Interesting Article: The Marks of a Cult

[bbyrd009]

"Spiritual Terrorism is about the effect of fear-based religion on people's lives who have been spiritually abused by a negative conception of God through eternal hell-fire preaching and teaching. The doctrine of eternal punishment in literal fire is at the heart of many forms of spiritual abuse and all forms of spiritual terrorism which is the most extreme form of spiritual abuse.

This book effectively explains the symbolic use of fire in the Holy Bible and other Holy Books. The common misunderstanding of the metaphorical usage of fire is the primary cause of spiritual terrorism. Dr. Purcell clarifies the confusion over the Christian doctrine of salvation by grace and judgment which is based on the deeds of life-good or bad. This allows readers to grasp the liberating truth that people are totally free to live their lives but are also totally accountable, at the end of life, for how they have lived their lives.

God will ultimately teach universal empathy and bring about perfect justice for all without violating anyone's free will. Spiritual abuse has the potential to affect all stages of life: in the womb, childhood, youth, young adults, older adults, end of life, and bereavement after the deaths of loved ones. Spiritual abuse may also affect all areas of life: marriage/divorce, emotional/mental/physical abuse, medical treatment or refusal of such treatment for self and children, and domestic and international terrorism.

All major world religions are addressed: Judeo/Christianity, Islam, and the Eastern Religions-Buddhism and Hinduism. Included as well are Native American Beliefs. There is a theme running through all major religions of God's unconditional love, amazing grace, infinite mercy, perfect justice, and a universal homecoming."
http://books.google.com/books/about/...d=KGaKGkg4ZRIC

[bbyrd009]

Not sure I'm comfortable with the mix of Universalism here with the death centricity introduced into Christianity at the Councils, pretty clearly (with hindsight) for the benefit of empire builders...

Ya, part 2 "The Solution to the Problem"
part 2a "Christian Universalism"

So this amounts to an accurate assessment of death centricity,
but amounts to a Universalist invitation, and so confuses an issue, imo.

[bbyrd009]

Originally Posted by bbyrd009

Hmm, to that I would say that I wasn't aware of whichever argument you mean? I see a list of attributes of a cult that seems thoughtful at least, and we have Michael, who for some reason seems to dislike it. That's all (I) know?

bump

[Michael The Disciple]

2. Works Salvation/Legalism: Cults teach that eternal life depends upon something other than the Atonement; i.e., faith in the atoning, finished work of Christ on the cross is deemed not to be sufficient (usually replaced with human works and human responsibility). Rather than relying on the grace of God alone for salvation, the salvation message of the cults always boils down to required obedience to, or abstention from, certain obligations and practices (some even including obedience to the Old Testament law).

This concept is confusing and is itself cultic. If we read this as is one would think that a Christian need do nothing. Jesus said we must do many things if we want to enter his Kingdom. Deny yourself. Take up the cross. Hate your life in this world.

Many things. Grace is Gods favor in ones life. If his favor is there you will have a great desire to do what he says. Cults love to teach you need do nothing. Jesus said if we dont do his will he will tell us "depart ye that work iniquity".

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by bbyrd009

Hmm, to that I would say that I wasn't aware of whichever argument you mean? I see a list of attributes of a cult that seems thoughtful at least, and we have Michael, who for some reason seems to dislike it. That's all (I) know?

because it's contrived and subjective? That's all (I) know? Do people really talk like this! No?

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by crakjak

Jesus is our example, He has made all the difference. He came to be the Savior of all humanity, and at that He will succeed. He reserved his rebuke for those "religious leaders" that abused the folks, manipulated them for their own power and control, thinking the were doing what God want them to do. But they like many religious leaders today miss the whole point of God's purpose.

Again I recommend every believer to read "Spiritual Terrorism" 'Spiritual Abuse from the Womb to the Tomb', by Boyd C. Purcell Ph.D. spiritual abusers, terrorisers, and killers are clearly identified. Some of it is kind hard to read, but if you will persist you will be enlightened and your spiritual life greatly enchanced. He was kicked our of his pastorate, became a hospice chaplin, read his stories of counseling many at the end of life, dealing with the baggage of lives of sin and of religious indoctrinations of all sorts. He helps them come to understand God as He really is, and to die in peace.

what does this have to do with the contrived subjective criteria for a cult?

[Michael The Disciple]

6. Exclusivity from/Denunciation of Other Groups: Each cult group, regardless of what other doctrines are taught, will all have this one common idea -- "The Only True Church Syndrome." The members of each specific organization have been taught that their church, organization, or community, is the only true group and that all other groups are false.

