Cult Watch: Definition, Modus Operandi and Characteristics

 

            Cults are aggressively deceiving God’s people.

            A cult is a perversion, a distortion of historical Christianity and/or a rejection of the historic teachings of the Christian church, says Josh McDowell. He also cites Walter Martin’s (a Baptist minister and a counter-cultist) definition of a cult: A cult, then, is a group of people polarized around someone’s interpretation of the Bible and is characterized by major deviations from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith, particularly the fact that God became man in Jesus Christ.¹

            Christians are seduced by cult groups for several reasons:²

            (1) They are ignorant of the Bible (Christian doctrines) because they have not diligently read the Bible and the church they attend does not faithfully teach the Bible.

            (2) Christians do not know why they believe in what they believe.

            (3) Most cults brainwash their followers by telling them what to believe, how to behave and what to think.

            (4) Cults always emphasize their followers to depend upon the group or the leader of the group for their emotional stability so much so that any member of the cult shall not dare disobey the leadership of the cult.

            (5) Cults will devour people going through crisis in their life by offering them love, acceptance and direction.

            (6) Cults provide seemingly authoritative answers to man’s basic questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?

            It is not the stupid people who join cults. “People who join cults are not stupid, weird, crazy, weak-willed, or neurotic. Most cult members are of above-average intelligence, well adjusted, adaptable, and perhaps a bit idealistic,” says an article in the Apologetics Index.³

            Cults can be identified by the following characteristics:⁴

            A. New Truth: Many cults promote the false idea that God has revealed something special to them. This is usually truth that has never before been revealed and supersedes and contradicts all previous revelations.

            B. New Interpretations of the Bible: Some cults believe that they alone have the key to interpreting the mysteries in the Bible. The Scriptures are their only acknowledged source of authority, but they are interpreted unreasonably and in a way different from that of orthodox Christianity.

            C. A Non-Biblical Source of Authority: Some cults have sacred writings or a source of authority that supersedes the Bible.

            D. Another Jesus: A common characteristic found in cults is false teaching about the person of Jesus Christ in the light of historical biblical Christianity.

            E. Rejection of Orthodox Christianity: Many cultic groups launch a frontal assault on historical Christianity. One common allegation is that the church (subscribing to historical Christianity) has departed from the true faith.

            F. Double-Talk: Some cultic groups will say one thing publicly but internally believe in something totally different.

            G. Non-Biblical Teaching on the Nature of God (Trinity): Cults will usually teach an inadequate view of the Trinity or they will deny the blessed Trinity. Thus they will have a perverted view of the nature of God.

            H. Changing Theology: Cult doctrines are continually in a state of flux and have no sure foundation on which to anchor their hope. Adherents of a particular cult will learn a doctrine only to find that doctrine later changed or contradicted by further revelation.

            I. Strong Leadership: Cults are usually led by strong and central leader figures who consider themselves as messengers of God with unique access to the Almighty. Since the leader pretends to have such a special relationship with God, he/she can dictate the theology and behavior of the cult.

            J. Salvation by Works: One teaching that will be totally absent from all cults is the gospel of the grace of God. No one is taught in the cults that he can be saved from eternal damnation by simply placing his faith in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, it is always belief in Jesus Christ and “do this” or “follow that.” All cults attach something to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. It might be baptism, obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, or something else, but it is never taught that faith in Christ alone will save anyone.

            K. False Prophecy: Another feature of the cults is they often promulgate false prophecy. They make bold predictions of future events, supposedly revealed by the inspiration of God. When these predictions do not come to pass, these leaders are exposed as false prophets.

            Some famous cults are:

            1. The Church of the Latter Day Saints (The Mormon Church).

            2.  The Unification Church.

            3. Christian Science.

            4. The Way International.

            5. The Worldwide Church.

            6. The Jehovah’s Witnesses (Watchtower Bible and Tract Society).

            Overcoming cults is possible if we know the truth. Learn how to and how not to interpret the Bible.

            Identifying an error is impossible if we do not know the truth, “…develop an intellectual depth to your biblical study. J. P. Moreland argues that two of the great Christian cults were started on the heels of the great American revivals.¹⁷ Because many of these new Christians didn’t know their Bibles very well, they were easily captured by the false teaching of these cult groups. Paul predicted that the false teachers in Ephesus would actually arise from within the church itself (Acts 20:29-30). Therefore, in the modern church, we need to learn how to interpret and read our Bibles with clarity in order to combat false teaching like this… when we have been steeped in the word of God, we become more effective at identifying counterfeit Christianity,” says an article in Xenos.org.⁵ 

            Last but not the least; let us never forget the teachings of the Bible that motivates us to be aware of the cults amongst us in order to reject them.

            “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” ( 1 John 4:1, NIV).

            “But examine all things; hold fast to what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NET).

            “For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted…For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians 11: 4, 13-15, NASB).

            Stay away from the cults. Remain in the Lord Jesus. Amen.  

            

Endnotes:

¹Josh McDowell & Don Stewart, Handbook of Today’s Religions, p17.

²Josh McDowell & Don Stewart, Handbook of Today’s Religions, p18-19.

³https://www.apologeticsindex.org/265-who-joins-cults-and-why

⁴Josh McDowell & Don Stewart, Handbook of Today’s Religions, p20-25.

⁵https://www.xenos.org/essays/what-cult

Websites last accessed on 2^nd September 2020.

What If Jesus Is NOT GOD?

            Some Christians do not believe in Christ’s deity (i.e. Jesus Christ is God). They may subscribe to a position that denies Christ’s true divinity (e.g. Adoptionism or Eutychianism) and could belong to groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormonism.

            An average Christian who believes in Christ’s deity cannot expound or defend his belief when confronted by a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormonism, who would passionately deny Christ’s deity. Why?

