The term religion comes from the Latin religare (to bind). Religious worldviews, therefore, seek to approach that which they consider sacred and divine. This ultimate reality, worthy of reverence and providing meaning to our lives, may be a personal God or an impersonal Force, Law or Principle.

World religions, in addition to doctrine concerning the spiritual realities they believe in, also provide believers with a way of life that may include: liturgical and sacramental services and rituals, prayer, meditation, mild forms of asceticism and a normative moral way of life. Unlike the esoteric worldviews discussed in the next sections, religions do not withhold knowledge from any of their adherents and are, therefore, exoteric (“for all”).

Their sources of authority (such as their sacred texts) usually include revelations from a higher level of reality in one form or another, showing less reliance in personal experience than mystical worldviews (e.g., the incarnation of God, avatars or prophets; Buddhism and Hinduism, however, do not place as much emphasis on revealed knowledge as the Abrahamic faiths do).

Religious institutions provide stability and structure, allowing these beliefs to be preserved and transmitted with less variation than in more experiential and unstructured worldviews.

Christianity, the largest religion in the world, follows the teachings of Jesus Christ (Christ meaning “the Anointed One of God”), believed to be the Incarnation of the Logos and second Person of the Tri-Une God.

The main beliefs of Christians are codified in the Creeds (e.g., the Nicene Creed). They include:

• Belief in the Holy Trinity: the One God who exists in three co-equal Persons (Tri-Une God) with one common Essence or nature (Homoousion): God the Father, God the Son (or Logos) and God the Holy Spirit.¹Daley, Brian E. (2009). “The Persons in God and the Person of Christ in Patristic Theology: An Argument for Parallel Development”. God in Early Christian Thought. Leiden & Boston: Brill. pp. 323–350.²Ramelli, Ilaria (2012). “Origen, Greek Philosophy, and the Birth of the Trinitarian Meaning of Hypostasis”. The Harvard Theological Review. 105 (3): 302–350.

• Belief in the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity (the Logos): in Jesus Christ, in order to bring the possibility of salvation into this world. This, in turn, was achieved through His death, resurrection and ascension.

• Belief in the Holiness of the Church: now seen as a potential receptacle of the Holy Spirit.

• Belief in the Second Coming of the Christ: who, as the God-Man (who also experienced human suffering and temptation) will judge man justly at the end of time.

• The Resurrection of the dead into an eternal existence: experienced differently depending on how we live.

Regarding textual sources, the record of the life, sayings and deeds of the Christ were recorded in the four Gospels (meaning “Good News”) and the differents books and epistles of the New Testament, written by His Apostles and Evangelists (meaning “the one who proclaims good news”).

The New Testament is one part of the Christian biblical canon (also called the Holy Bible), the compilation of books relevant to the Christian faith. The other part is the Old Testament, based primarily on the books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). Christians believe that the Old Testament cannot be understood without using the New as the key to its interpretation. Interpreted in this way, the Old Testament clearly points to the advent and works of Christ, the consummation and recapitulation of all previous prophecies and revelations.

The books compiled in the Bible are believed to have been written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Tri-Une God, once mankind was enabled to receive Him through the voluntary sacrifice, death, resurrection and ascension of the Christ.

Christianity´s largest denominations are: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism.

The Protestant churches accept a shorter Old Testament canon than the ones accepted by Orthodoxy and Catholicism. The latter also include books considered apocryphal by Judaism and Protestantism (the Deuterocanonical books) but which appear in the earliest available Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint). The Orthodox canon is also slightly larger than the Catholic one.

In addition to the Bible, and depending on the denomination, a greater (Orthodox) or smaller (Protestant) emphasis is given to the oral and written tradition preserved by the Church since the times of the Christ through apostolic succession.

