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The word cult comes from the French culte, and is rooted in the Latin cultus, which means "care" and "adoration." That idea comes from the Latin cultus - the past participle of colere, which means "to cultivate." The word can refer to: any system of beliefs and rituals, as well as to its followers. a religion that is regarded as unorthodox or spurious, as well as to its followers. great devotion to a person (i.e. "personality cult"), idea or thing, often by a relatively small group of people (e.g. a "cult hit," "this movie is a cult classic," or "his success gained him cult status among his peers.")
More specifically:
A cult of Christianity is a group of people, which claiming to be Christian, embraces a
particular doctrine system taught by an individual leader, group of leaders, or
organization, which (system) denies (either explicitly or implicitly) one or more of the
central doctrines of the Christian Faith as taught in the sixty-six books of the Bible
Alan Gomes, Unmasking The Cults (Zondervan, 1995)
By its primary dictionary definition, the term cult just means a system of religious
beliefs or rituals. It is based on a farming term in Latin meaning cultivation.
Sociologists and anthropologists sometimes use the term cult to describe religious
structure or belief patterns with meanings (usually non-pejorative) unique to their
disciplines. In modern usage, the term cult is often used by the general public to
describe any religious group they view as strange or dangerous. Thus, cult can describe
religious leaders or organizations that employ abusive, manipulative, or illegal control
over their followers' lives. In addition to these usages, Christians generally have a
doctrinal component to their use of the word. Cult in this sense, is a counterfeit or
serious deviation from the doctrines of Biblical Christianity.
The weakness in Christian Apologetics has been its failure to look at the soteriology (definition of what is necessary for salvation) as one of its basic criteria. The late Dr. Walter R. Martin in Kingdom of the Cults set the tone for Christian Apologetics by reviewing each religious system by the Creeds of Christianity; The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. However the most important question that a person has is expressed by the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:30 when he asks Paul and Silas "What must I do to be saved?"
Links
Apologetics -Bob & Gretchen Passantino
Probe Ministries - Apologetics
Eternal Path Studies - Apologetics by Pastor Steven Ray
The "Christian" Identity
Movement - Racism that twists the Word of God
New Age Movement
Roman Catholicism - Leaven of the Pharisees
Warning against False Teachers- The Epistle of
Jude
Doctrine which is erroneous in such a way that Christians must divide themselves as a
church from all who teach or accept it; those adhering to heresy are assumed to be lost,
although Christians are unable to make definitive judgments on this matter. The opposite
of orthodoxy. Adj.: "heretical." Definition from: "A Biblical Guide To
Orthodoxy And Heresy Part One: The Case For Doctrinal Discernment" (an article from
the Christian Research Journal, Summer 1990, page 28) by Robert M. Bowman.
Word of Faith Heresy on Jesus' Blood Atonement
When dealing in the area of Apologetics, Christians should:
1. do so out of a love and burden for the lost
2. be careful not to ascribe some person or group as a "cult" when they believe
in the basic tenets of the Christian faith.
Paul warned the Ephesian Elders against false teachers: ACTS 20:27-31
"For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For
I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing
the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I
ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears."
The Ephesian Elders listened to Paul and the church focused on Paul's warning,
unfortunately to the exclusion of other things, most of all, their first love
Rev 2: 1-4 "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that
holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not
bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are
not, and hast found them liars:
And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not
fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first
love."
Let us not grow cold while contending for the faith!
Creationism
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