In this piece were looking at three different religious groups and one extremely wealthy religious man. The groups are the Amish, The Jesus Army and the Iona Community and the man is John Templeton. I’ll be looking at the similarities and differences of these different Christian groups.
The Iona Community and John Templeton base their belief on the entire bible. The Amish is mostly based on three verses of the bible; Corinthians 6:14 and 6:17 and Romans 12:2. The Jesus Army’s beliefs are based on the New Testament of the Bible.
The verses that the Amish read teach them to not become partners with those who reject God and to offer God everything in return for helping you live you everyday life and try not to fit in with the culture around you but to fix your attention to God for he will bring the best out of you. Every one of the Amish communities is different for every church and community has its own set of rules to follow, but at the base of these rules are the three verses that they base their beliefs on from the Bible. So even in their difference of their communities, the Amish are still very similar to each of their other communities. The Amish help each other get through hard times together, but do not help other people unless they are Amish. They do not give to the poor and needy or share with them because of their beliefs in the three verses. They only help and share with each other. When it comes to personal possessions, even there they have to follow rules. They can only earn money the way God would want to. They have to follow the rules of God. They also believe that modern day technology is evil and they do not use it. They are very old fashion when it comes to technology. The Amish are probably the most different religious group out of them. This is because they do not help others that are not in their community or religious group and they do not believe in technology.
The Jesus Army base their beliefs on the New Testament. They follow the teachings of Christ and his disciples to the core. The Jesus Army build relationships with many different people and they try to show them their ways. They are very approachable as a community and they will always try to help others. They build churches to aid the poor and give shelter to the homeless. They try to get them back on their feet through the teaching of Jesus. They work with the poor but do not give them material wealth to aid them, such as money. The Jesus Army have four ‘Styles’ of covenant membership. ‘Style 1’ is the non-resident membership. ‘Style 2’s’ are temporary guests within Jesus Army communities. ‘Style 3’s’ involve those with full residential community living, where all wealth and possessions are shared. The last style ‘Style 4’ memberships are the memberships for those who are living a far distance away. They are similar with The Iona Community and John Templeton because they help those in need, but the difference is that they help them without giving them material wealth.
John Templeton is a Christian who bases his beliefs on the whole of the bible, but he finds that all religions have good intensions behind them, the intensions of good and helping those in need. John Templeton believes in helping others so he gives 10% of all his wealth and belongings to those in need and the church. He does this because he believes that helping people less well of than you is the right thing to do. John Templeton wasn’t always rich. He built his career from scratch but even when he didn’t own much he still gave 10% to the poor and the church in order to help others. He eventually sold his business for $400 million of witch 10% of the $400 million when to the poor and many different charities. Even after selling his company he still gives 10% of his things to those in need. He is most similar with the Iona Community because they both give a part of their income to the poor, but the difference is that while the Iona Community give their money too, they also help those in need in person, while John Templeton supplies the different charities with the means to help others.
The Iona Community base their belief in Christianity on the whole Bible, like John Templeton. They live as a community and work together to earn money to aid the poor people in need. As well as giving money to the poor they also work with them in person, helping them in by any means possible. They are very approachable and are willing to help those who need it. As a community they are sharing an experience of the common life in worship, work, discussion and relaxation. Everyone in the community share their material wealth for they believe that their material wealth is a gift from God to everyone to enjoy. The Iona Community are not really rich in material possessions but no one in the community endures real poverty. They are similar to The Jesus Army in the means that they share everything they own with the members of the community and that they help people in person, but are different in the fact that everyone in the community share their objects not just certain members.
I believe that the Bible teaches you to share your wealth and to help those in need if you want to pass into Heaven. I have found out that that all the different groups take this from the Bible but they do it in different ways; from helping each other as a community, sharing your wealth or helping people in person.