Holy Tradition is considered holy because the Holy Spirit is seen as residing in the saints and in all those who became worthy of receiving Him. It is viewed, especially by the Orthodox church, as clarifying the meaning behind aspects that have little presence in the Bible, such as why Baptism is performed by full triple immersion (Orthodox)³Orthodox Church in America: Baptism. Archived October 12, 2010: “After the proclamation of faith, the baptismal water is prayed over and blessed as the sign of the goodness of God’s creation. The person to be baptized is also prayed over and blessed with sanctified oil as the sign that his creation by God is holy and good. And then, after the solemn proclamation of “Alleluia” (God be praised), the person is immersed three times in the water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.⁴Ferguson, Everett (2008). Baptism in the Early Church. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, p. 860.⁵Shanbour, Father Michael. Christ the Saviour Orthodox Christian Church, article “Our Personal Resurrection”: “For this reason normative Christian Baptism has always been by immersion (baptism means ‘immersion’ in the Greek language) which provides both the image of burial and of resurrection.”⁶Ware, Timothy (1963). “Theology for the Community of God”. The Orthodox Church.Penguin Books, p. 530: “Orthodoxy regards immersion as essential”. instead of by the sprinkling of water (e.g., Catholic).

One of the key principles of Protestantism is the belief in a Universal Priesthood of Believers, which implies the right and duty of every Christian believer to take part in the government of the Church⁷Herzog, Johann Jakob; Philip Schaff, Albert (1911). The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. p. 419.. It is contrary to the Catholic and Orthodox hierarchies, and especially opposed to the concept of an infallible Pope, which the Orthodox also do not accept.

Other two key Protestant principles are:

• The belief in salvation by Faith Alone (Sola Fide). instead of through faith in addition to works (unlike Catholic and Orthodox). Good works are, however, seen as a necessary consequence of having faith.

• The belief that the Bible should be the only (Sola Scriptura) or main source of authority. Emphasized by Luther and the Reformation, this principle de-emphasizes Church tradition, contrary to Catholic and Orthodox views. The Orthodox, especially, see Holy Tradition as “the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church.”⁸Lossky, Vladimir (1982). “Tradition and traditions,” in Leonid Ouspensky, The Meaning of Icons. St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, p. 15.

Additional differences between denominations include:

• The Protestant rejection of the Catholic dogma of Transubstantiation and their various beliefs regarding the real presence of the Christ in Holy Communion, as well as the rejection of iconography.

• The Catholic dogmas of the Immaculate Conception (the belief that Mary, the mother of God, was born without Original Sin) and the Assumption of Mary (her direct translation into Heaven at the end of her life). Both of these teachings were defined as infallible dogma in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, respectively, and are not accepted by neither Protestant nor Orthodox.

Non-Trinitarianism (or anti-Trinitarianism) refers to the theological positions that reject the doctrine of the Tri-Une God in favour of the doctrine of the One.

They may see themselves as Christians but are not considered so for the main Christian denominations, which see this teaching as heretical and contrary to the very core of Christianity.

Some examples of important historical anti-Trinitarian views that posited an absolute divine unity (Monarchianism) were:

• The teaching that Jesus was adopted as a Son of God after his human life (Adoptionism).

• The doctrine of Modalism, or Oneness Christology, that taught that the One God manifests Himself in three different Personas (in the sense of being different “masks” that help manifest a God that in His transcendence cannot be manifested).¹¹Harnack, Adolf (1961). History of Dogma. HardPress.

The first notion is similar to the mystical paths that believe in the power of self-improvement to achieve self-deification.

The second one is similar to the Hindu Trimūrti, the triad of deities personifying the impersonal Brahman and representing partial aspects of God as creator (Brahma), preservator (Vishnu) and destructor (Shiva).¹²For the Trimurti system having Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva as the destroyer see, for example: Zimmer, Heinrich (1972). Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization. Princeton University Press, p. 124

Non-Trinitarianism historically reappeared in Catharism (a branch of Gnosticism), Unitarianism (born closely after the Protestant Reformation¹³Feldmeth, Nathan P. (2008). “Unitarianism”. Pocket Dictionary of Church History. IVP USA, p. 135: “Unitarians emerged from Protestant Christian beginnings in the sixteenth century with a central focus on the unity of God and subsequent denial of the doctrine of the Trinity.”), in some Restorationist groups appearing from the Protestant Second Great Awakening and in Oneness Protestant Pentecostal churches.

Other worldviews not recognized as Christian by the main denominations, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonism, also follow a non-Trinitarian doctrine.

C. “The Word was made man in order that we might become God.”

― St. Athanasius. On the Incarnation. SVS Press, p. 54

D. “For as Christ died and was exalted as man, so, as man, he is said to receive what, as God, he always had, in order that this great gift might extend to us. For the Word was not degraded by receiving a body, so that he should seek to ‘receive’ God’s gift. Rather he deified what he put on; and, more than that, be bestowed his gift upon the race of men.”

