Discernment Part 19        Cults       2-24-2002

Non-Christian Cults
Christian Science 

This is the Grape Nuts religion (Grape Nuts has neither grapes nor nuts).

Their Authority is a book written by Mary Baker Eddy: Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures
The point of that title is they claim to believe the Bible, but the only way to understand the Bible is with Eddy’s “key.” 

The core of CS teaching is about healing.  

The idea is that evil, sickness and death are illusions.  Jesus healed by bringing people to the realization of this, and the goal of CS is to do the same.

They consider themselves intellectually advanced beyond normal Christianity.  They want to be Christians but without the foolishness of the Gospel – things like hell, the doctrine of the Trinity, or the incarnation, resurrection, and atonement of Jesus Christ.

In the late ’80s and early ’90s they started losing major lawsuits and members were charged with manslaughter, murder, and child abuse for refusing medical treatment for illness. 

If you want to know where CS departs from the essentials, here’s a start: The material world is an illusion, man did not fall, death is an illusion, God is only a Mind and not a person, Genesis 2 is a “lie”, the virgin birth was when Mary conceived the idea of God and named that idea Jesus, the Trinity is polytheism, God does not answer prayer and prayer is a harmful activity, evil and sin are imaginary, disease can be removed by right thinking, Jesus was not God, repentance is unnecessary, heaven is a state of mind, hell doesn’t exist, prayer for forgiveness is pointless, Christ did not die, His experience on the cross did not pay for our sin, and His resurrection was only spiritual. 

The trick is to find a point where they do agree with Christianity.  We may have more in common with the atheist than the Christian Scientist.

If you take everything we know is true from the Bible, and everything we know to be true from science, and everything we know to be true from reason, and deny it all, you have Christian Science. 

Christian Science was the Mother Church of the Mind Science movement, which includes Unity School of Christianity, Mind Science, Religious Science, Divine Science, and others.

Point out to the Christian Scientist that he doesn’t live consistently with what he believes.  He lives as though the material world were real (I went to a CS church once and they were taking an offering for a new building.  Why didn’t they just imagine a new building, or imagine they had the money?)
  
And, as we have said with so many of these false systems, they need to be reminded of their guilt before God and judgment day.

They will claim there is no such thing as evil.  When they do, ask them where the idea of evil came from.
They say there is no evil, since God is all that really exists.  But then where did the illusion originate?  It had to either come from the real world or from God.

Evil has to exist because the idea of evil is, in itself, an “evil,” if it is contrary to reality.

Theosophy 
The goal of theosophy was to find that divine wisdom that underlies all religions, philosophies and sciences.  

What it ended up being was a regurgitation of the ancient heresy of gnosticism combined with evolutionism.  (It’s very difficult to come up with an entirely new error.)

Theosophy is Satan’s attempt to introduce concepts from Hinduism, Buddhism and Gnosticism to the West by putting them in Christian terms. 

So it sounds Christian at first, but then you find out God is not personal, Jesus was a regular man, all men are divine, God does not judge sin, there is no resurrection – only reincarnation, they vigorously oppose the idea of the substitutionary death of Christ, and the errors of what Christians believe stem from “the erroneous notion that Genesis is history, instead of allegory … when a new era in human evolution begins” (Kingdom of the Cults)

Where do you begin with someone who is into theosophy?  Anywhere you want.  Just begin by telling him anything that is true.

But be careful about terminology.  Like most cults – especially new age cults, they redefine Christian terms.  Unless you find out what they mean by terms like “god” “Christ” “sin” etc. you will get nowhere.

Bahai
The Bahai faith is an offshoot of Islam that originated in Iran.

The idea is that all the religions of the world have a common origin.

The divine being keeps coming back in different manifestations which are all equal: Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Buddha, Confucius, Krishna, Lao, and, most recently, Baha’u’llah.

Bahaism is big on the unity of mankind, so they emphasize equality between men and women; the abolition of all forms of prejudice; universal peace; universal education; a universal language; the spiritual solution of economic problems; and an international tribunal.

The practice of the religion involves following basic ethics and observing a number of rituals.

The important questions for the person in the Bahai faith are
1.  Why God would contradict himself every time he comes?  A person in the Bahai faith needs to be shown that the various religions are flatly contradictory. 
2. Since justice is a good thing, what about our sin?  Doesn’t it need to be punished?

