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Church or Cult?
Pat Robertson

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How Do I Recognize A Cult?

Practically every cult has certain
characteristics that can tell the careful
observer that something is wrong.

For instance, what does a group think about Related Topics

Jesus? Jesus Christ is God, Lord of all, the
Cults and Occult
only source of salvation. Invariably, a cult
will put something else on an equal footing False Religions

with Christ. It will have a ritual that is equal Church

to Christ, or it will have a doctrine equal to
Christ, or it will have a leader who is equal
to Christ. In other words, even if it acknowledges Christ as Savior, it will say that
you need something else before you can get into heaven. Cults teach that
salvation comes through Christ, plus their little unique way. Some cults do not
acknowledge Christ at all. They may make Him coequal with their religious
Find Peace with God
teachers or with certain great men of history. The quickest way to recognize a Can God change your life?
cult is by its treatment of Jesus. God made it possible for
you to know. Discover
God's peace now.
Second, cults frequently attempt to instill fear into their followers. The followers
are taught constantly that salvation comes only through the cult. "If you leave us,
you will lose your salvation," they say. Need Prayer?
We are here to help and
The third area has to do with the exaltation of the leader of the cult. Cults often encourage you! Send a
prayer request now, or call
center around a man or woman who is trying to gain power, money, or influence 1‑800‑823‑6053
from manipulating people. This appears to be the case in the Unification church
with Sun Myung Moon. In the Children of God, Moses David Berg is an
autocratic leader. In the People's Temple, Jim Jones drew attention to himself Find a Local Church Now
Get more than a Sunday
and asked his followers to die with him. A true leader who serves Jesus Christ sermon. Get to know
others seeking God’s
has one goal, and that is to exalt and manifest Jesus. When someone says he guidance and wisdom for
has unique insight into God or is the special one that God has anointed to reach life.

the world, you are dealing with cultic behavior.

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A final mark of a cult is the unwillingness of the leaders to let the people grow Get Email Updates
up. A true shepherd will do everything he can to bring Christian people to
maturity as quickly as he can. He will not seek to avoid necessary teaching, nor Bible Reading Plans
will he try to keep people from maturity. Many cults perpetuate spiritual
Bible in a Year
dependence so that their followers lose the ability to make independent, rational
Bible in a Year New Testament
decisions. Often techniques of brainwashing are used to create robot-like
Superbook Family Bible Plan
behavior.
Daily Devotional Reading Plan
Although there are other marks of cultic behavior, these seem to be the ones Faith Building Emails
that stand out.
Foundations of the Faith
What Do Mormons Believe? 21 Day Habit

Mormons are some of the most exemplary human beings, especially in regard to Share the Prayer

their behavior patterns and their adherence to the fundamental values of our 40 Days of personal revival

society. But their religious beliefs are, to put is simply, wrong. They believe that
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an angel named Moroni left some gold tablets in upstate New York and that
these tablets were discovered by a man named Joseph Smith. From these
tablets, Joseph Smith "translated" the Book of Mormon, which is the foundation
upon which Mormonism is built. Mormons also consider two other books,
Doctrine and Covenants and The Pearl of Great Price, to be divinely inspired.

Mormonism differs from biblical Christianity in several areas. Mormons do not

believe, for example, that salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ.
Mormons must work their way to heaven. (B. R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine
(Salt Lake City:1958), p. 191.)

Mormonism teaches that God is not the only deity and that we all have the
potential of becoming gods. (Ibid., p. 576.) (Remember that Satan's fall came
about because he wanted to be like God.) God, according to Mormons, is not
just Spirit but has "a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man's." (Doctrine
and Covenants, 130:22.) They teach, "As we are, he was. As he is, we shall
become." (Joseph Smith, "The King Follett Discourse," p. 9.) There has been
constant revision of Mormon doctrine over the years, as church leaders have
changed their minds on a number of subjects including polygamy, which was
once sanctioned by the church.