― St. Athanasius. Contra Arianos. i.24-25

E. “Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is.”

― St. Irenaeus. Against Heresies, V

F. “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.”

― St. Paul the Apostle. 1Cor. 15:14.
New King James Version

A central Christian belief is that Jesus is the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity and the Messiah (the Christ) prophesied by ancient Jewish prophets in the Old Testament.

As stated in the canonical gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. He is viewed as partaking of two natures (divine and human) in one Person. The union of these two natures was accomplished by each one indwelling and interpenetrating the other, instead of being complementary parts that needed to be blended into a third composite entity being neither one nor the other. Therefore, the two natures of Jesus Christ are viewed as unified without abolishing the principle of distinction.

This is believed to be the basis for the possibility of mankind being saved in their individuality, in contrast with worldviews that embrace the fusion of every self-enlightened individual with an Absolute or Monad that requires the absence of any particularity as a prerequisite to achieve salvation.

Therefore, in Christianity, the presence of distinction is not regarded as incompatible with the existence of a single, unitary divinity. However, the Christian unity of God is not an absolutely simple one defined and limited solely by its rejection of any multiplicity. God, being the source of all logical notions and therefore superior to them, necessarily transcends human logical and dialectical (Either/Or) boundaries.

Because of that, the binary and dialectical logic of having to accept one extreme of two opposite positions while rejecting the other, does not apply to the Christian God. This is exemplified in the two most important beliefs of Christianity: the belief in a Tri-Une God, and the belief that Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man, both doctrines implying the transcendence of the dichotomy between the One and the Many¹⁴For an analysis of how the Filioque clause may affect this conclusion, see HERE..

Regarding the latter, Christians believe that Jesus, according to His human nature, suffered pains and temptations, but did not sin. Being Himself the very source of Life, His unjust but voluntarily accepted death resulted in the condemnation of Death itself, since to kill the Principle of Life is an ontological impossibility.

Thus, the resurrection of Jesus implied the resurrection of the human nature that He assumed¹⁵John 3:16, 5:24, 6:39–40, 6:47, 10:10, 11:25–26, and 17:3. New King James Version., which was granted life eternal. His ascension to “the right hand of the Father”¹⁶Mark 16:19. New King James Version., furthermore, also implied the possibility of deifying this now universally immortal human nature.

Summarizing, Christians believe that our human nature has assumed the divine immortality of God through the Person of Jesus Christ, just as God adopted our mortality by assuming our human nature through the Incarnation.^{C, D, E, F}

Regarding the resurrection, the New Testament mentions several appearances of Jesus between His resurrection and ascension, with His twelve apostles and “more than five hundred brethren at once” being direct witnesses.¹⁷1 Corinthians 15:6. New King James Version.

Christianity, contrary to the Greek notion that “nothing comes from nothing” (Parmenides), teaches that God created the Universe out of nothing (Creatio Ex Nihilo).

This doctrine emphasizes the transcendental nature of the Christian God, who did not rearrange a pre-existing matter (e.g., Chaos, night, primordial waters) like the gods of many ancient creation myths (e.g., Sumerian, Babilonian, Egyptian, Greek).¹⁸Wasilewska, Ewa (2000). Creation Stories of the Middle East. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, pp. 45-59.

It is also opposed to the theory of emanations, a famous exponent of which is the Neo-Platonic Plotinus. Emanationism emphasizes the immanence of God, and states that the Universe came from God Himself and therefore is a part of Him.

Creation out of nothing also implies the impossibility of relying just on one´s abilities for salvation. This is emphasized by Christians and their doctrine of Synergism, were God and man cooperate to achieve man´s salvation (Catholics and Protestants) or deification (Theosis; Orthodox).

The doctrine of the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, the first human persons and archetypes of human nature, was not fully developed until Augustine of Hippo, who used the term for the first time.¹⁹Patte, Daniel (2019). “Original Sin”. In Daniel Patte (ed.). The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity (Two Volume Set). Wipf and Stock, p. 892.