Scientology
Scientology is one of those cults that tries desperately to portray itself as not being a religion.  But it makes religious claims, has its own set of scripture, it holds a worldview, and it seeks spiritual enlightenment.  

L. Ron Hubbard used to write fiction and decided there would be more money in starting a religion, so he started Dianetics.
 
Mankind, according to Hubbard, “is basically good.” ”Good” is avoiding pain and gaining pleasure. 

Every person has an analytical mind, reactive mind, and somatic mind. The analytical mind works like a “perfect computer, it never makes a mistake.” The reactive mind works on a “totally stimulus/response basis.” 

The analytical mind, which essentially “is the person,” could flawlessly run a person’s life 
(being a perfect computer) except for the interference from the reactive mind.  That interference takes place by means of engrams (mental images - kind of like memories from your past)

The solution to the reactive mind interrupting the analytical mind is to rid the reactive mind 
of all engrams. Once this is accomplished, the person is called “clear.” You carry engrams not only from your past in this life, but also from past lives. 

The “clear” person is on the evolutionary journey to the next stage of man, a godlike being 

God is whoever you think He is.

Jesus was just another man looking for salvation, and the concept of “Christ” is a false idea.

Much of Hubberd’s theology is driven by evolutionism.  The problems we have today stem from our memories of evolutionary struggles.  (Your soul was tramatized by those eras of being a Jellyfish and being squished against stones).

The goal of Hubberd’s system is the same as Hinduism – to escape the cycle of rebirths.  

New Age
The New Age Movement includes a huge spectrum of beliefs, but mostly they have the following in common: a high regard for eastern mysticism, monism (all is one), and the idea that a new age of peace and mass enlightenment is coming.

Unification Church “Moonies”
This group is known for 2 things: their fundraising and their mass weddings.  

They use deception to raise money (put healthy people in wheelchairs, sell cookies as if they were girl scout cookies, etc.)  Moon says there is nothing wrong with this kind of deception because God lies all the time.

Man fell in two ways: physically and spiritually.  Jesus’ death saves men spiritually only.  The other half is accomplished by Moon and his wife.  When they bless a marriage, those people are fully saved and the children born to those unions are born sinless.  They once married 300,000 couples.

Moon’s theology is dominated by Toaism (yin & yang, etc)

Unitarian Universalists 
The primary point of this group is the idea that all souls will be saved.

They claim to be tolerant of all religions, yet they do incredible violence to Christian doctrine.  Jesus’ death on the cross was a nice thing for Him to do, but not necessary, Jesus was not God nor virgin born, Scripture has errors, and there is no heaven or hell.

The Way International
The Way was founded by a former United Church of Christ pastor who wrote a book entitiled, “Jesus Christ is Not God.” 

Salvation is dependent upon, among other things, speaking in tongues, and so you should practice 30 minutes a day.

“God dying on a cross is a standard by which man can achieve his own righteousness.  It is an image that binds man into continuous slavery and self-idolatry” (Larson’s Book of Cults)

An aversion to the cross is a prominent theme in cults.

 “Christian” Cults
United Pentecostal Church
(“oneness” or “Jesus only”)

They use slick language to get around it, but if you ask them if the persons of the trinity are distinct persons existing simultaneously, they will say no. 

Why is the Trinity an essential?  
Because to be saved, you must believe God exists.  If you are a modalist, then when God is the Son there is no God the Father.  And Jesus isn’t God – in fact, doesn’t exist – any time when there is a God the Holy Spirit, etc.

In addition, oneness theology also maintains that baptism is a necessary part of salvation; that is, in order to be saved, one must be baptized, by immersion. If you are not baptized you cannot be saved. However, not only must baptism be by immersion, it must also be administered with the formula "In Jesus’ name" rather than the formula "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" which is mentioned in Matt. 28:19. Finally, this baptism must be administered by a duly ordained minister on a church that maintains oneness theology. 

Oneness churches also teach that speaking in tongues is a necessary manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Since a person cannot be saved without the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9), it follows that only those who have spoken in tongues are really saved. There is, therefore, an emphasis that Oneness church members speak in tongues to "demonstrate" that they are saved and have the truth.

We will address baptismal regeneration and tongues at a later date.