In summary, the Mormon church is a prosperous, growing organization that has

produced many people of exemplary character. But when it comes to spiritual
matters, the Mormons are far from the truth.

What Do Jehovah's Witnesses Believe?

Jehovah's Witnesses believe, essentially, that to gain salvation you must witness
for Jehovah; you must go out on the streets and proclaim salvation in Jehovah.
They are different from Christians in that they believe Jesus Christ is only one of
many gods and that He is a created being. They translate John 1:1 as, "In the
beginning was the word...and the word was a god." The Greek says, instead,
"And the word was God" (John 1:1).

Because Jehovah's Witnesses give allegiance only to Jehovah, they do not

pledge allegiance to the flag, they do not vote, they do not serve in armed
forces, and they do not hold public office. They do not celebrate holidays or
birthdays. Another unique teaching prohibits them from taking blood
transfusions.

Jehovah's Witnesses originally taught that the world would end in 1914. It

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obviously did not. They also taught that there were only 144,000 people who
were going to be saved by going to heaven. When Jehovah's Witnesses
membership went past 144,000, they said they were the meek and were going
to inherit the earth.

A major problem with the tenets of Jehovah's Witnesses is that there is never an
assurance of salvation. In Christianity, a person can know that he is saved by
trusting in Jesus. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that salvation comes through
good works, so they must work continuously, without ever really knowing
whether they will be saved. Many of their other doctrines are not biblical either.

What Do Unitarians Believe?

Unitarians do not believe in the trinity and they do not believe that Jesus is
divine. They say they worship God only and are attempting to demonstrate a
"genuinely religious" community without doctrinal conformity. They believe in
rationalism, social action, and the inherent goodness of humans. Because they
do not believe in salvation through Jesus Christ, who would have to be divine in
order to save us, they have developed a humanistic type of religion that makes
salvation dependent upon ethical good works.

The beliefs of one member of this society were clearly summarized a few years
ago in an advertisement: "Do Unitarians Believe in Anything? We believe in
brotherhood;...in Civil Rights; in the United Nations; in upgrading our educational
system; in an attack on the problems of poverty; in the nuclear test ban treaty....
Many of us even believe in God."

In 1961, the Unitarians merged with a group called The Universalists who, during
the 19th century held that salvation was ultimately for everyone, regardless of
repentance in this life. The Universalist teaching acknowledges that Jesus is
God, but takes away any human responsibility in salvation. Because the
Unitarians do not believe Jesus is God, it is hard to understand how these two
groups could have gotten together, but they did.

Today it is difficult to distinguish the statements of Unitarians from humanists

and atheists.

What Does The Unification Church Teach?

The Unification Church centers around the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, who
developed the church in Korea and moved its headquarters to the United States
in 1972. Since then it has grown rapidly in size and respectability. Reverend
Moon believes that there is a political solution to the world's problems and that
he should be the world's leader.

The teachings of the Unification Church are found in The Divine Principle, which
is supposedly made up of revelations from God to Moon. According to Moon,
three Adams comprise God's plan for the earth. The first Adam and his wife Eve
were supposed to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth through their
offspring. But they sinned and their fall thwarted God's plans. The second Adam-
-Jesus Christ--was supposed to get married to the perfect mate and take
political power away from the Roman Empire. Instead, says Moon, Satan invaded
Christ's body, He was killed, and God's plans were thwarted again. Moon says
that Jesus is not God but merely a man who perfectly understood what God
wanted. Moon rejects the bodily resurrection of Christ and belief in the Trinity.

The third Adam--what Moon calls the Lord of the Second Advent--will marry the

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perfect mate, found the perfect family, and bring physical as well as spiritual
salvation. The Lord of the Second Advent will take Jesus' place and all nations
will unite under him. Although Moon has not said explicitly that he is the Lord of
the Second Advent, everything he tells his followers appears to lead them to
believe that to be so.