Augustine´s tenet became a doctrinal cornerstone in the Western world. However, Eastern Orthodoxy did not accept his views. Instead, the Orthodox Church uses the term Ancestral Sin to describe the effect of Adam’s sin on man´s nature (the word sin meaning “missing the mark”). The key distinction emphasized by the Orthodox is that, instead of inheriting the guilt of Adam´s sin (thought as a Latin mistranslation of Romans 5:12), we inherited the capacity to sin by receiving the corrupted nature of the original archetype of all mankind, Adam.

In other words, for Western Christianity we share the guilt of transgressing against God even before being born. However, for Eastern Orthodoxy we only inherited an injured human nature. This means that having been created in the image and likeness of God, we retain the image (which includes all our intrinsic potentialities, such as free will) and are still capable of restoring the lost likeness by putting to good use those potentialities and with the help of God (e.g., through light asceticism, prayer, repentance and the Sacraments).

This difference between Western and Eastern understanding of Adam´s Fall has implications for how we interpret sin and the meaning of the Christ´s death.

Due to the Catholic understanding of sin in legalistic terms, it is viewed as a crime that reaps death as a just punishment in order to clear the debt incurred towards God. This is why, even after God´s forgiveness of our sins, Catholics believe that many souls need a period of further purification in Purgatory.

In addition, the death of the Incarnation of God on the Cross was sometimes interpreted as the payment required to satisfy the demands of God´s justice (Penal Substitution Theory, originated by the Protestant leaders Luther and Calvin).

In contrast, Orthodox Christians prefer the analogy of sin as an injury or sickness that has to be cured. Therefore, each sinner needs to heal with the help of the Church (seen as a hospital for the sick), repent (meaning “turning the other way”) and start walking towards God. No punishment is “prescribed” and the notion of guilt is de-emphasized.^G

G. “The Christ has suffered to be crucified for the race of men who, since Adam, were fallen to the power of death and were in the error of the serpent, each man committing evil by his own fault.”²⁰Toews, John (2013). The story of original sin. Wipf and Stock, pp. 48-61.

― St. Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho
(Ch.86; emphasis added)

H. “He who from among these angelic powers was set over the earthly realm, and into whose hands God committed the guardianship of the earth, was not made wicked in nature but was good, and made for good ends, and received from his Creator no trace whatever of evil in himself.

But he did not sustain the brightness and the honour which the Creator had bestowed on him, and of his free choice was changed from what was in harmony to what was at variance with his nature, and became roused against God Who created him, and determined to rise in rebellion against Him: and he was the first to depart from good and become evil.

For evil is nothing else than absence of goodness, just as darkness also is absence of light. For goodness is the light of the mind, and, similarly, evil is the darkness of the mind.[…]”

― St. John of Damascus. An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. Book II. Chapter IV. Concerning the devil and demons

I. “And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’ “

― St. Luke the Evangelist. Luke 10:18.
New King James Version

Evil has no intrinsic existence in Christianity. It is not a substance, nor an independent rival power or complement to the good. Evil is just the negation of the good, of God, allowed temporary existence due to free will.

God did not will the existence of evil, but allows it because He willed His creatures to be free. Nevertheless, it is in God´s power to make use of this temporary evil to bring forth good fruits, making the existence of evil a self-contradictory one (e.g., Death killing itself by taking the Christ, the principle of Life, at the cross).

At its very core, evil is viewed as a mistake. The misplaced judgment and error of rejecting the good, missing the mark of life´s ultimate purpose and the rejection of God´s love.

Christian cosmogony states that evil, as a rebellion against God´s will, first came into existence through the devil, Satan (the “Enemy” or “Adversary”) or Lucifer (“Light-Bearer”, also called the Morning-Star), who tried to become equal to God.

He is identified with several biblical figures, such as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, the tempter of the Gospels, Leviathan and the dragon of the Book of Revelation.

Expelled from the presence of God with a host of other angelic beings, he became a fallen angel, being allowed influence for a time in our plane of existence. Further expansion on how evil became intermingled with mankind can be found in the book of Genesis (Adam´s Fall, tower of Babel) and in the non-canonical book of Enoch.

Some Protestant reformists interpreted the devil as exclusively a metaphor for humans’ proclivities to sin. However, this is not accepted doctrine by any of the main Christian denominations.^{H, I}

The concept of free will is key for Christianity, since salvation is seen as depending on its good use. However, there are different views regarding the degree of free will available to mankind after mankind´s Fall.