This perfectly describes the Protestant Church. Thousands of "Apologetics" sites litter the internet bearing witness of this. Unless you believe in Trinitarianism they declare you deceived.

Unless you believe in their false "Christ did it all once saved always saved theology" you are counted as a legalist works preaching cultist.

We are supposed to bring our doctrine to Protestants and allow them to judge by their standards whether we are a cult? WHAT?

What about rightly dividing the word of truth?

The most dangerous cult for seekers of Christ is the mainstream Protestant Churches.

[Michael The Disciple]

9. Defective "Nature of Man": Most cults do not see man as an immortal being; instead they see him either as an animal without a soul or as a being which is being perfected to the point of becoming a god. They usually do not see man as a spirit clothed in a body of flesh awaiting the redemption of body and soul.

So ridiculous. Paul taught in conformity with all scripture that men are MORTAL and our journey in Christ is a journey toward IMMORTALITY.

A careful reading of and belief in what Paul taught the Romans is sufficient to prove he did not see men as having immortality, eternal life apart from Jesus Christ.

Romans 2:6-7

6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Why would Christians be seeking for something they already have? Again its the opposite of Protestant doctrine that is true. Cults teach man has his own immortal soul through which he already has eternal life.

[Michael The Disciple]

11. Erroneous Doctrines Concerning Life After Death and Retribution: Covering the gamut from soul sleep to annihilationism to purgatory to universalism to the progression to godhood, cults invariably deny the existence of a final judgment of, and a final "resting" place for, the unrighteous.

Cults deny the need for the resurrection by teaching we immediately are with the Lord at death. Rather Paul taught at the second coming and resurrection THEN we would BE WITH THE LORD.

1 Thess. 4:16-18

. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Aquila

I found this article to be VERY interesting. If you choose to read this please share your thoughts...

The Marks of a Cult
One must be careful to distinguish between the sociological position of what constitutes a cult (i.e., which states that whatever is normative to a given culture is not cultic) and the theological position (i.e., which states that only those groups that adhere to the Bible as the basis for all theology and practice are considered normative, and thereby, not cultic).

From the theological viewpoint, any group or religious system, whether it calls itself "Christian" or not, that offers other criteria as equal to or superior to the Bible, including but not limited to erroneous and/or exclusive interpretations of Scripture, should be considered a cult. From the theological position, then, a cult can be best defined as:

A system of religious beliefs and rituals with a body of adherents deeply devoted to an extrabiblical person, idea, or thing; it cultivates worship in a religion that, with reference to its basis for man's salvation, is considered to be unorthodox, spurious, or false, thereby insulating its members against true salvation in Christ. And inasmuch as the central doctrine of Biblical Christianity is the sacrificial death of Christ for man's sin (Eph. 2:8,9), all cultic deviations tend to downplay the finished work of Christ and emphasize the importance of earning moral acceptance before God through one's own religious works.

From the theological viewpoint, all the groups/religious systems included in the Cult section of the Notebook are obviously cults. They are all centered in religious beliefs or practices calling for devotion to a religious view centered in false doctrine -- it is nothing less than organized heresy.

To be classified as a cult, not all of the following characteristics have to be present, but in most cases, in one form or another, all of them will be:

1. Extrabiblical Authority: All cults deny what God says in His Word as true. Cults have shifted their theological point of authority away from God's full and final written Word, the Bible, to their own unique, self-promoting opinions about the Bible; they generally will use parts of the Bible but will have their own unique scripture which is considered to be superior to the Bible. While some cult groups give token respect for the Bible and go through the motions of accepting the authority of Scripture, in reality, they honor the group's or leader's novel interpretation of Scripture as normative.

Cults don't value Scripture as final authority. They add their own body of scripture, or a single man's interpretation either as an individual church or organization.

2. Works Salvation/Legalism: Cults teach that eternal life depends upon something other than the Atonement; i.e., faith in the atoning, finished work of Christ on the cross is deemed not to be sufficient (usually replaced with human works and human responsibility). Rather than relying on the grace of God alone for salvation, the salvation message of the cults always boils down to required obedience to, or abstention from, certain obligations and practices (some even including obedience to the Old Testament law).

Cults deny the reality of the atonement, justification by faith, regeneration, adoption, sanctification, as a work of God. Instead salvation is probationary, depending upon how one "obeys, the rules", which are man made standards or standards based on the Law of Moses.

3. No Assurance of Salvation: The issue of a cult member's salvation is never settled, but is constantly affected by the changing circumstances of life; in this way, cult leaders are able to produce continued obligation and spiritual bondage, rather than spiritual freedom.

Salvation is probationary, the believer living in constant fear and uncertainty regarding their position in Christ.

