Sabbatical time

     I've decided to take a week off and take a break.  We all need them sometime in our lives.  Use this time for your sabbatical as well.
Steve

What are some signs and practices of a cult?

by Matt Slick

There have been many serious studies on the dynamics of cults and behavior of people within those cults. Following is a representative list of characteristics common in cult groups. Not all cults hold to every item. 

We have to be careful when assigning cult-like behavior to any group. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so to, cult-like behavior is subjective. Generally, it takes a trained person who can identify unhealthy patterns and teachings as compared to healthy ones and can then identify a cult.  Furthermore, cult-like behavior is more commonly identified through excessive control, manipulation, and esoteric teaching of a group where the group's members are often isolated and indoctrinated into special teachings and practices.

Social aspects of cult-like behavior

For a group to be a cult in the social sense, many of the following characteristics would have to be present. For a group to be a cult in the doctrinal sense, essentials (in this case of the Christian faith) would have to be violated. Some of the characteristics are listed below.

1. Submission: 
   
   1. Complete, almost unquestioned trust in the leadership. 
   2. Leaders are often seen as prophets, apostles, or special individuals with unusual connections to God. This helps a person give themselves over psychologically to trusting someone else for their spiritual welfare.
   3. Increased submission to the leadership is rewarded with additional responsibilities and/or roles, and/or praises, increasing the importance of the person within the group.
2. Exclusivity
   
   1. Their group is the only true religious system, or one of the few true remnants of God's people.
3. Persecution complex
   
   1. Us against them mentality. Therefore, when someone (inside or outside of the group) corrects the group in doctrine and/or behavior, it is interpreted as persecution, which then is interpreted as validation.  
4. Control
   
   1. Control of members' actions and thinking through repeated indoctrination and/or threats of loss of salvation, or a place to live, or receiving curses from God, etc.
5. Isolation
   
   1. Minimizing contact of church members with those outside the group. This facilitates a further control over the thinking and practices of the members by the leadership.
6. Love Bombing
   
   1. Showing great attention and love to a person in the group by others in the group, to help transfer emotional dependence to the group.
7. Special Knowledge
   
   1. Instructions and/or knowledge are sometimes said to be received by a leader(s) from God. This leader then informs the members.
   2. The Special Knowledge can be received through visions, dreams, or new interpretations of sacred scriptures such as the Bible.
8. Indoctrination
   
   1. The teachings of the group are repeatedly drilled into the members, but the indoctrination usually occurs around Special Knowledge.
9. Salvation
   
   1. Salvation from the judgment of God is maintained through association and/or submission with the group, its authority, and/or its Special Knowledge.
10. Group Think
    
    1. The group's coherence is maintained by the observance to policies handed down from those in authority.
    2. There is an internal enforcement of policies by members who reward "proper" behavior, and those who perform properly are rewarded with further inclusion and acceptance by the group.
11. Cognitive Dissonance
    
    1. Avoidance of critical thinking and/or maintaining logically impossible beliefs and/or beliefs that are inconsistent with other beliefs held by the group.
    2. Avoidance of and/or denial of any facts that might contradict the group's belief system.
12. Shunning
    
    1. Those who do not keep in step with group policies are shunned and/or expelled.
13. Gender Roles
    
    1. Control of gender roles and definitions.
    2. Severe control of gender roles sometimes leads to sexual exploitation.
14. Appearance Standards
    
    1. Often a common appearance is required and maintained. For instance, women might wear prairie dresses, and/or their hair in buns, and/or no makeup, and/or the men might all wear white short-sleeved shirts, and/or without beards, or all wear beards.