Some important Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin affirmed that Original Sin persisted even after Baptism and completely destroyed the freedom to do good, implying the loss of free will (the theory of Total Depravity) and the pre-determined nature of salvation²¹Turner, H. E. W. (2004). The Patristic Doctrine of Redemption: a study of the development of doctrine during the first five centuries (2004 Reprint ed.). Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock Publishers, p. 71.²²Wilson, Kenneth M. (25 May 2018). Augustine’s Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to “Non-free Free Will”: A Comprehensive Methodology. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, pp. 157–187.. Nowadays, the main Protestant churches adhering to this doctrine are Lutherans²³“Calvinism and Lutheranism Compared”. WELS Topical Q&A. Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Archived from the original on 27 September 2009. “Total Depravity – Lutherans and Calvinists agree.” Yes this is correct. Both agree on the devastating nature of the fall and that man by nature has no power to aid in his conversions…and that election to salvation is by grace. In Lutheranism the German term for election is Gnadenwahl, election by grace–there is no other kind.²⁴Andreä, Jakob; Chemnitz, Martin; Selnecker, Nikolaus; Chytraeus, David; Musculus, Andreas;Körner, Christoph (1577), Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord., Calvinists²⁵“Westminster Larger Catechism 1-50” (reformed.org). Question 25.²⁶“The Heidelberg Catechism” (reformed.org). Question 8. and Arminian (including Methodists).²⁷Arminius, James. The Writings of James Arminius (three vols., tr. James Nichols and W. R. Bagnall). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker (1956), I:252.
²⁸Peck, George (ed.) (1847). “Natural Theology”. The Methodist Quarterly Review. New York: Lane & Tippett, XXIX: 444. The Catholic and Orthodox churches, in contrast, teach that the Sacrament of Baptism erases Original Sin and free will is maintained, even if human nature remains weakened and attracted towards sin. Free will is seen as a necessary condition for the just judgment of each person, as well as an intrinsic attribute of mankind, created in the image of God.²⁹McGiffert, Arthur C. (1932). A History of Christian Thought (Vol. 1). Early and Eastern. New York; London: C. Scribner’s Sons, p. 101.³⁰Wallace, A. J.; Rusk, R. D. (2011). Moral Transformation: the original Christian paradigm of salvation. New Zealand: Bridgehead Publishing, pp. 258–259.

The Christian Church does not see itself as a school of metaphysical doctrines but as a way of salvation.

Salvation is viewed as granted by faith alone (Protestantism) or by works in addition to faith (Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy). The concept of “works” includes any internal (e.g., ascetical) and external work (e.g., charity [almsgiving]; participation in the Sacraments) that purifies the faithful and brings God´s presence closer to the world.

Also termed Holy Mysteries, the Sacraments are the way in which the Christian is united with God. They are the physical and spiritual means by which the faithful partake of God through His Uncreated Energies (Orthodoxy) or through created grace (Roman Catholicism).

For Catholics and Orthodox there are seven recognized Sacraments. These are:

• The three Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, for purification, the death of the profane man and the rebirth of a Christian; Chrismation (Orthodox) / Confirmation (Catholic), the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the now purified Christian; the Eucharist (or Holy Communion), also a Sacrament of continuous nourishment through union with God. Considered the most important Sacrament of all.

• The Sacraments of Healing: Confession, for repentance and reconciliation; Holy Unction for the sick (Orthodox) and Extreme Unction for the dying (Catholics).

• The Sacraments of Service: Marriage, understood as a mirror and symbol of the relationship of God and His Church; Ordination, for those called to serve the Church in Holy Orders (e.g., clergy).

Most Protestant churches, however, only recognize two Sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist.

The actual experience of salvation has been defined by Catholics and many Protestant denominations (including the Lutheran and the Methodist Churches³¹“What United Methodists Believe”. Spring Lake United Methodist Church. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008.³²Wesley, Charles. “Maker, in Whom We Live.” The United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville:The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989.) as the Beatific Vision³³“Catechism of the Catholic Church – Part 4 Section 1 Chapter 3 Article 1” (scborromeo.org).. This vision is another way of explaining the ultimate contemplatory union with God, our sharing in God’s nature via sanctifying created grace³⁴“Catechism of the Catholic Church – Part 1 Section 1 Chapter 3 Article 1” (scborromeo.org).. This notion highlights the intellectual component of salvation, even though it includes joy and happiness.

