 |
 |
|
By NiteOwlDave
The following verses in Matthew 24, 4-5 are
certainly prophetic in view of the growing number of religious cults today.
Jesus said,
"Take heed that no man
deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ', AND
SHALL DECEIVE MANY."
Most cults claim to be Bible-based, when in
fact they borrow elements of biblical truth or add to the inerrant Word of God.
If what is promoted by a religious group flies
in the face of Holy Scripture, that group must be called in error and judged as
being false.
Its promoters and adherents will face the
wrath of a Holy God; if not now, certainly in the afterlife.
The apostle John in the Book of Revelations
warns in the third and fourth last verses in the Bible, Revelations 22:18-19,
"I warn everyone who hears
the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God
will add to him the plagues described in this book.
"And if anyone takes words
away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the
tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."
What is a cult?
The commonly held definition is that a cult is
simply a belief system.
But more correctly, a cult is a group led by a
dictatorial leader who demands unquestioning adherence to his doctrines which
are generally taken from the Scripture out of context.
With the Bible being our measuring stick, let
us examine here a few of the more prominent cults in North America.
Jehovah's Witnesses
The modern-day Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) was
founded by Charles T. Russell in 1876.
Over the years the JW's have gone by the names
Russellites, Millennial Dawnists, Watch Tower Society, and International Bible
Students.
JW teachings are undeniably wrong when held up
to the light of Scripture.
Aside from the facts that they refuse blood
transfusions, will not salute the flag or honor any government, will have no
part of war, or honor traditional Christian holidays (pet peeve items which we
will not address here), Jehovah Witnesses:
1. Deny that Christ literally rose from
the dead as the Bible states, but teach that Christ was raised an invisible
spirit;
2. Deny that Jesus Christ is equal with
the Father as the Bible states, but teach that Jesus was the first
"created" being;
3. Deny the biblical teaching of an
eternal soul, but teach that the soul fades away at death and that man will
never face God for an accounting;
4. Deny the biblical teaching of the
three-person Godhead, the Trinity;
5. Teach that God began to set up on
this earth His kingdom in 1914, and that only 144,000 JW's will become part of
that kingdom;
6. Denounce all organized religion, and
teach that all ministers except themselves are frauds;
7. Denounce the existence of a literal
Hell, teaching that it is an invention of the Devil who will ultimately be
completely annihilated.
Christian Science
Christian Science, "discovered" by
Mary Baker Eddy in 1866, is neither Christian nor scientific.
The textbook of Christian Science is
"Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," which Mrs. Eddy
wrote, she said, by divine inspiration.
This unbiblical cult:
1. Denies the existence of a personal
God. God is taught to be a divine principle, a state of mind;
2. Teaches that Jesus Christ was a
divine idea—not a real person;
3. Denies biblical creation, but teaches
that man is "the expression of infinite mind";
4. Denies the biblical teaching of sin
and teaches that sin "is simply a belief, an illusion";
5. Denies the biblical teaching of a
literal Satan;
6. Teaches that angels are only exalted
thoughts;
7. Denies there is a literal Heaven;
8. Denies there is a Hell;
9. Teaches that sickness and disease are
not real. They are "mental errors";
10. Teaches that death is not real, only
a "mortal dream".
Unity
Closely allied to the unbiblical thought of
Christian Science is The Unity School of Christianity, founded by Charles and
Myrtle Fillmore in 1922.
Extremely hard to pin down its beliefs, Unity
is a hodgepodge of thought. Unity:
1. Teaches that God is a principle. When
man attains complete unity with this principle, good health and prosperity will
follow;
2. Teaches that Jesus Christ was not a
person;
3. Teaches that salvation is the
"energy of light through which creative mind rules heaven and earth, when
his mind of love synchronizes with creative mind";
4. Denies the biblical teaching of the
fall of man, the new birth, and the reality of sin and Hell;
5. Teaches the Hindu doctrine of
repeated reincarnation until perfection is attained.
Mormonism
Mormonism, also known as the Church of the
Latter Day Saints, was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr., in Fayette, New York, in
1830.
Smith wrote The Book of Mormon which he
claimed was divinely inspired.
A claimed visitation by an angel named Moroni
at age 14, when he was given new revelation written on gold tablets, was the
basis for the Mormon book, which is given equal authority to the Bible.
Upon the death of Smith, who was shot and
killed by an angry mob, Brigham Young became leader, who established new
headquarters in Utah.