A good part of what the church teaches is secret. In fact Moon's followers are
encouraged to practice "Heavenly Deception," deceiving people by telling them
anything to get donations. However, their tactics and techniques are well
known. Former members of the Unification Church--"Moonies"--say the church
uses oriental deprivation techniques to brainwash their young adherents who
are often picked up on the street. Once the young people are "loved" into the
church, they are taken to houses where church members live together in
community. Former Moonies have said prospective members are permitted no
sleep for hours, and are harangued over and over again until they are
insensible. They acknowledge and accept the church's doctrines not so much of
their own free will but through brainwashing. After the brainwashing, they are
then sent out on the streets to solicit money for the Unification Church. It is said
that adherents get meager amounts of food, live in spartan surroundings, and
are deprived of contact with the outside world. They do not even have time to
reflect upon the lies they are being told.

The Unification Church had been extraordinarily successful financially, and this
has enabled it to pour a lot of money into its evangelistic efforts. It owns many
companies in Korea including IL Wha Pharmaceutical Company and Tong Wat
Titanium Company. In the United States it has bought a number of companies:
The Diplomat National Bank, the New Yorker Hotel, and the Washington Times
newspaper.

What Is Hare Krishna?

Hare Krishna (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness) is a Hindu
cult that worships Krishna as the supreme deity. Hinduism has many gods, but
the most important three are Brahma (god of creation), Shiva (god of
destruction), and Vishnu (god of preservation). Vishnu, it is believed, had many
incarnations on earth, the most popular one of which is Krishna. In the 1930s a
follower of a cult of Krishna in India was commissioned to spread the cult's
teaching to the West. He was given the name Swami Prabhupada. He came to
the United States in 1965 and started Hare Krishna in New York City.

Like most Hindu cults, Hare Krishna teaches that we somehow make up part of a
universal consciousness and that we are part of god. Also like most Hindu cults,
Hare Krishnas believe in reincarnation. Hare Krishnas, however, teach that
Krishna is the same as the God of Judaism, the God of Christianity, and the god
of Islam. Other religions, Hare Krishnas say, just don't recognize his true name:
Krishna. Salvation comes through Krishna consciousness. And since Krishna is
the same as his name, chanting his name is tasting him and giving an offering to
him.

Followers of Swami Prabhupada therefore chant and dance before Hindu deities
daily. They exercise sixty-four items of devotional service prescribed by
Prabhupada. They wear a distinctive saffron dress, and the men have shaved
heads except for a pigtail. Food is important to the Hare Krishnas--who are
vegetarian--because each meal is seen as communion with Krishna.

The Hare Krishnas, who frequently appear in airports and other public places

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begging or selling literature or flowers, are just one manifestation of the various
Hindu groups that have come to America in the last twenty-five years. Bagwan
Shree Rajneesh in Rajneeshpurim, Oregon, is a more recent example.

Significantly, the land of their origin--India--has horrible poverty. It also has

desperate problems of overpopulation, illiteracy, hunger, mismanagement, and
suffering. So it seems strange that religions which have brought such trouble to
India would be imported to America where we have flourished and prospered
under Christianity for several centuries.

What Are The Principal Beliefs of Mind Control, Spiritism, Edgar

Cayce and Hinduism?
In one way or another each of these cults focuses on the "universal
consciousness" concept that human beings--

are part of a vast, timeless consciousness, 


are ultimately divine, 

will live forever
in various forms, 

can communicate with the dead or various spirits in the
universe through reincarnation, 

and can receive power through psychic and, in
some instances, bodily exercise to transcend nature, understand mysteries, and
affect their own destinies or the lives of those around them. these groups, in the
name of "research and enlightenment," "psychic research," "transcendental
meditation," "yoga," etc., are actually not in touch with some great "God
consciousness" or psychic power but Satan and demons.

The Greek word "psuche" is translated "soul," and from that we get the term
psychic. Most of these things deal with psychic, or soulish, phenomena. When
people touch the true God, they do so through the human spirit. God does not
work on the soul of man but the spirit.

