What Makes a Cult?

[geisha779]

I could post many more-but to define a cult from a Christian perspective(Which is what we originally said) is to define their breaking away or denial of BASIC Christian Doctrine--that is the trinity-You may not agree or like it--but that is how they defined us because of our different take on Christinity 101

They still call THE WAY a cult for these reasons.

CULTIC BELIEF SYSTEMS

CLAIM TO BE CHRISTIAN: As presented above, a group must

first claim to be Christian before they can even be

suspected as being a Christian cult. Neither the First

Church of Satan, Zen Buddhism nor the United States Boy

Scouts claim to be Christian. Therefore, they are even

remotely suspected of being Christian cults. Usually,

just

the name of a specific group will indicate if it claims

to be Christian, e.g., Christian Science, Church of Jesus

Christ Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), United Pentecostal

Church International (UPCI), Unity School of Christianity,

Jehovah's 'Christian' Witnesses, The Way, the Worldwide

Church of God, etc.

DENY CENTRAL CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES:

GOD: Across the board, Christian cults always

deny the Biblical view of God, namely, one God in

three persons. Mormons teach that there are an

infinite number of gods who were once men and women.

The Jehovah's Witnesses believe there is one big

god, Jehovah, and one small god, Jesus. The UPCI

insist that God is one person who puts on different masks or

titles. Christian Science and Unity School both teach that

God is an impersonal principle. The cults might do it in

different ways, but they will always reject the Biblical

view of God. By contrast, the Christian church has always

affirmed the Biblical view of God: one God in three persons.

In biblical theology the primacy of the belief in one and

only one God is undisputed (Is. 44:6). But the Bible also

recognizes three as God: the Father (I Pet.1:2), the Son

(John 1:1-18) and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4).

The different definitions:

SECULAR DEFINITION

CULT - From the Latin "cultis" which denotes all that is involved in worship, ritual, emotion, liturgy and attitude. This definition actually denotes what we call denominations and sects and would make all religious movements a cult.

CHRISTIAN DEFINITION

CULT - Any group which deviates from Biblical, orthodox, historical Christianity. e.i. They deny the Deity of Christ; His physical resurrection; His personal and physical return to earth and salvation by FAITH alone.

This definition only covers those groups which are cults within the Christian religion. It does not cover cults within other world religions such as Islam and Hinduism. Nor does it cover Psychological, Commercial or Educational cults which do not recognize the Bible as a source of reality.

http://www.spiritualabuse.org/articles/idencult.html

Control Versus Freedom: A Means of Identifying Cults

Anne Sanderson

They say it takes one to know one. So, as I was a member of a pseudo-Christian cult for many years, I might be in quite a good position to point out to others some of the danger signs to look for in groups claiming to be Christian.

There are thousands of denominations around. Many of them can rightly claim to be Christian. We may not entirely agree with all of their views or practices, but the amazing variety of the many constituent parts of the body should serve to help us realise that the various parts of the Body of Christ will also be diverse. If only as much energy was spent checking out the false claimants as we do the genuine ones, we would cause far less injury to the Body of Christ. So let's establish some basic identifying marks of usurpers to membership of the Body of Christ.

[1] They will claim to be obedient to God and Christ but, upon examination, their obedience will ultimately be directed to someone else.

[2] They will claim to be truly free in Christ, but will actually be in bondage.

[3] They will have an adverse effect on those who are free in Christ, enslaving such ones.

[4] They will attack the genuine Body of Christ, claiming they are real members whilst genuine members are not.

That is not a complete list, but it is quite enough for us to be getting on with for now. You will notice I have not listed various doctrines as the touchstone of orthodoxy, but have homed in on something much more elusive - bondage versus freedom. In a sense, I am working backwards; I am asking you to look at the end result of being in a cult and to compare that with what being a Christian means. To be a Christian is to be set free in Christ; free from bondage to sin and death, and free from satanic deception.

Doctrine does play a vital role in this, as can be seen from the amazing reversal of The Worldwide Church of God in recent years. This cult [based on Armstrong's The Plain Truth magazine] held to various false doctrine, including rejection of the Trinity. When the leadership changed and began to see its errors with doctrine, a miracle happened; the group became orthodox and was so humble in admitting its errors that most of its membership went along with the changes. Now they have dropped their Seventh Day Adventist traits, and now they accept the Trinity doctrine. Isn't it thrilling to know that thousands of people who were once in bondage to error have now been set free in Christ? It can happen even on a huge scale, as with this group.