            Broadly, Christians, having been continuously indoctrinated of Christ’s deity, blindly believe this to be a fact. They are vague, since they have not adequately considered this subject.

            Instead of examining reasons for Christ’s deity (i.e. why Christ is God), we could consider the implications of denying Christ’s deity (i.e. what if Christ is not God?). Those who deny Jesus’ deity should confront a few challenges that are highlighted here:

            First and foremost, the Bible reveals that man is saved ONLY if he believes in Christ (Galatians 2: 16; Romans 10: 9-10, John 3:16). The Bible also reveals Christ as God in human form (Mark 14: 61-62; John 20: 28; Colossians 1: 16-17; Philippians 2: 5-11; Titus 2: 13; Hebrews 1: 8). Those who deny Christ’s deity force their bias into these texts. A proper exegesis of these texts asserts Christ’s deity.

            So a believer of Christ should believe in Christ, and that belief includes Christ’s deity.  The classical understanding is that the second person of Godhead took upon the human nature in addition to HIS divine nature.   

            The disciples of Christ who believed in HIM were called Christians (Acts 11: 26c). If a person does not believe in Christ’s deity, he / she surely cannot qualify to be a Christian so to be on par with other Christ-believing Christians.

How Would People Be Saved If Christ Is Not God?

            Christ ought to be God to save mankind of sins through HIS sacrificial death [resurrection and ascension]. Christ’s virgin birth that precludes transmission of sin and HIS sinless perfection in life – an attribute of HIS divinity – are essential for man’s salvation.

            If Christ is not God, HE cannot be eternal, so HIS sacrifice cannot posit an eternal value i.e. HIS onetime sacrificial death cannot be appropriated to the believers in the past, present and the future.

            Salvation by grace through faith is a non-negotiable tenet of Historic Christianity. The Bible states that the believers are saved by the grace of God through their faith in Christ. Consequentially, our good works cannot get us to heaven.

            If Christ is not God, good works should get us to heaven. But the Bible categorically asserts that good works cannot save anyone (Romans 3: 20; Ephesians 2: 8-9; Titus 3: 5).

            An imperfect (sinful) man cannot perform good works to perfection. So he cannot go to heaven. If God still hauls this imperfect man into heaven, then by implication, good works is unnecessary, since God, in any case, will haul all degrees of imperfections into heaven. So salvation by good works is a self destructing position.  

            Significantly, those who do not believe in Christ as God remain in an appalling predicament. If good works cannot save people and if the man Jesus cannot save people, how would they be saved (if Christ is not God)?

Could The Man Jesus Save Humanity?

            Why was Jesus’ narrative included in the Bible if HE was not considered as God by the authors? If Jesus is not God, HE is a meaningless component in the Bible.

            Some may argue that God saves people through the man Jesus. Why would God sacrifice a man to save mankind of their sins when HE could have sacrificed a goat or an unclean pig?

            Why did God intend horrendous suffering and crucifixion for the man Jesus when suffering was totally unnecessary? Is God a cosmic sadist?  

            If Christ was a man, he was a sinner. An imperfect sacrifice cannot save mankind from their sins. A sinner cannot save another sinner. Or on what merits could a sinner save another sinner?

            God-ordained animal sacrifices (performed in the Old Testament) provided a temporary covering of sins. The animal sacrifices did not save man, but God saved man through the animal sacrifices.

            So Christ’s sacrifice, if HE were not God, would be non-salvific or could only save  himself – albeit temporarily, not permanently.  

            Hence C.S Lewis in his classic work Mere Christianity said, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

            In addition, if Christ is not God…

Bible Is Erroneous

            Bible is the primary source that reveals Christ’s deity. The Bible would be fallible if Christ is not God. A fallible Bible is not trustworthy.

Christianity & Other Theistic Religions Are Alike

            The deity of Jesus Christ is a significantly unique facet of Christianity. Nothing separates Christianity from other religions if Christ is not God.

            In fact, Hinduism believes in the deity of Christ. Hindus believe that Christ is one among the many gods they believe in. If Christians do not believe in Christ as God, it seems that Hindus are more Christians than the non-Christ-believing Christians.

Christ Need Not Be Believed Or Worshipped

            Belief and worship of Christ is immaterial if Christ is not God. But the Bible mandates everyone to believe in Christ for salvation and worship HIM alone [W].

            If Christ is not God, people merely ought to believe in God. So which flavor of God should they believe in? Obviously not the God of the Bible, since the Bible would be erroneous if Christ is not God. So would they believe in the God of Quran or Vedas….?

            In order to conclude, let us consider the following:

Necessity of Christ

            The apostle Paul, after establishing Christ’s divinity, asserts Christ’s necessity, “…and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied…” (1 Corinthians 15: 17-19, NASB).

            Resurrection of Christ makes profound salvific sense only because Christ is God. Had Christ not been God, HIS resurrection would have been a mere miracle without salvific significance, similar to the resurrections of the widow’s son, Lazarus and Jairus’ daughter.

How Did Christ Respond To Those Who Did Not Believe HIM?

            The Pharisees denied Christ’s deity. So Christ doomed them to hell (cf. Matthew 5: 20). HE also humiliated them by labeling them blind guides, fools, snakes, brood of vipers, hypocrites, and whitewashed tombs.

            So Christ is God. There’s no denying this fact. But there are consequences to denying Christ. I pray that everyone believes in Christ and be saved. Amen.  

Endnotes:

[W] The Bible mandates worship of Jesus (Matthew 2:2, 2: 11, 4: 10, 8: 2, 14: 33, 28: 9; Luke 24: 52; John 9: 38; Hebrews 1: 6), thus affirming Christ’s deity.