4. Guru-Type Leader/Modern Prophet: The cult leader is looked to as the infallible interpreter of Scripture, specially appointed by God to be a special saint, guru, or contemporary messiah, and thereby, has divine authority that must not be violated. Cultists almost always quote their leader rather than the Bible. The cult's adherents often expound the virtues of the founders and seek to cover the founder's sins and wickedness.

Faith is focused on pleasing the pastor or prophet, not Christ. The prophet's abuses are excused and ignored.

5. Vacillating, Ambiguous Doctrines/Spiritual Deception: In order to gain favor with the public, and thereby aid in the recruitment of new members, cult "doctrine" tends to be characterized by many false or deceptive claims concerning the cult's true spiritual beliefs (e.g., Mormons are not quick to reveal their belief that God was a man, who has now become the God of planet Earth).

Cults hide their errant beliefs from outsiders and reveal them progressively to new converts as they are indoctrinated.

6. Exclusivity from/Denunciation of Other Groups: Each cult group, regardless of what other doctrines are taught, will all have this one common idea -- "The Only True Church Syndrome." The members of each specific organization have been taught that their church, organization, or community, is the only true group and that all other groups are false. The group's leaders will explain that it is impossible to serve God without being a member of the specific group. Moreover, when the cult leader announces himself as the true "Messiah," all others are declared to be dishonest, deceitful, and deluded, and must be put down; alternative views are denounced as being satanic and corrupt. Persecution is welcomed, and even glorified in, as "evidence" that they are being persecuted for righteousness sake. Thus, if a member decides to leave the group, they have been told that they are not simply leaving an organization, but rather they are leaving God and His only true organization. Hence, for a member of a cult who has been in a group for any length of time, the action of leaving the group is much more difficult than what most Christians understand. To leave the group is, in the minds of the cult member, tantamount to leaving God.

A cult teaches that their church or their organization IS the kingdom of God.

7. Claims of Special Discoveries/Additional Revelation: Acceptance of new, contemporary, continual revelations that either deny the Bible or are allowed to explain it. The fundamental characteristic of Christianity is that it is historical, not dependent upon private knowledge and secret, unconfirmable relationships, while the almost universal basis of cult religion is the claimed exclusive revelation that one person has supposedly received. Rather than conforming to Biblical rules of evidence (2 Cor. 13:1), cult leader revelations almost always emanate from hallucinations, visions, dreams, private discoveries, etc. These new revelations often become codified as official written "scripture" of the cults (e.g., The Book of Mormon), and are considered as valid as that of the apostles (and even more relevant because they are given in these end times).

Cults believe their visions and revelations trump the Apostolic witness if the Bible

8. Defective Christology: Cults always have a false view of the nature of the Person of Jesus Christ; a cult will usually deny the true deity of Christ, His true humanity, His true origin, or the true union of the two natures in one Person.

Cults often deny the divinity of Christ or His full humanity.

9. Defective "Nature of Man": Most cults do not see man as an immortal being; instead they see him either as an animal without a soul or as a being which is being perfected to the point of becoming a god. They usually do not see man as a spirit clothed in a body of flesh awaiting the redemption of body and soul.

Self explanatory.

10. Out-Of-Context Scripture Use as Proof-Texts/Segmented Biblical Attention: Cults tend to focus on one verse or passage of the Bible to the exclusion of others, and without regard for the context in which Scripture is given (e.g., 1 Cor. 15:29 used by Mormons to justify baptism for the dead). In addition, cults have made an art form out of using Christian terminology, all the while pouring out their own meanings into the words.

Ignore the whole of Scripture.

11. Erroneous Doctrines Concerning Life After Death and Retribution: Covering the gamut from soul sleep to annihilationism to purgatory to universalism to the progression to godhood, cults invariably deny the existence of a final judgment of, and a final "resting" place for, the unrighteous.

Deny eternal punishment. Seek to grasp individual godhood.

12. Entangling Organization Structure: The less truth a movement represents, the more highly it seems to have to organize itself; the absence of truth seems to make necessary the application of the bonds of fear. Cults often demand total commitment by their converts to an organizational involvement that entangles them in a complicated set of human restrictions, giving the impression of passionate and often irrational devotion to a cause.

Cultic organization of men.

13. Financial Exploitation: The cultic practitioner strongly implies that money contributed to the cause will earn the contributor numerous gifts, powers, and abilities, and in many cases, outright salvation.

Greed. Justifies exploitation with the Bible.

14. Pseudomystical/Spiritistic/Occultic Influence: Occult influence is many times found in either the origin of the group and/or in its current practices.

As found @ http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Cults/marksof.htm