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The Confusion of Cults

    By: Richard L. Lotspeich

Introduction

Cults Defined:

            Because the author is a Baptist pastor and professor of Biblical Literature at Temple Baptist College, it will be of no surprise to you that the theological position from which this seminar will proceed is based upon the inerrancy of the Scriptures and their literal interpretation. With that in mind one may ask what is a cult and where do they come from?

            Walter Martin defines a cult as:

Any religious group which differs significantly in some one or more respects as to belief or practice from those religious groups which are regarded as the normative expressions of religion in our total culture. He adds “that a cult might also be defined as a group of people gathered about a specific person or person’s miss-interpretation of the Bible. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses are, for the most part, followers of the interpretations of Charles T. Russell and J. F. Rutherford. The Christian Scientist of today is a disciple of Mary Baker Eddy and her interpretations of Scripture. The Mormans, by their own admission, adhere to those interpretations found in the writings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and it would be possible to go on citing many others. Cults always insist that they are entitled to be classified as Christians.1

 J.K. Van Baalen says:

…the boast that we preach “the full counsel of God” is all to often vain, untrue, and the fruit of a narrowed view which is due to a refusal to look beyond one’s own small group.2 …the cults are the unpaid bills of the church.3

 If the cults are the result of an insufficient emphasis by Christians upon some valuable point of biblical doctrine, then a study of the cults will show the need of studying more carefully the doctrines of the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

 Dr. Lee Belford, Professor of Comparative Religions at New York University, states:

The problem is essentially theological where the cults are concerned. The answer of the church must be theological and doctrinal. No sociological or cultural evaluation will do. Such works may be helpful, but they will not answer the Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon, who is seeking Biblical authority for either the acceptance or rejection of his beliefs.4

 The Language Barrier:

                        Dr. Walter Martin says that the theology of contemporary Neoliberalism:

            …undergoes what can only be termed radical redefinition. …it is therefore possible for the modern theologians to use the terminology of the Bible and historic theology, but in an entirely different sense from that intended by the writers of Scriptures.5

 He goes on to say:

One must face the fact that the originators and promulgators of the cult theology have done exactly the same thing to the semantic structure of Christian theology as did thee modern theologians. So it is possible for a Jehovah’s Witness, a Christian Scientist or a Mormon, for example, to utilize the terminology of Biblical Christianity with absolute freedom, having already redesigned these terms in a theological framework of his own making…but almost always at direct variance with the historically accepted meanings of the terms.6

An example of redefinition terms would be Christian Science’s concept of God as a Trinity. Their view of the Trinity is that Life, Truth, and Love constitutes the Triune divine principles. The cultist uses liberally Christian terminology, and almost always out of context. A Christian then, dealing with a cultist must realize that he is one who is familiar with Christian terms, and that he has carefully redefined them to fit the system of thought he now embraces.

            Dr. Martin summaries the process, of a Christian encountering someone from a cult, when he writes:

(1)  (A Christian) must strive to direct the conversation to the problem of terminology and maneuver the cult adherent into a position where he must define his usage of terms and his authority, if any, for drastic, un-Biblical redefinition’s, which are certain to emerge;

(2)  The Christian must then compare these “definitions” with the various contexts of the verses upon which the cultist draws for support of his doctrinal interpretations;

(3)   He must define the words “interpretation,” “historic orthodoxy,” and standard doctrinal phases, such as “the new birth,” “atonement,” “context,” “exegesis,” “eternal judgment,” ect., so that no misunderstanding will exist when these things come under discussion as the inevitably will;

(4)  The Christian must attempt to lead the cultist to a review of the importance of properly defining terms for all important doctrines involved, particularly the doctrine of personal redemption from sin, which most cult systems define in a markedly un-Biblical manner;

(5)  It is the responsibility of the Christian to present a clear testimony of his own regenerative experience with Jesus Christ in terminology which has been carefully clarified…7

 He continues to say:

         Let it never be forgotten that cultist are experts at lifting texts out of there respective contexts, without proper concern for the laws of language or established principles of Biblical interpretation. There are those of whom Peter warns us, who “wrest scriptures, unto their own destruction” II Peter 3:16. This is an accurate picture of the kingdom of the cults in the realm of terminology.8

 Terminology and the proper definition of terms must be stressed in order to break through the language barrier, which every Christian will face when dealing with cultist.

             It is obvious then, that the cults are a vital emergent force against Christianity, with which Christians must reckon, and with these thoughts in mind two of the major cults, the Jehovah’s Witnesses ands the Mormons will be examined in this seminar.

INTRODUCTION END NOTES

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"