ph.D., has been a professor at Trinity College of Florida since 1988. He is founder and director of the C.S. Lewis Society. See further at: apologetics.org  Dr. Woodward  currently lives with his wife in Tampa Bay, FL. He was first designated an AIIA Resource Associate for Bible & Theology […]

An insightful interview with Robert T. Pardon, M.Div., Th.M. Bob Pardon is director of the New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR) in Lakeville MA (see www.neirr.org), and has been an AIIA Resource Associate since 1995. The Nation of Islam (NOI) is most commonly defined as a quasi-religious, U.S.-based, black nationalist organization with an estimated […]

by Daryl E. Witmer The following is addressed primarily to our friends and readers who claim an affiliation with Roman Catholicism. What does Romanism say? In November of 1544, in the northern Italian community of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church convened its 19th ecumenical council. The Council of Trent officially lasted from December of 1545 […]

by Daryl E. Witmer The following article is addressed primarily to those Jews among our friends and readers who remain unconvinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah and, therefore, the Son of God. “He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom […]

by Daryl E. Witmer The following article is addressed primarily to those of our friends who are affiliated with one of the following three faith systems: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), i.e the Mormons – with over 10 million members worldwide. Community Of Christ (COC) – the brand new, official name […]

by Robert T. Pardon Bob Pardon is director of the New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR) in Lakeville MA. NEIRR was founded in 1991. Rev. Pardon has been an AIIA Resource Associate since 1995. He recently appeared as a consultant on NBC’s national news documentary, Dateline. NEIRR may be contacted directly at 508-947-9571, or […]

An Open Letter to a Prospective Member – by Robert T. Pardon Robert T. Pardon is director of the New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR), which he founded in 1991. Rev. Pardon is also an AIIA Resource Associate. He holds a B.A. in Eastern Religions from the University of Michigan, an M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell […]

ALEX ASKS, ROGER RESPONDS Hey, Roger, you say that you’re a Christian. Isn’t it true that you Christians claim to have a corner on the truth? Well, Alex, if by a ‘corner on the truth’ you mean that Christians claim to know that which is absolutely true about who we are and the purpose for […]

An Interview with Robert T. Pardon This month we conclude a three-part series of never-before-published interviews with AIIA’s three Resource Associates, each of whom have training, experience, and expertise in a particular area of apologetics. Robert Pardon is the director of the New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR), which he founded with four others […]

An Open Letter – by Robert T. Pardon The following original piece was written for the Proclamation by AIIA Resource Associate Robert Pardon. Rev. Pardon  is founder and executive director of The New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR). He holds an earned Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and an earned Master […]

An Open Letter – by Robert M. Zins The following original piece was written especially for the Proclamation by Rob Zins, director of A Christian Witness to Roman Catholicism. Rob is a graduate of Alma College, BA; Springfield College, M.Ed.; and Dallas Theological Seminary, Th.M. He has published numerous articles on the Roman Catholic religion, […]

A Path to Truth or Just Another Vicious Circle? Responding to Taoist Thinking-by Daryl E. Witmer, AIIA Executive Director A number of you reading this paper each month are adherents and/or proponents of one of three major Eastern religious and philosophical traditions-Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism. This month we’re presenting the last part in our series on […]

Ten Questions I’d Ask If I Could Interview Siddhartha Gautama Today by Daryl E. Witmer, AIIA Executive Director A number of you reading this paper each month are adherents and/or proponents of one of the three major Eastern religious traditions-Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. This month we’re continuing our series on the same, with the following […]

Some of you reading this paper are adherents and/or proponents of one of the three major Eastern religious traditions-Hinduism, Buddhism, or Taoism. So this month we’re launching a series on the same. The following piece was written especially for the Proclamation by Bob Pardon, founder and executive director of the New England Institute of Religious […]

EDITOR’S NOTE Every month this thoughtletter is mailed to hundreds of skeptics, agnostics, and other individuals who (per-haps like yourself) do not necessarily share our AIIA worldview and/or doctrine. While we always welcome response to this paper, we’re particularly glad to hear from those who may sincerely doubt or disagree with what we present, yet […]

Editor’s Note: this is the third and final part of a three-part series of thoughtletter articles addressed directly to those of our readers who are affiliated with one of three particular religious traditions (Christian Science, The Way International, and Scientology) that clearly and significantly depart from the doctrinal mores of historic orthodox Christianity. One day […]

Editor’s Note: this is the second in a three-part series of thoughtletter articles addressed directly to those of our readers who are affiliated with either Christian Science, The Way International, or Scientology-three religious traditions that significantly depart from the doctrine of historic orthodox Christianity. The following original article is Robert Pardon, Th. M., Executive Director […]

Editor’s Note: this is the first in a three-part series of thoughtletter articles addressed directly to those of our readers who are affiliated with either Christian Science, The Way International, or Scientology-three religious traditions that significantly depart from the standards and doctrine of historic orthodox Christianity. The following original article is by Steven Tsoukalas,  Executive […]

At approximately 1:37pm on Thursday afternoon, June 3, 1993, a nice Mormon couple walked in and sat down in my living room at the Parsonage. They were probably in their mid-60s. New to the area, they had called twice before, and had even come to the door once, asking to visit. Finally, I agreed. Once […]

In this article I am particularly addressing those among our neighbors, friends, and readers who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, a religious alliance now totaling over two million members worldwide. Over the years I have come to be personally acquainted with a number of you. In spite of our very significant differences, I have often had to […]

This month I am particularly writing to those of you who, as friends among our readers, are of the Islamic faith. If we are to believe recent statistics, you are now among ten million Muslims here in the United States, and among close to one billion Muslims worldwide–nearly one of every five persons on this […]

Jesus Christ, a spirit brother of the devil?  Jesus of Nazareth, married to Mary Magdalene, engaging in sexual acts with Mary and Martha, secretly fathering children before His crucifixion? What is this, another sacrilegious scene from the controversial movie, The Last Temptation of Christ?  No.  Believe it or not, this is the teaching of the […]