T.D. Jakes has been touted as the black Billy Graham.   His influence across the Pentecostal, charismatic, and evangelical world is staggering. His television program, The Potter’s House, is beamed into more than 500 prisons and viewed by three million people in the United States, England, the Caribbean, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. He has twice been a featured speaker at Promise Keepers stadium events and has cohosted both the 700 Club and Praise The Lord. He appeared on Larry King Live with Pat Robertson, Chuck Colson, and Jerry Falwell on 2 September 1998 to discuss morality and forgiveness issues pertaining to President Clinton. 

He pastors a church less than three years old that has 17,000 members. His Woman Thou Art Loosed conference during 29–31 July 1999 drew 85,000 women to Atlanta’s Georgia Dome and had 100 satellite transmissions to prisons and detention centers. 

George W. Bush, who has endorsed The Potter’s House’s outreach programs, spoke at the WTAL conference in Atlanta. Jakes has authored 18 books and eight have appeared on national Christian best-seller lists. His 1998 book, The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord, was number one on Publishers Weekly’s Religion Bestsellers list for four months. 

T. D. Jakes Ministries: “Bishop T. D. Jakes and The Potter’s House of Dallas believe there is one God who manifest [sic] Himself in the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have never denied the Trinity, and we are disappointed that anyone would misunderstand or misrepresent us.” 

On the T. D. Jakes Ministries Web site, an older but still accessible version of their Statement of Faith reads, “There is one God, creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and existing in three Manifestations: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” Their current doctrinal statement has been altered somewhat to read: “THREE DIMENSIONS OF ONE GOD (1 John 5:7, Matt. 28:19, 1 Tim. 3:16)” — “We believe in one God, who is eternal in His existence, Triune in His Manifestations, being both Father, Son and Holy Ghost AND that He is Sovereign and Absolute in His authority.”

Jakes said, “We have one God, but He is Father in creation, Son in redemption, and Holy Spirit in regeneration.”

Mormonism

God came into existence as a man.  Matter is eternal but God is not.  While he was a man he became a Mormon and was rewarded by becoming a god and getting His own planet to populate.  He does so by cohabiting with his wife, Mother God.  The children they have exist as spirits before they are born into this world as people.

Even now God has a corporal, physical body.  Men are in the image of God, women are not – they are in the image of god’s wife.

God has a limiting physical body.

The Father, Son and Spirit are three separate Gods.
The god of this world is just one of an infinite number of gods who used to be men.

Mormon theology rejects the idea of a virgin birth.  The believe Jesus was conceived when God the Father had physical relations with Mary “in the most literal sense.”  

The Bible is used along with (and subordinate to) three other scriptures: Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine & Covenants, and the Book of Mormon 

Mormons reject the idea of depravity. 

Mormons can save themselves by being baptized according to the Mormon procedure.  That’s the only thing that keeps a person out of heaven.

In fact if you die not a Mormon, and a Mormon is baptized for you, you can have the option of going to heaven.

If you apostatize from Mormonism you go to hell without passing “Go.” 

So they have a system in which you are saved by a ritual regardless of you behavior or level of devotion.  That’s a problem in motivating people, so they came up with a system of 3 heavens.

The idea is you want to shoot for a higher one rather than a lower one.  The more good works and rituals you do, the better your chances of getting to a decent level of heaven.

Some Christians have been confused on that point.  Scripture teaches that every Christian goes to the highest heaven.  All of us are adopted as God’s children and sit at His table in His house.

All of us will rule with Christ.

There are varying degrees of reward, but not separate heavens.

Jehovah’s Witness

They not only reject buy mock the idea of the Trinity, which they understand as believing in three Gods, or a freakish three-headed god.

Jesus pre-existed in heaven, but as a created being.  He is not the eternal, Almighty God.  He was a perfect man who died to pay Adam’s debt (which required no more and no less than a perfect human life)

Jesus was raised spiritually, but not physically

Jesus will not return, and no man will ever see Him.  The only return He will ever make has already been made in 1914.

The Holy Spirit is a force, not a person.

There is no hell.

Only 144,000 will enter heaven.  The rest will be earthly subjects of the Kingdom.  Those who rebel will be annihilated with the Devil.

For more information on Cults see:
•	The Kingdom of the Cults
•	Larson’s Book of Cults
•	www.carm.org
•	www.watchman.org