The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, said the psuchikos man, the soulish
man, will not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to
him (see I Corinthians 2:14). Mind control, the Edgar Cayce teachings, and the
new age movement all appeal to the soulish man, because they do not require
repentance. They do not require being born again. A concept in most of these
cults is that if a person gains sufficient knowledge, he can dominate and control
the events of the world because he is part of god. He can manipulate god,
because he is god. He is part of the universal consciousness, and as he opens
himself up to progressive revelations, he in turn is lifted to higher and higher
levels of understanding. As he advances, they teach, he gains authority over
himself, his body, and those around him.

We must remember that the soulish realm is the realm of demons. Demons can
and often do enter into this psychic area. The people who are in touch with the
dead, in touch with "the other world," are not tapping into some universal
consciousness. They are in touch with demons. Demons lurk behind the Hindu
and other oriental religions, as well as behind the mind control teachings. As
people try to exercise their soulish powers and manipulate others, they are
trying to project themselves into this world of demonic power. They are not
asking for a savior. They are not asking for forgiveness. Instead, they are asking
for human power, for expansion of human psychic potential, and therein is their
downfall. Those who stay with these beliefs long
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deeper into them. They will sooner or later be in touch with, and perhaps even
possessed by, demons.

The Bible does not tell us to get involved in sharpening our psychic powers.

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Such things are not of God. God will give people the wisdom they need through
chedule
the Bible. And through the Holy Spirit, He will give them the power they need to
live the life they are supposed to live. This inordinate seeking of knowledge
Question
about the future, the inordinate seeking of power over other people, the
inordinate seeking of enhancement of human potential, is dangerous. Just
entering into such activity is bad. I have heard of people who have started to
levitate, and some who have had horrible faces appear to them in the night. All
such things are symbols and signs that these people are in touch with demons.

Prayer Can God change your life?

God has made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing
cheology change in your own life. Discover how you can find peace with God. You can
also send us your prayer requests.

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Stephanie F. 2 days ago
Thank you for the civil discussion. It was helpful and refreshing from other experiences I have had on the
Reviews web. 

News 0
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Daniel Javier
Beauty 2 days ago (edited)
Worth sharing ... thanks & God bless

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Benjamin Brackman 3 days ago (edited)

Interactive
You forgot to mention the Roman Catholic Church, The Orthodox Church, the Byzantine Catholic Church,
orld News
the Coptic Church, Scientology, Christian Scientists and Seventh Day Adventists which are also cults , not to
Watchman
mention false religions, as are all of the ones that you mentioned in the above article.

1
Like Reply Share 4 replies

Kathy 2 days ago
The Roman Catholic Church is the church Jesus established. Our church goes back to Jesus's
time. No other church can say that. All other churches were founded by men. Look back in History,
the apostles, and who the apostles taught.

1
nteractive Like Reply Share 3 replies
an's Promise

Grow Dorothea 2 days ago

Sign In
Christianity spread throughout the early Roman Empire, despite persecutions due to
conflicts with the pagan state religion. In 313, the struggles of the early believers were
lessened by the legalization of Christianity by the Emperor Constantine I. In 380, under
Emperor Theodosius I, Christianity became the state religion (Roman Catholic Church) of
Prayer the Roman Empire by the decree of the Emperor. 
Benjamin Brackman included the Roman Catholic Church because as the article above
stated "Even if it acknowledges Christ as Savior, it will say that you need something else
heology before you can get into heaven. Cults teach that salvation comes through Christ, plus their

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little unique way." The Catholic church may teach salvation in Christ but not by that alone,
you have to keep the sacraments in order to go heaven.

1
Like Reply Share 1 reply

Deborah Jacobs­Doebler 1 day ago
Kids
Thank you. Also they pray to Mary and the "Saints". There is absolutely nothing in
the Bible to support that.

0
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Robert C McNamara 4 hours ago
You are so right Kathy.  The Catholic Church is the true Christian church.
Reviews
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