Doctrinal aspects of a cult

Since CARM is a Christian-based ministry (statement of faith) it holds to the essential doctrines of the Christian faith. Therefore, deviation from any of the doctrinal essentials as defined by the Bible would qualify a group as being a cult. The essentials of the Christian faith, as revealed in Scripture, are as follows:

1. The Deity of Christ
   1. Jesus is God in flesh (John 8:58 with Exodus 3:14). See also John 1:1, 14; 8:24; 10:30-33; 20:28; Col. 2:9; Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 1:8
2. Salvation by grace through faith alone
   1. Romans 3:28; 4:1-5; 5:1; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 3:21;5:3-5
3. The physical resurrection of Christ
   1. John 2:19-21; 1 Corinthians 15:14, 17; John 20:25-28; Luke 24:39
4. The Gospel, as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
   1. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Galatians 1:8-9
5. Monotheism
   1. Exodus 20:3-6; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6, 8
6. Trinity
   1. Though the Trinity is not explicitly defined in Scripture and stated to be a necessity, it is a logically necessary doctrine since it properly describes the true nature of God.
   2. Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19; 1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:4-6
7. Virgin Birth
   1. The Virgin birth is an essential to the Christian faith since without it, the true nature of the incarnation of Christ could not be scripturally maintained and it could not be said that Jesus is deity.
   2. Matthew 1:23

What makes a church or group non-Christian?

by Matt Slick
12/03/08

There are many non-Christian religions and cults in America: Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Unity, The Way International, Unitarianism, Islam, Hinduism, etc. They all claim special revelation and privilege and those that use the Bible invariably interpret it in disharmony with standard biblical understanding.  And groups like the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses object to being labeled a "cult" because it often gets an emotional reaction as well as is a label they want to avoid.

The dictionary defines cult as "a system of religious worship or ritual"; "devoted attachment to, or extravagant admiration for, a person, principle, etc.", "a group of followers."1

This is a typical secular definition and, by it, any believer in any god is a cultist, even atheists since they have an admiration for a principle and are a group of followers of the philosophy of atheism.  Therefore, this is too broad a definition since it doesn't sufficiently address the issue of true and false religious systems.

The definition I use (and other Christian ministries and theologians use as well) for "non-Christian cult" or "non-Christian religion" is a group that may or may not include the Bible in its set of authoritative scriptures. If it does include the Bible, it distorts the true biblical doctrines that effect salvation sufficiently so as to void salvation.¹ If it doesn't use the Bible, it is a non-Christian religion and does not participate in the benefit of divine revelation.

In Christian bookstores, there are almost always 'cult' sections which include the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.  So, I am not alone in describing what a non-Christian, bible-based cult is.  Nevertheless, what makes something non-Christian is when it denies the essential doctrines of the Bible.

• The Deity of Christ, which involves The Trinity
• the Resurrection, and
• Salvation by Grace

All of them add to the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Some cult groups even add to the Bible, i.e., Mormonism which has the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. Also, Christian Science has added Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The Jehovah's Witnesses, however, have actually changed the text of the Bible to make it fit what they want it to. For information on this see 'Jehovah's Witnesses and how they have changed the Bible.'

Cults add their own efforts, their own works of righteousness to the finished work of salvation accomplished by Jesus on the cross. All Cults say that Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient, but that our works must be 'mixed with' or 'added to' His in order to prove that we are saved and worthy of salvation. They say one thing but believe another. They maintain that they must prove themselves worthy and that they must try their best to please God and prove to Him that they are sincere, have worked hard, and are then worthy to be with Him. In other words, they do their best and God takes care of the rest.

This is absolutely wrong. The Bible says that we are saved by grace, not by works: "For by grace you have been saved through faith...not as a result of works, that no one should boast," (Eph. 2:8-9, NASB); not by anything we do: "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law," (Rom. 3:28, NASB). Because if there was anything that we could do to merit the forgiveness of our sins, then Jesus died needlessly: "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified...I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly," (Gal. 2:16, 21, NASB).

