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CULTS AND OCCULTS

An OverviewDeuteronomy 18:10-11; 1 Timothy 4:1Franco G. Teves, Ph.D.

I. INTRODUCTION1. Definitions

•

Cult

•

Occult

•

False Religion2. The True Church and the True Religion in the Bible

•

Central Teachings (Non-negotiables)

•

Minor Teachings (Negotiables but within the context of Biblical truth)II. MARKS OF A CULTIII. CULTIC GROUPS/TEACHINGSIV. HELPING OTHERS RECOGNIZE CULTS AND RUN AWAY FROM THEMV. OCCULTS IN OUR TIMESVI. WHY RENOUNCING CULT AND OCCULT INVOLVEMENT IS NECESSARYVII. THE ARMOR OF GODVIII. FAITHFUL TO THE END

WHAT IS A CULT?

A cult is a system of religious beliefs and rituals that is regarded as unorthodox or spurious, with a great devotion to a person, idea, or thing.

(Webster’s Dictionary)

So a cult is a religious group which differs significantly from the churches that areconsidered as the normative expressions of religion in our culture. A cult oftenhas – or had in the past – a charismatic leader who is or was strong authority forthe believers and has or had a strong influence on the religious teachings of thatgroup.Cults often have very strong doctrines that. make it very difficult for a cultmember to leave. All cults have in common that they deny the fact that salvationcomes through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Some are very explicit about this andare thus easy to recognize – they are what we call “

Non-Christian Cults

”. Othersseem to believe almost the same as we do but if we look closer we see that theirteachings are in fact quite different from what we know as the true word of God – that’s why we call them “

Pseudo-Christian Cults

”.Although still a minority in today’s society, cults seem to offer something that themainstream religions cannot provide. Essentially, they ensnare people in twoways:1. One way is to appeal to the pride of human beings through a rationalisticphilosophy. Their doctrines sound modern and give their followers the feelingthat through following them they will become “someone important”. They offer

higher or secret knowledge

that is supposed to make their followers specialand to give them powers beyond the usual human capabilities.2. The other way is to stimulate the superstitions that many people already carryin themselves. In fact, only a few unsaved people really believe that what theysee in this world is all there is. Instead they assume that there must be somesupernatural force or being which is there to either help or threaten them.Many cults appeal to that kind of belief and offer a religious system based onall kinds of superstitions which they call “faith”.

WHAT IS FALSE RELIGION?

Any religion that denies any of the truth in the Bible is a false religion, whichincludes both

non-Christian cults

and

pseudo-Christian cults

WHAT IS THE OCCULT?

The noun ‘

occult’

—used with ‘the’ as in ‘

the occult’

—means spiritual practicesinvolving ‘hidden’ spiritual mysteries and the supernatural, thus

occultism

. Usedas an adjective, for our purposes, occult means ‘of or relating to the occult’.Occult practice has certain characteristics, one or more of which may be presentin varying degrees:1. Occult practice includes seeking God or truth beyond nature, reason and therational mind—that is, in the supernatural realm.2. Occult practice is based on a belief that communion with God comes throughsubjective, supernatural experience.3. Occult practice involves seeking supernatural energy, spirits, power, presence,influence, action or enchantments.Another way of explaining it is: the occult involves humans by their own effortsand outside biblical means attempting to pierce the veil between the natural andthe supernatural. These efforts might be part of a misguided quest for God andtruth, or stem from a desire for feelings of peace and love that sometimes comeduring occult experience (being manifestations of the angel of light). They mightbe part of a search for supernatural power to help people or even to hurt them(so-called black magic), or to develop occult powers such as the ability to tell thefuture, discern people’s illnesses, heal people magically, or be enthralled bysigns and wonders.Often, especially in mysticism, occult practice requires altered consciousness.The rational mind needs to be turned off; this is one aspect of

seeking beyond reason and the rational mind

and can be accomplished through so-called‘quieting’ the mind in meditation, seeking a ‘still’ or visualized place where youcan ‘go’, dulling the mind through chanting or drumming, taking drugs, orattempting to set a mystical mood with music. Through altered consciousness,Satan gains access to the mind, and through the mind he moves on our hearts,souls and even our bodies, where he or his demons somehow evoke feelings ofpeace or love, or cause manifestations such as jerking, vomiting, electricalcurrents, etc. Manifestations and feelings of love and peace are subjectiveexperience aspects of occultism. Note, the Word of God has no place here.A special word about mysticism, since it is gaining ground in the emergingChurch and in so-called “contemplative prayer”: One author describes it asfollows, noting the typical characteristics of altered consciousness and seekingbeyond the Word of God and beyond reason (or, as he puts it, “ordinaryunderstanding”):