For the Orthodox, however, salvation is understood as divinization or deification (Theosis). This process has been described as the union with God by the reception of the totality of His Uncreated Energies (God´s operations or attributes).

Theosis is a process of continuously becoming more and more like God, becoming by grace what God is by nature (but without sharing in His nature). It is the reversal of the process of emptying Himself (Kenosis) that the Logos suffered voluntarily during the Incarnation in order that we can now be elevated to the same degree that he lowered Himself.

This is not viewed, however, as a merging or fusion with God, common in the doctrines of the One. Instead, Christian salvation has classically been described using the symbolism of a sword being held in a flame, with the flaming sword gradually taking on the properties of the flame, but still remaining a sword.

Regarding the prophecies of the end times (Eschatology), the major events predicted include: the particular judgment of each person after death³⁵“Particular Judgment”. Catholic Encyclopedia.; the Tribulation, a period of extreme physical and spiritual hardships; the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the end of this world, followed by the general resurrection and judgment of the living and the dead.

Particular denominational beliefs include the Millennium and the Rapture, mainly for Evangelicals (Protestant), and the Purgatory for Catholics³⁶“Audience of 4 August 1999” (Vatican.va). August 1999..

Orthodox symbolism can be seen in the ubiquitous presence of icons, which are pictorial representations of biblical scenes, historical events in the life of the Church and portraits of the saints.

The saints, accepted by Catholic and Orthodox, are those persons whose lives were so obviously holy and close to God that they are celebrated (veneration) and used as an example. However, only God is worshipped, with this term meaning the total giving over of the self to be united with God.

Icons are liturgically created and employed, and for the Orthodox they are considered a necessary consequence of good theology and of the Incarnation of the Logos, seen as a representation and icon of God Himself.

Additional Christian Symbolism: the Cross, ichtys, Chi Rho, dove (Holy Spirit), pelican and Anchored Cross, among others.

GENERAL RELIGIONS

1. Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions. Robert Charles Zaehner.
2. The One and the Many: Studies in the Philosophy of Order and Ultimacy. R.J. Rushdoony.

CHRISTIANITY

1. The Defense of the Faith. Cornelius Van Til.
2. How the Trinity explains the problem of the one and the many. Arne Verster [Link].

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY

1. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. Vladimir Lossky.
2. God, History, and Dialectic. Volume I. Joseph P. Farrell.
3. Orthodox Theology: An Introduction. Vladimir Lossky.

