Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-15
MANY BELIEFS HELD
Official Statistics Regarding
Religions in America.
L.NSUS BUREAU FIGURES
Over Two Hundred Sects Of Chris
tians.
HEATHEN ARE NUMEROUS
Brief History Of the Various De-
l.
L.wSUS BUREAU FIGURES
Owe, Two Hundred Sects Of Chris
HEATHER ARE NUMEROUS
Brief History Of the Various De-
nominations Given in Work
Compiled by DR.. Bliss.

IOidS thousands OF representatives OF u
number OF the so-called heather beliefs
in addition to more than 30 various sects
of Christianity, according to census
bureau statistics dealing with the re-
ligious life of the country. Among the
former are Buddhists, Confucianists and
Bahaists who ere angaged In an organ
ICED way in the spread of their doctrines
in this country.
The information forming the basin Of
the volume In question was gathered In
1905. 1t Is now in proof, but there Is
no assurance as to when 1t will be given
TO the public In addition to statistics of
the various denominations. the work will
present q brief history of each; also the
pertient facts regarding their doctrine
and polity. The compilation is the work
of DIR. Edwin NJ. Bliss.
Up to the time of the investigation
there had been no effort to effect any or
ianism. but the text tells OF a society OF
the Chinese sage's followers which was
organized In New York city in 1907
among the Monaghan students in Co
lumbia University. Contending that
Buddhism is only system Of ethics,
they undertook to demonstrate that Con-
fucianism was real religion, and so
regular system of services was establish
ed by a well defined organization.
Believes in Buddhism.
The organised followers Of Buddhism
are Chinese and japanese. Their churches.
known ofiicially as temples are re-
ferred to by the irreverent as Joss"
houses. There are sixty-two Chinese and
twelve Japanese temples in this country,
the former being distributed over twelve,
the latter over three states. Calfornia
shelters all but three of the japanese
and more than half of the Chinese
houses About forty, which went down
under the San Francisco cataslyms. had
remained in ruins to the time of the
enume Grafton.
New York boosted fifteen of the Chinese
temples, the remainder being scattered
over ten states, mostly In the west. Inc
Chinese Buddhists have only one Priest
in this country, and conduct no recog-
nized system Of worship.
There is no record of membership; tney
have no sermon: keep no Sabbath ana
have no religious service. The only use
for their temples are as places at which
Individual devotees may consult tnelr
patron sa nts. Three deities are recog-
nized in the American temples: The goo
Kuan, a mighty duke OF the ancient Han
dynasty; the Goddess Of Fortune and the
Goddess of Mercy.
The American-Japanese Buddhists are
of the progressive Shin Shiu sect. which
is missionary in character. They discard
the ascestic practices of the more austere
Buddhists OF Asia, allow the priests to
marry and have no ban on meat or other
food. The societies are well organized,
each hagfng a priest. GeneraI heao-
have both journals and schools devoted
to the propagation of the faith. In 1903
their membership In this country was
. 3S7, of whom IT'S were females.
;-x0 ~
Of which is found in the fact that this
religion attaches iself too closely to the
person OF the Japanese emperor.
Hindus and Bahaists.
In a way the Hindu religion is repre-
scented by the Vedanta Society, with or
ganizations In New oYrk, Pittsburg. San
Francisco and Los Angeles. 1t was or
ganized by some Hindu teachers who
came here In 1893 to the worlds fair. Its
name Is derived from an ancient Hindu
philosophy meaning 1.-The end of all
wisdom" 1t IL non-sectarian. seeking to
PHILOSOPHERS. as taught by the Theosoph-
list. have four bodies, with 1885 members,
In the United States.
While Bahaism. strictly speaking. is
non-Christian and foreign. its followers
are native and not necessarily un-Chris-
tian. This Is a comparatively new sect.
growing out of the teachings of a Per-
sian leader of the middle OF the last CEN
fury. named All Mohammed. He claimed
TO be the forerunner ''of him whom God
would manifest" and called himself
"Bab," or 1.-The Gate" Later came Bahia
lila, who claimed to be the one whose
coming had been foretold. and from him
the real name Of the body is derived. In
1905 he had $50 followers in the United
States who worshiped In ~ places
through IA states. They teach tolerance,
love. charity and regard all religions as
divine. Hence they profess not to inter
fere with the ordinary doctrinal beliefs
Of their members.
Another church OF Asiatic origin, but
still Christian. is the Armenian, which
has 81 organizations In this country. most
Of them in the eastern states. % in Mas
sachusetts alone. Their communicates
are generally Armenians, many of whom
ned to this country to escape persecu-
ton.
The Eastern Orthodox Church. or Greek
Church. has 129.6O6 communicates: This
is the state church of Russia and Greece.
OF the All churches here 50 represent the
former nationality. There also are Ser
Wan and Syrian branches. The Greeks
have 334 organizations throughout the
country, with New York. Illinois and
Massachusetts, leading. The Greek MEM
bership Is 9O,751. Twenty-Five of the %
Russian churches are In Pennsylvania.
Division Of Christian sects.
The volume also will tell Of the various
Christian sects which are considered
more purely American. and will show the
various branches thereof. 1t will show
that while there are only 81 main bodies,
there are 215 church organizations, many
OF them processing a faith only shade
different from others. For instance,
there are II Baptist bodies. "a Lutheran,