Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language has the meaning of the word “cult” divided into seven different nuances. First, a cult is described as "a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies." If that definition is used, then some people might refer to Christianity as a cult. Webster also defines a cult as "a religion that is considered or held to be false or unorthodox. . ." Again we find that most anyone could charge anyone else with being a member of a cult if we use Webster's definition. Actually the word cult comes from a Latin word the refers to the worth of a society, thus a culture. So anytime a collective group of people agree on the centrality of some aspect of their believe system, it is properly a cult.
One of the world's foremost authorities, Dr. Walter Martin, defined a cult that I find acceptable in the context of the Christian religion. Dr. Martin says that cults are religious groups holding “to doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity and which yet claim the distinction of tracing their origin to orthodox sources.” Obviously this definition is workable since the essential and operative construction of any religious belief must be its own doctrine. For instance, the definition of Christianity includes a wide variance of biblical doctrine. Christians have traditionally declared that certain doctrines are heretical. It is the heresy that leads to sectarianism. Once a sect is established, it is often called a cult. Dr. John Gerstner preferred to use ‘sect’ when referring to those Christian denominations not regarded as evangelical…. Those which do not hold to evangelical principles are not usually called churches at all, but sects or cults.” It may be said that a cult rejects a major tenet of historical orthodox Christianity.
America has dug itself into the abyss of ignorance with the popular notion of freedom of speech and religion. A person can say anything about anyone and they often do, especially when it comes to religious matters. The average man is pitifully ignorant of theological propositions among the world religions. Unfortunately many people do not even understand the creeds and confessions of their own denominations. So how does one expect to understand the difference between the church, a sect, and a cult? It requires diligent study, meditation, and patience to sort out the orthodox from the heterodox. It is for that very reason that God has given "pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. . ." (Ephesians 4:11ff) In Dr. Issac Watts’s book entitled "The Improvement of the Mind" he reminds us that "there are few persons of so penetrating a genius, and so just a judgment, as to be capable of learning the arts and sciences without the assistance of teachers. His assistance is absolutely necessary for most persons, and it is very useful for all beginners. Books are a sort of dumb teachers; they point out the way of learning; but if we labour under any doubt or mistake, they cannot answer sudden questions, or explain present doubts and difficulties: this is properly the work of a living instructor" (p. 62).
So the question is asked: What cults do we face in our nation? The answer is that there are too many to mention, so a couple of the major ones will suffice. We must remember that most of the cults are simply modern versions of ancient heresies faced by the early Christian church. The following are some examples taken from John Witmer’s “Truth About Error.”
"The Christology of Christian Science, for example, is a modern expression of the docetic heresy the Apostle John refuted in his First Epistle (1:1-3 {1 John 1}; 4:1-3 {1 John 4}). The Christian Science emphasis upon the nonreality of evil, disease, and death comes from neo-Platonism, which rests in turn upon Platonic and Zoroastrian dualism with the concepts of the essential evilness of matter.
The Christology of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, on the other hand, is a modern form of Arianism proscribed as heretical by the Council of Nicea. Many of the contemporary heretical cults, furthermore, are imbued with the Judaistic and/or the Gnostic spirit that was confronted and refuted primarily by the Apostle Paul. The Sabbath-keeping, the dietary laws, and the legalism of Seventh-Day Adventism, for example, reflect the Judaistic spirit. On the other hand, the emphasis upon going beyond the simplicity of the Christian faith and becoming an initiate into special truths which is found among the Jehovah’s Witnesses and also to some extent the Mormons reflect the spirit of Gnosticism.”
Before calling any group a cult Christians ought to devote some serious study to their own theology, doctrine, and practice. The evangelical church has not called a church council equal to the councils of the early centuries when the doctrine of the Christian was being worked out since the Westminster Assembly in the 17th century. This brief paper is a challenge to ministers and laymen to call a church council to discuss the basis and doctrine of the Christian religion so the church will know how to stand against the heresies of false religion.
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