1. Daley, Brian E. (2009). “The Persons in God and the Person of Christ in Patristic Theology: An Argument for Parallel Development”. God in Early Christian Thought. Leiden & Boston: Brill. pp. 323–350.
2. Ramelli, Ilaria (2012). “Origen, Greek Philosophy, and the Birth of the Trinitarian Meaning of Hypostasis”. The Harvard Theological Review. 105 (3): 302–350.
3. Orthodox Church in America: Baptism. Archived October 12, 2010: “After the proclamation of faith, the baptismal water is prayed over and blessed as the sign of the goodness of God’s creation. The person to be baptized is also prayed over and blessed with sanctified oil as the sign that his creation by God is holy and good. And then, after the solemn proclamation of “Alleluia” (God be praised), the person is immersed three times in the water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.
4. Ferguson, Everett (2008). Baptism in the Early Church. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, p. 860.
5. Shanbour, Father Michael. Christ the Saviour Orthodox Christian Church, article “Our Personal Resurrection”: “For this reason normative Christian Baptism has always been by immersion (baptism means ‘immersion’ in the Greek language) which provides both the image of burial and of resurrection.”
6. Ware, Timothy (1963). “Theology for the Community of God”. The Orthodox Church.Penguin Books, p. 530: “Orthodoxy regards immersion as essential”.
7. Herzog, Johann Jakob; Philip Schaff, Albert (1911). The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. p. 419.
8. Lossky, Vladimir (1982). “Tradition and traditions,” in Leonid Ouspensky, The Meaning of Icons. St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, p. 15.
9. For a deeper analysis on the importance of the Filioque clause, see HERE.
10. Schaff, Philip (1877b). “Athanasian Creed “. The Creeds of Christendom (Vol. 2). New York:Harper Brothers, pp. 66–71.
11. Harnack, Adolf (1961). History of Dogma. HardPress.
12. For the Trimurti system having Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva as the destroyer see, for example: Zimmer, Heinrich (1972). Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization. Princeton University Press, p. 124.
13. Feldmeth, Nathan P. (2008). “Unitarianism”. Pocket Dictionary of Church History. IVP USA, p. 135: “Unitarians emerged from Protestant Christian beginnings in the sixteenth century with a central focus on the unity of God and subsequent denial of the doctrine of the Trinity.”
14. For an analysis of how the Filioque clause may affect this conclusion, see HERE.
15. John 3:16, 5:24, 6:39–40, 6:47, 10:10, 11:25–26, and 17:3. New King James Version.
16. 1 Corinthians 15:6. New King James Version.
17. Mark 16:19. New King James Version.
18. Wasilewska, Ewa (2000). Creation Stories of the Middle East. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, pp. 45-59.
19. Patte, Daniel (2019). “Original Sin”. In Daniel Patte (ed.). The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity (Two Volume Set). Wipf and Stock, p. 892.
20. Toews, John (2013). The story of original sin. Wipf and Stock, pp. 48-61.
21. Turner, H. E. W. (2004). The Patristic Doctrine of Redemption: a study of the development of doctrine during the first five centuries (2004 Reprint ed.). Eugene, Or.: Wipf & Stock Publishers, p. 71.
22. Wilson, Kenneth M. (25 May 2018). Augustine’s Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to “Non-free Free Will”: A Comprehensive Methodology. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, pp. 157–187.
23. “Calvinism and Lutheranism Compared”. WELS Topical Q&A. Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Archived from the original on 27 September 2009. “Total Depravity – Lutherans and Calvinists agree.” Yes this is correct. Both agree on the devastating nature of the fall and that man by nature has no power to aid in his conversions…and that election to salvation is by grace. In Lutheranism the German term for election is Gnadenwahl, election by grace–there is no other kind.
24. Andreä, Jakob; Chemnitz, Martin; Selnecker, Nikolaus; Chytraeus, David; Musculus, Andreas;Körner, Christoph (1577), Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord.
25. “Westminster Larger Catechism 1-50” (reformed.org). Question 25.
26. “The Heidelberg Catechism” (reformed.org). Question 8.
27. Arminius, James. The Writings of James Arminius (three vols., tr. James Nichols and W. R. Bagnall). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker (1956), I:252.
28. Peck, George (ed.) (1847). “Natural Theology”. The Methodist Quarterly Review. New York: Lane & Tippett, XXIX: 444.
29. McGiffert, Arthur C. (1932). A History of Christian Thought (Vol. 1). Early and Eastern. New York; London: C. Scribner’s Sons, p. 101.
30. Wallace, A. J.; Rusk, R. D. (2011). Moral Transformation: the original Christian paradigm of salvation. New Zealand: Bridgehead Publishing, pp. 258–259.
31. “What United Methodists Believe”. Spring Lake United Methodist Church. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008.
32. Wesley, Charles. “Maker, in Whom We Live.” The United Methodist Hymnal. Nashville:The United Methodist Publishing House, 1989.
33. “Catechism of the Catholic Church – Part 4 Section 1 Chapter 3 Article 1” (scborromeo.org).
34. “Catechism of the Catholic Church – Part 1 Section 1 Chapter 3 Article 1” (scborromeo.org).
35. “Particular Judgment”. Catholic Encyclopedia.
36. “Audience of 4 August 1999” (Vatican.va). August 1999.

The following religious schools, relevant today, are discussed in their own individual articles:
(Work in Progress – Full text available in The Metaphysical Compass book)

• Judaism
• Islam
• Hinduism: Advaita Vedanta (Monism), Samkhya (Dualism), Vishishtadvaita Vedanta (Theistic Non-Dualism).
• Buddhism: Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana (Tibetan).
• Taoism
• Sikhism
• Jainism
• Zoroastrianism
• Mandaeism
• Shinto and Animism