These criteria might serve helpful in identifying the cults. For some, just one or two items (for example No. 1, 2 and 3) of the listed criteria is enough to categorized a group as a cult. For other cult groups, most of these criteria are present.

The cults deny intensely or cleverly some or all of the doctrines of the Christian faith while at the same time profess themselves as Christians. The most dangerous among these cult group is the Bible -based pseudo-Christianity (or BBPC) which can easily deceive, distract and destroy people. They are always begging for many in ther name of God, expert of fund raising without shame and blasphemy without fear.

The cults normally have a dogmatic and legalistic leadership structure with a closed ecclesiastical system.

The cults have some secrecy about their leadership personalities and people behind, organizational system, dogmatic teachings, and meetings.

They undermine the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ by requiring additional works or co-operation effort. GOD WON"T SPIT IN YOUR DIRECTION!

The cults are reducing the absolute authority and sufficiency of Scripture. They expressly accuse the Bible of containing errors. MUST BE A TEXT SOMEWHERE THAT SAYS THIS!!

The cults are using the Christian vocabulary-but they mean different things. The cults redefined biblical terms with different meaning for their own gains and benefits.

The cults have their own exclusive belief system and practices.

The cults by large, rejects and denies the doctrine of eternal punishment. Some says that hell and its fire is not literal fire or punishment. Some are teaching universalism that all will be saved at the end. Some are teaching annihilation that God will destroy into nothing. They teach that there is no conscious eternal suffering.

The cults emphasis on direct revelation or vision from God and that God spoke to their leaders.

The cults claimed signs and wonders in various forms. Some claims that they have raise a large numbers of genuine Christians from the death.

According to the record of the major cults groups, majority of their converts are from mainline denomination churches who are ignorant of the Christian doctrines.

These criteria might serve helpful in identifying the cults. For some, just one or two items (for example No. 1, 2 and 3) of the listed criteria is enough to categorized a group as a cult. For other cult groups, most of these criteria are present.

Description

Check

Rejection of the Godhead or doctrine of the Trinity and replaced by their invented ism

Rejection of the Deity of Christ or Christ as God including His virgin birth 3 Rejection of Christ's true humanity or the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union

Rejection of Christ and replaced by their leader as the "new christ" OR WE REPLACE THE ABSENT CHRIST!

Rejection of the Universal Church and claiming that they alone are saved or to be saved. OR HAVE THE ONLY TRUTH!!

Rejection of the doctrine of eternal punishment and the reality of hell fire.

Rejection of the major biblical doctrines and majoring on the minor doctrines.

Rejection of Christ and replaced Him with their leader as the messenger of God.

[waysider]

Wierwille latched onto the Trinitarian aspect of Christian cults and completely ignored the rest because it served his agenda.

A group can be a cult without any involvement of Trinitarian beliefs.

Every group has something that makes it uniquely different from other groups.

With Christian Cults, that might well include the Trinity but that is not the defining factor.

I remember how Wierwille enjoyed playing up this comparison of The Way to groups that were accepted as being cults.

It gave him a ready made platform to launch into his JCING theology.

He embraced the comparisons.

[geisha779]

Just a bit more--She was in TWI--

For A Christian Religious Organization:

1. The most important red flag one should consider and the first question one should ask when considering a church or religious organization to become a part of is: Does this group believe in the Christian Orthodox Historical concept of The Trinity? If they do not, then run, do not walk, away from this organization. Most Christian cults are anti-Trinitarian and will often use this as the basis for their religious organization altogether. Victor Paul Wierwille, founder of TWI, even wrote a book “Jesus Christ is Not God” and this became the cornerstone teaching of The Way.

If the group is anti-Trinitarian (they will not refer to their organization or beliefs as such, but essentially, this is what it will boil down to once their specific doctrine on this subject is examined), then they can’t be Christian. These groups will argue vehemently say that this is not so – that merely because they do not uphold this belief does not indicate they are a non-Christian group. They will firmly claim that they “follow Jesus Christ” and therefore must be considered Christian. The fact remains – they either know the Biblical Judeo/Christian God and teach this, or they do not. This God is a God in three distinct persons, all a part of the same ONE God. If they do not, and they teach anything other than Jesus Christ WAS God as He is depicted in John Chapter 1 (see especially verses 1 – 14), then they can not be Christian.