People in cults will often cite James 2:26 where it says that faith without works is dead in an attempt to demonstrate that works are part of becoming saved. While it is true that faith without works is dead, it isn't the works that save us.  James is saying that if you have real and true faith, it will result in real and true works of Christianity.  In other words, you do good works because you are saved, not to get saved.  He isn't saying that our works are what saves us, or that they, in combination with the finished work of Christ, save us. James is simply telling us that if we say we have faith (James 2:14) but we have no works in correspondence to that faith, then that faith won't save us because it is a dead faith.  This agrees with Paul who tells us that faith is what saves us, "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (Rom. 5:1).  This faith is real faith, or true saving faith, not just an empty mental acknowledgement of God's existence -which is what those who say they have faith but show no corresponding godliness are guilty of.  Incidentally, you should realize that faith is only as good as who you put it in.  Just having faith in something doesn't mean you're saved.  That is why it is important to have the True Jesus, because if you have great faith but it is in the wrong Jesus -the Jesus of a cult- then your faith is useless.

In Mormonism Jesus is the brother of the devil begotten through sexual intercourse from a God who came from another planet. In Jehovah's Witnesses, he is Michael the Archangel who became a man. In the New Age Movement, he is a man in tune with the divine consciousness. Which is true? The only true Jesus is the one of the Bible, the one who is prayed to (1 Cor. 1:1-2 with Psalm 116:1; Acts 7:55-60); worshipped (Matt. 2:2, 11, 14:33, John 9:35-38, Heb. 1:8), and called God (John 20:28; Col. 2:9). The Jesus of the Cults is not prayed to, worshipped, or called God. And since the Jesus of the Bible is the only one who reveals the Father (Luke 10:22) so that you may have eternal life (John 17:3), you must have the true Jesus who alone is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Another common denominator among the Cults is their methods for twisting scripture. Some of the errors they commit in interpreting Scripture are:
1) taking Scripture out of context; 2) reading into the Scriptures information that is not there; 3) picking and choosing only the Scriptures that suit their needs; 4) ignoring other explanations; 5) combining scriptures that don't have anything to do with each other; 5) quoting a verse without giving its location; 6) incorrect definitions of key words; and 7) mistranslations. These are only a few of the many ways Cults misuse Scripture.

If you want to be able to witness well to a person in a cult, you need to understand their doctrines as well as your own. It would be a good idea to study Christian Doctrine: the Bible, God, Creation, Man; and Christian Doctrine: Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Salvation... as well as The Essential Doctrines of Christianity to become better equipped. Through study, you will be able to answer questions that often come up in witnessing encounters. A Christian should know his doctrine well enough to be able to recognize not only what is true, but also what is false in a religious system (1 Pet. 3:15; 2 Tim. 2:15).

Jesus warned us that in the last days false Christs and false prophets would arise and deceive many (Matt. 24:24). The Lord knew that there would be a rise of the spirit of Antichrist (1 John 4:1-3) in the last days. Its manifestation is here in the forms of Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the New Age Movement, among others.

Terminology of Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses

by Matt Slick

Words are the tools of evangelism. With Cults, definitions are the tools you need to sharpen. It is vitally important, especially with Mormons, to know the meanings of the words they use. A Mormon can say he believes in the Trinity and salvation by grace but what he means is that he believes in the godhead, which is an office held by three separate gods, and that resurrection is a free gift to everyone. With J.W.'s, for example, the Holy Spirit is not a person but a force like radar. So, if you don't know their definitions you'll only be talking in circles.

Know their definitions and you will be a much more effective witness for Christ.

LDS = Latter-day Saints or Mormons. JW = Jehovah's Witnesses.

BIBLE

• LDS - The Bible is correct only as far as it is correctly translated. It is basically trustworthy. It is the only one of the four standard works (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) that is not considered infallible.
• JW - The Bible is the inerrant word of God. (Be careful. Though the J.W. organization believes in the inspired Word of God it has changed the Bible to support its own theological bias.)
• Bible - the Bible is the inspired inerrant word of God (2 Timothy 3:16).

