| a.k.a. | Assemblies of God | |
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| Number of Members | 280,000,000 | 210,000,000[1] |
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| How does one get saved? | Most believe sola fide: Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection alone to save you. Oneness Pentecostals believe you must also be baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit. | Repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, and be baptized.[2] |
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| Who gets saved? | Anyone who chooses by his own free will to believe and accept God's gift of grace will be saved.[3] | Anyone who chooses by his own free will to believe and accept God's gift of grace will be saved. |
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| Can one lose his salvation? | Yes, a Christian can lose his salvation by apostasy.[3] | Yes, a Christian can lose his salvation by apostasy. |
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| Who gets baptized and why? | Most believe saved people get baptized as a public demonstration of their new lives.[4][5] | The unsaved, typically as infants, get baptized as the first sacrament of Christian initiation, cleansing them of all sins. |
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| How should baptism be done? | Most believe baptism should be by immersion.[4][5] | Baptism should be by triple immersion. |
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| When does one receive the Holy Spirit? | The Holy Spirit is received at the moment of salvation, but being filled with, or baptized in, the Holy Spirit happens later. | The Holy Spirit is received at chrismation, generally immediately after baptism. |
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| What is the trinity? | Most believe the Trinity is God existing as one god in three equal, eternal, cosubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Oneness Pentecostals believe Modalism: that God has no distinct persons and just manifests Himself in different ways. | The Trinity is God existing as one god in three equal, eternal, cosubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. |
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| What is the human nature? | Total depravity: Human nature is corrupt, naturally inclined to evil, and incapable of choosing God on his own.[6] | Human nature is intrinsically good but is wounded and incapable of choosing God in our fallen environment.[7][8] |
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| Are we guilty of Adam's original sin? | No, we are not guilty of Adam's sin, but we did inherit the consequences and a corrupt human nature from him, causing us all to sin. | No, we are not guilty of Adam's sin, nor did we inherit a sinful nature from him, but we did inherit the consequences.[9] |
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| Are Christians required to keep the Old Testament ceremonial laws? | No, the ceremonial laws of Judaism were fulfilled and done away with by Jesus. | No, the ceremonial laws of Judaism were fulfilled and done away with by Jesus. |
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| Can Christians become sinless in this earthly life? | Holiness Pentecostals believe that Christians can become perfect and must do so before receiving the Holy Spirit. Other branches of Pentecostalism reject Christian perfection. | Yes, Christian perfection is possible. |
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| Do the elements of communion become the body and blood of Christ? | No, the elements merely symbolically represent the body and blood of Christ. | Metousiosis: Yes, the bread and the wine change in essence into the body and blood of Christ. |
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| Can one be baptized of behalf of someone who has died? | No, the dead cannot be baptized. | No, the dead cannot be baptized. |
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| What happens if a saved person dies without being perfect? | Once Christians leave their sinful bodies, nothing else is needed to receive glorified, sinless bodies. | There is no purgatory, but Christians will continue in theosis after death.[10] |
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| Did Mary ever sin? | Yes, Mary sinned like all other humans except Jesus. | Mary was prone to sin like anyone else, but no, through her own free will she still never did. |
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| What spiritual gifts are available today? | Continuationism: All spiritual gifts are still available to believers. | Continuationism: All spiritual gifts are still available to believers. |
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| What framework has God used in dealing with man? | Dispensationalism: God acts differently with humanity in seven different periods of history. | |
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| What is the gift of tongues? | Speaking in tongues is speaking the language of angels, unintelligible without an interpreter. | Speaking in tongues is sometimes unintelligible and sometimes foreign human languages.[11][12] |
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| What are the requirements for clergy? | | Priests must be men over 30 ordained by bishops. |
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| How many church ordinances/sacraments are there? | Most believe the church has two ordinances: Baptism and Holy Communion.[13] | The church has seven sacraments: Baptism, Chrism, Holy Eucharist, Confession, Ordination, Marriage, and Holy Unction.[14] |
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| Who can take communion? | | Only members of the church can participate in Holy Communion.[15] |
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| To whom do Christians need to confess their sins? | Confession should be made directly to God, but confession to another believer is beneficial for some sins.[16] | Confession should be made to God before a priest.[17] |
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| How should a church be structured? | Presbyterian: Churches should be governed by its own deacons, who in turn are governed by a district comprising the pastors and representatives from the region, which is governed by a general council of delegates from all churches.[18] | Episcopal: Churches should be governed by the bishop in that episcopacy, who in turn is governed by a patriarch of an autocephalous church. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is first among equals. |
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| What day of the week should Christians worship? | Christians worship on Sunday. | Christians worship on Sunday. |
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| How does God's revelation come to us today? | Prima scriptura: There are many sources of God's revelation, although none can contradict the Bible. | Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition have equal authority and comprise one finished deposit of faith. |
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| How many books are in the Bible? | There are 66 canonical books of the Bible: 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books. | There are 76 canonical books of the Bible: 39 protocanonical books, 10 deuterocanonical books, and 27 New Testament books. |
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| Was the Bible written inerrantly? | Yes, the Bible was written without any error.[19] | |
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| Who can speak with God's authority today? | | The church as a whole speaks with God's authority at ecumenical councils. |
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| How was the earth created? | No established doctrine[20] | No established doctrine |
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| What is marriage? | Marriage is a covenant before God between one man and one woman.[21] | Marriage is a covenant before God between one man and one woman. |
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| Is sex permissible outside marriage? | No, sex outside of marriage is not permissible. | No, sex outside of marriage is not permissible. |
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| When is divorce permissible? | Divorce is permissible for adultery or desertion.[21] | Divorce is permissible for adultery, abuse, or abandonment.[22][23] |
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| May a Christian remarry while his former spouse is still alive? | The innocent party to the adultery may remarry.[21] | Yes, a Christian may remarry a second or third time for human weakness.[23] |
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| When does a fetus become human? | Humanity begins at conception.[24] | Humanity begins at conception.[25] |
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| Is contraception permissible? | Yes, contraceptives are permissible.[24] | Most believe that yes, contraceptives are permissible.[26][27] |
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| Are blood transfusions permissible? | Yes, blood transfusions are permissible. | Yes, blood transfusions are permissible. |
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| Should women cover their heads? | No, women's long hair is enough of a covering. | Varies widely |
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| Should Christians drink alcohol? | No, alcohol should be totally avoided.[28] | Yes, drinking alcohol is fine as long as one does not get drunk. |
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| Should Christians fight in wars? | Yes, Christians should fight in just wars. | Yes, Christians can fight in just wars.[29][30][31] |
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| How should Christians musically worship God? | Any style of worship music is acceptable.[32][33] | |
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| Whom does the Holy Spirit come from? | No established doctrine | The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. |
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| Do icons glorify God? | | Yes, icons are holy and should be venerated.[34] |
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| Where does a Christian's soul go after death? | Christians immediately go to heaven when they die. | After death, souls sit conscious in an Intermediate State, with a foretaste of heaven for Christians.[35] |
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| When will the church be raptured? | | The church will not be raptured at any point. |
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| When is the millennial reign of Christ happen? | | Amillennialism: The millennial reign of Christ is an indefinite period of time beginning on the day of Pentecost and ending at His Second Coming. |
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