2. Does this group have a charismatic (usually male) founder who received “new revelation” or heard directly from God or an angel, concerning Biblical issues that are distinctive to this group? Does the group consider that this founder/ leader/ teacher/prophet – has the only information from God that is “correct” or “right” or the only information that can lead to salvation? Is this leader “perfect” and never to be questioned?

3. Does this group consider that they are the only “true” Christian group and that all other mainstream Christian sects are “corrupt” or have “fallen away” from the truth? They will often be anti-Catholic and anti-Jew and be very open about this.

4. Does the organization teach that the Bible is flawed, missing parts, improperly translated and corrupted?

5. Is the group public about all the money it receives and what it does with it? Does the organization make a periodic public statement that members can obtain concerning what is happening with all the finances of the organization? If the answer is no to this, that is a worrisome concern and should be considered a sign that this organization has something to hide.

If there were any “yes” answers to 1-4 and a “no” to 5, it would be very wise to reconsider any type of involvement what-so-ever with a group that meets these criteria. The very least one should do is research the group thoroughly before becoming involved in an activity or attending any meetings or worship services. This by no means indicates that without exception, the group must be a cult if they agree with the list above, but it certainly heightens their chances of being one. I urge anyone considering an organization with the beliefs described above to reconsider. I hope to help others avoid the heartache that became a six year nightmare for me and my family and almost led to my taking my life. Be aware, be informed, be suspicious when you encounter the description above. Don’t take a step that could mean ruin for your life.

Remember this – if a person only knows the Jesus or the god that these cults teach, it could mean that they face eternal damnation. Regardless of how passionate one feels they believe, regardless of how one feels they are serving God, if they don’t know God, then they can’t serve Him. For example – if I believe with all my heart that Louis Farakahan is who he claims to be, Elijah – who is the “true” Jesus Christ, and I believe this with all my heart and every fiber of my being. I believe that as Jesus Christ, Farakahan is my Savior and therefore, I believe I am saved by Jesus – am I saved? Of course not. Jesus Himself warns of this very thing:

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

- Matthew 7:21-23

I’ve had Mormons in particular write to me and tell me that their “testimony is strong” and if I choose to answer their very passionate e-mails, I won’t be able to persuade them that the Mormon Church isn’t the only “true” church on earth. I write back telling them that I hope and pray they will lose that testimony because regardless of how strongly they feel, if they don’t know Jesus, then they have nothing. If they don’t know the TRUE Jesus of the Bible, the ONLY Jesus who can save them, if they only know the Jesus of the Jehovah’s Witnesses or The Way International or Mormonism or of Farakahan – then they don’t know Jesus. If they don’t know Jesus, no matter how lovely or wonderful they believe their organization is, they are lost, and if they take their final breath believing in their organization’s version of Jesus instead of having the true Jesus in their heart, they’ll die lost. I don’t wish this for anyone, and most importantly, Jesus doesn’t wish this for a single soul, because he died for ALL, and wants everyone to come to Him

[Oakspear]

BTWW I can't understand why this is still a dispute--

It's still "in dispute" because not everyone agrees with you. There are some who use the pejorative label "cult" to describe those who disagree with them on some issues, while others define a cult as a group that follows certain behaviors.

[GarthP2000]

Geisha's latest post illustrates but one of my main complaints re: the 'cult' term, and its often less-than-factual-or-honest usage.

Particularly when some people bandy the term about like its some medically proven clinical term.

<_<

[Twinky]

Just returned from a short visit to Paris. Visited Notre Dame while I was there. This is a hugely significant church to the French people. Interestingly, right at the entrance, there is a notice in French and English - the French version stating that this is a church dedicated to the "culte catholique" - in English, Roman Catholic "religion". The word "culte" really leapt out at me! The RC church calls itself a cult!!!!

A cult, or sect, if you prefer, is anything that cuts itself off from others. In the religious sense, cuts itself off from other Christians or says it has the only correct way. Whether that be in interpretation of the scriptures, or in practise, doesn't matter. All are works of the flesh.

Galatians 5:20

idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

Factions in some versions is "sects".

[Middle English secte, from Old French, from Latin secta, course, school of thought, from feminine past participle of sequī, to follow; see sekw-1 in Indo-European roots.]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

sect [sekt] noun

a group of people within a larger, especially religious, group, having views different from those of the rest of the group

[HAPe4me]

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