SALVATION

• LDS - Simple bodily resurrection. It does not simply mean forgiveness of sins. Jesus died for universal resurrection.
• JW - Earned by good works in cooperation with Jesus' sacrifice.
• Bible - Forgiveness of sins with the result of a present new life and in the future eternal life with God (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Rom. 6:23; Rom. 10:9-10).

HEAVEN

• LDS - Divided into three Kingdoms: Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. The Celestial is for perfect Mormons, the Terrestrial is for moral people and lukewarm LDS, and the Telestial Kingdom is for everyone else.
• JW - The place that God dwells. Christians do not go to heaven except for 144,000 elite JW's.
• Bible - The dwelling place of God (1 Kings 8:30). Christians go to heaven.

KINGDOM OF GOD

• LDS - Celestial heaven.
• JW - God's "theocratic" rule on earth, his "system of things."
• Bible - All the believers of Christ (Matt. 13:41-43).

HOLY GHOST

• LDS - "A spirit man. He can only be at one place at one time... " (Mormon Doctrine by Bruce McConkie, p. 359.) The Holy Ghost is contrasted with the Spirit of God which is the influence of the Godhead that fills the immensity of space which enables God to know what is going on. It is likened to electricity."
• JW - God's active force. He is not alive, but a force like radar.
• Bible - Third person of the Trinity. Same as Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4).

ETERNAL LIFE

• LDS - Exaltation (exaltation to a Mormon means obtaining Godhood) in the Celestial Kingdom.
• JW - Eternal life on paradise earth - for JW's only.
• Bible - Forgiveness of sins and life eternal with God (John 17:3; Rom. 6:23).

GODHEAD

• LDS - An office held by three separate Gods: the Father who is a god; Jesus who is a god; and the Holy Ghost who is a god.
• JW - Consists of only one person: the Father.
• Bible - God Himself, not an office. Three persons in one God. A Trinity: The Father; the Son; and the Holy Spirit.

JESUS

• LDS - Spirit brother of Satan. A god in the Godhead. He is Jehovah of the O.T. compared to Elohim being the Father. He was the first spirit child to be born to the Father and Mother gods.
• JW - Jesus is not God, but Michael the Archangel who became a man and then stopped being a man and became an angel again.
• Bible - Jesus is God, second person of the Trinity (John 1:1,14; Col. 2:9).

ATONEMENT

• LDS - The sacrifice of Christ that made resurrection possible along with the possibility of our earning forgiveness of sins.
• JW - The atonement makes possible our earning salvation.
• Bible - The substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. He died for our sins (1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 2:2).

PRE-EXISTENCE

• LDS - We existed in heaven with God our (literal) Father before we became human.
• JW - No pre-existence.
• Bible - We did not exist before we came to earth (1 Cor. 15:46).

GOSPEL

• LDS - The laws and the ordinances of the Mormon church.
• JW - The teachings of Jesus, the kingdom and kingdom work (it is general and vague).
• Bible - The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our sins (1 Cor. 15:1-4).

•  

As you can see, some definitions are quite different. Some are very similar. The better you know them the better able you will be prepared to "give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Pet. 3:15).

Do we have the right to make these judgments?

by Matt Slick

To pronounce another religious group to be false can seem a pompous undertaking, especially in a culture that preaches tolerance for everything from homosexuality to a mother's "right" to kill her unborn child. Tolerance is the banner that unites much of our culture and anyone who points a judging finger at someone or something is often ridiculed.

But Christians are told in the Bible to separate themselves from the sinful practices of man and to expose error. "Examine all things and to hold fast to that which is true," says God's word (1 Thess. 5:21). So we do.

What does it mean to examine if we do not judge what is right and wrong? Jesus judged the Pharisees as hypocrites. Peter judged Ananias and Saphira as liars (Acts 5:3-4). Paul judged the Galatians as fools (Gal. 3:1).