Mormons believe:
1. With the Book of Mormon, the Bible,
and a few other chosen writings, the Mormon church believes it is the only true
church and is in possession of all divine written revelation;
2. That sect founder Joseph Smith was
born as God's prophet;
3. That man was not created by God
despite what the Bible says; and that man pre-existed in a celestial world
before becoming human;
4. That man was in the beginning also a
God, the same as Jesus;
5. That eventually man may return to God
status and reach the perfection of the deity;
6. That a living Mormon can be baptized
on behalf of another Mormon who died without being baptized. The Holy
Spirit—a needed element for salvation—enters a Mormon through water
baptism;
7. That until it was outlawed by the
federal government, plural marriages were promoted and practiced by the cult.
While the practice is now outlawed, the written doctrine has not been changed;
8. That marriages extend into eternity;
9. That, according to many Mormons,
Christ was married to Mary and Martha, sisters of the resurrected Lazarus;
10. That salvation is gained by doing
good works and following church orders.
Conclusion: Mormon cult teachings are
diametrically opposite to what the Bible teaches. It is therefore a
"doctrine of devils" and is totally false!
Seventh-Day Adventism
One of the fastest-growing and most deceptive
religious cults is Seventh-day Adventism (SDA).
For public consumption the sect preaches the
biblical "gospel".
A deeper look shows it preaches poison.
Most believe the fundamental difference
between traditional Christianity and SDA is that the Adventists chose to
observe Saturday as the Sabbath as opposed to Sunday.
The present SDA movement began with the
mistake of William Miller who predicted the coming of Christ in 1843, then 1844
when Christ was a no-show.
His followers would not admit to an error, so
they claimed that Christ had in fact come—not to earth but to a different
part of Heaven!
The false foundation of the Seventh Day
Adventists was inspired from a Mrs. Ellen White, whose vision spawned the
following unscriptural doctrine that states:
1. Christ came back in 1844 and has been
in the "Sanctuary" of Heaven since then to complete the atonement He
began at Calvary;
2. The SDA are a select
"remnant" group chosen by God who alone have total truth;
3. They are the 144,000 of Revelation 7,
and they alone have the message of the last days;
4. The three angels of Revelations
14:6-11 are a prophecy of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church of the
"latter" days;
5. That Sabbath-keeping will constitute
the "seal of the living God" and is the final mark of salvation;
6. Observing the Sabbath on Sunday and
not Saturday will be the "mark of the Beast" (in other words, one's
salvation is determined by which day is observed as the Sabbath);
7. That the "scapegoat" in
Leviticus 16 was symbolical of Satan, upon whom the sins of the people were
laid, thus making Satan our sin-bearer;
8. That Jesus inherited our Adam's
sinful nature, and therefore possessed an inborn inclination to sin;
9. The verses which speak of a
Christian, upon dying, being "present with the Lord" are false, where
death means soul sleep;
10. That there is no Hell, where those
who are not Christians at death will in the end be reduced to ashes;
11. That the Millennium of Revelations
is bogus and that Christ will not reign on earth for 1,000 years.
The Seventh-Day Adventists do teach enough
Biblical truth to blind the eyes to the wretched wrongs which are cleverly
mixed in with the truth.
Bahaism
With its roots in Persia, Bahai is one of the
strangest religions in the world.
The present movement is the outgrowth of an
earlier cult founded by the "Bab", a Persian prophet.
Bahai acknowledge Jesus as being a great
prophet, but proclaim Mohammed as greater.
Following the execution of the "Bab"
by Mohammedan authorities in the public square at Tabriz, Persia, in 1850, the
movement was taken up by the Bahaullah who had been designed by the
"Bab" as the final Messiah who would cause the whole world to accept
the Koran (the Mohammeden Bible) as the final word of Allah.
Since 1957 when prophet Shoghi Effendi, called
the final Messenger, died, there have been a dozen leaders elected to oversee
and direct the affairs of Bahaism.
Bahaism teaches that:
1. God is unknowable except through Bahai
prophet;
2. Divine revelation is continuous and
progressive;
3. The evolution of man's spiritual and
social position occurs in cycles of one thousand years;
4. The mission of Bahaism is to unite
all men in one faith and one religion—Bahaism;
5. The final age of peace will come
through God's prophet, the head of Bahaism.
Conclusion
So what conclusions can we draw from this
brief look into a few of the more-popular cults?
Well, they each swipe elements of clear
Biblical theology.
They then add or subtract from the Holy
Scripture to make a bogus, hodge-podge theology.
They refuse to accept the Bible as the total,
God-inspired, don't-mess-with-it, all-inclusive Word of God.
The cults each claim they have been given new
revelation through their prophets.
This then makes THEM God's final witnesses to
the world.
There can only be two sources of final
witness—God of Glory or destructive Satan from the pit of Hell.
(Note: Examinations of other cults
will be examined and posted here over time.)
 |
 |