The reason something can be said to be right or wrong is because the Bible has laid out before us a moral and doctrinal standard that is clear. It is wrong to lie. So, we are able to say to someone who lies, "What you are doing is wrong." That is making a judgment.

Likewise, with the cults, as Christians we are commanded to be able to give answers to everyone (1 Pet. 3:15) and to contend for the faith that was delivered by the apostles (Jude 4). If we do not fight for the faith, the faith will be lost. If we do not expose the errors of the cults, homosexuality, secular humanism, evolution, Islam, Roman Catholicism, then the false teachings will move unchecked in the world and lead even more into eternal destruction.

To make a judgment means that we must recognize that there are absolutes. In a world that worships relativism, absolutes are not welcome and the cults and false religions that promote their false doctrines beg tolerance; they don't want to be examined.

CARM stands for the truth of God's word, not a compromising collection of beliefs that changes as people's whims vary. False religions and secular idiologies that deny who Jesus really is are worthy topics of examination.  But in examining, judgments are made.  Of course, we don't advocate violence nor oppression against anyone.  But we do promote honest, biblical, logical examination of different belief systems and if they don't measure up to scripture, we say so.

Cult Comparison Chart

by Matt Slick
12/03/08

This chart is a simplification of various groups and their beliefs. It is, to be realistic, an oversimplification. But it gives the reader an idea of where the groups stand.

Group Name	Founder	The Gospel	The Church	God	Jesus	Salvation	Jesus' Resur-rection	Scripture and writings associated with group
Christianity (The Truth to compare against)	Jesus Christ	That Jesus saves from sin	Those who are saved	Trinity: 3 Persons in one God	God in flesh	by Grace	Jesus rose in the same body he died in.	The Bible alone
Christad- elphianism	John Thomas (1805-1871) founded 1848	Faith in Christ and baptism	Members of their church	One God as one person	Created being. A man with a sin nature	Baptism is required	Yes	The Bible is inspired. Elpis Israel, Eureka written by founder.
Christian Science	Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910)	Religious beliefs of Jesus' teachings, not the atonement.	A collection of spiritual ideas	Impersonal Universal Presence	A man in tune with the Divine Consciousness, not the Christ.	Correct thinking	No	Bible, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Miscellany
Islam	Muh-ammad	Faith in Allah and works	n/a	One God: Allah. Non Trinitarian	Created being. A prophet. Not God.	by Allah's grace and man's works	No.	Qur'an, Hadith
Jehovah's Witnesses	Charles T. Russell (1852-1916) founded 1879	Jesus opened the door for us to earn our salvation	Members of their church	One Person	Created being. Michael the archangel who became a man	Keeping the command-ments, being in their Organization	No	Bible, Studies in the Scriptures, presently the Watchtower and Awake Magazines
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints (Mormons)	Joseph Smith (1805-1844) founded 1830	Jesus' atonement plus the Laws and ordinances of the gospel	Members of their church	Triad - 3 gods.	Created being. The brother of the devil and of all people	Resurrected by grace, saved by doing works.	Yes	The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price
Oneness Pentecostal	N/A	Faith in Christ and baptism	Members of their church	One Person modalism	God in flesh	By faith and baptism "in Jesus' name" in their church	Yes	The Bible
Theosophy	Madame Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) founded 1875	n/a	n/a	God is a principle	Created being. A great teacher	*	No	The Secret Doctrine, Isis Unveiled, The Key to Theosophy, and The Voice of the Silence
Unity	Charles Fillmore (1854-1948) founded 1889	The overall principles of Unity	A collection of spiritual ideas	Impersonal Universal Power	Created being. A man, not the Christ	Adopting the correct Unity thought principles	No	Bible, Unity Magazine, Metaphysical Bible Dictionary.
Way International	Victor Paul Weirwell (1917-1985)	Earned	Members of their church	One Person	Created being. A man, not God in flesh	By works	Yes	Bible, Jesus Christ is Not God, Power for Abundant Living