Is there a difference between a religion and a cult?

[rich08]

Thank you for everyone’s replies: I have enjoyed reading them and considering what has been said (I have found it an interesting debate).

Watching the BBC programme it was interesting how many times cult members referred to quotes from the Bible - although they were often taken out of context, used selectively or given ‘unique’ interpretations.

Leaders of cults claim to have some special revelation, either from a god or gods or divine beings or aliens or some other special philosophical insight. This then gives them a message to proclaim to others. One of the challenges (from an apologetic viewpoint) is this: what is the difference between them and say Moses (who met with God on a mountain) or the apostle Paul’s encounter on the road to Damascus? Many cult leaders set themselves up to be divinely inspired leaders or messiahs? How does that differ from Jesus?

Yes you can argue that Christians do good works [as a product of their faith rather than the means of salvation which is by grace alone], but there are also many examples of non-Christians doing ‘good works’ and examples of Christians failing to do so (the question of child abuse was raised in the programme - there are many examples in the church of exactly that: something that is often common in cults).

In the debate on the BBC programme someone raised the point that all religions/sects/cults claim to know the truth and believe that the others are wrong.

You can also argue that it is a question of manipulation; taking you away from your family and friends; indoctrinating you into a group from which it is difficult to leave. Whilst it drives me mad to see churches manipulating people (let’s be honest it happens far too often) there is an element of these things in the Christian faith: for example leaving family and friends (see for example Matthew 10:35-37, Matthew 19:29) not neglecting to attend meetings and mutual encouragement to follow the teachings (for example Hebrews 10:23-25) and rules for those who fail to abide by the ‘rules’ (for example Matthew 18:15-20). So, argue the critics, Christianity is guilty as charged: just like any other religious sect or cult.

I do not claim to be the greatest apologist (far from it) - and I am not going to attempt to counter each of the points raised (at least not yet); but I argue that there is one very distinct difference between Jesus and all the other leaders of the different world religions and belief systems: Jesus like the vast majority (excluding modern day cult leaders) has died; but he is the only one to raise from the dead: this makes him truly unique and qualified in a way no other leader can even come close. (Of course there are many other differences too!)

Comments?

[Bold Believer]

I suggest you find a copy of The 12 Marks of A Cult by Dave Breece. It explains the difference very well and is a handy reference. Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin is more scholarly but not everyone can sit down and read it as it's a weighty tome.

[OneLight]

I suggest you find a copy of The 12 Marks of A Cult by Dave Breece. It explains the difference very well and is a handy reference. Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin is more scholarly but not everyone can sit down and read it as it's a weighty tome.

The Kingdom of the Cults is an excellent book that does dig deep into the cults themselves to expose the lies. I recommend this to everyone who has any question if a group is a cult or not.

[LOVE SONGS]

What Butero said...cults always display the spirit of anti-Christ. This means they trip up on the revelation of who Jesus is, and present a doppelganger and a different Gospel.

Agreed.

History shows in the main that cults follow people, even unto death (Jim Jones is an example).

A faith based, Jesus loving Christian follows the direct Word, and not man (and listens to all men with discernment, faith based pastors or teachers included)

"Religion" can walk a fine line between these two, and sometimes fall of the edge.....

Then you just get the lunatic fringe on both sides of the divide!

Absolutely ...agreeable on this .. !

[MightyMoe]

On Sunday the BBC had a television programme that debated the question 'Is there a difference between a religion and a cult?'

There were various representatives from different cults, people who have left cults, professors of religious studies, sects and cults, and some representatives from mainstream religions (for example a Rabbi). Interestingly (especially as Britain is supposed to be a Christian country) there was no representative from a main Christian denomination; there was a representative from the organisation Jews for Jesus but the organisation was classified as being a cult.

Some argued that the only difference between a religion and a cult is a question of size: other than that they are the same - so (for example) both take your money and demand certain patterns of behaviour (albeit that some may be more extreme than others). Others argued it was a question of whether it was outward or inward looking (for example serving the community at large or serving it's own leadership). Other argued it was a question of whether you choose to join by free will or whether you are preyed on and manipulated.

I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on this. I'm not sure if it can be accessed from outside the UK, but the programme can be viewed online (at least for the next few days) Big Questions?

Any comments? I'd be interested to get other peoples' views - my wife and I were debating it last night (in terms of the appropriate Christian response).

[MightyMoe]

I believe that there is a basic difference between a cult and main stream religion. We just have to ask ourselves; are we teaching or being taught any other doctrine then what Paul has given us. Reference Galatians Chapter one and verse eight..

[gdemoss]

I found this:

Etymology

The term "cult" first appeared in English in 1617, derived from the French culte, meaning "worship" or "a particular form of worship" which in turn originated from the Latin word cultus meaning "care, cultivation, worship," originally "tended, cultivated," as in the past participle of colere "to till the soil". In French, for example, sections in newspapers giving the schedule of worship at Catholic churches are headed Culte Catholique; the section giving the schedule of Protestant churches is headed culte réformé.

The meaning "devotion to a person or thing" is from 1829. Starting about 1920, "cult" acquired an additional six or more connotatively positive and negative definitions that are separately discussed in the article Cult.

But like most things language gets perverted over time and the word cult has come to mean something so much different than the original intent. Just like a sect is considered a heretical group in the bible but nowadays it is just one of the many while no one is allowed to claim they have all truth.

Paul was labeled the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes

Act 24:5 For we have found this man [a] pestilent [fellow], and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:

It is all in how you 'word' it and what you mean by the 'words' you use. I find that I have to have a pretty extensive conversation with someone using a variety of words in order to finally figure out that we already agree but are caught up in semantics and word usage.

Gary

[nebula]

One slight objection: there can be, and are, cults that are fully Christian (believing in the deity of Jesus, etc.) but follow some "vision" over the word, are controlling and manipulative, claim to be exclusive to God's plan, etc.

The Shepherding Movement of the 70's is a good example of this.

I am not sure I would consider groups like that a cult? The problem with something like this is we all have our own view of what constitutes a cult? To you, that may be a cult. To me, in order to be a cult, the group has to deny the diety of Christ, and have a doctrine in place that would guarantee that those who believe in what they teach are lost. If they are Christian enough in their teachings that the congregation could be saved and headed for heaven, I don't consider them a cult. That is just me. I am not saying you are wrong, because this is one of those things where there is no sure definition.

What would you call a Christian group who followed a leader with some special "revelation", was group-exclusive ostracizing the rest of the body of Christ as being outside of God's favor, was manipulative and controlling, etc.?

[nebula]

Leaders of cults claim to have some special revelation, either from a god or gods or divine beings or aliens or some other special philosophical insight. This then gives them a message to proclaim to others. One of the challenges (from an apologetic viewpoint) is this: what is the difference between them and say Moses (who met with God on a mountain) or the apostle Paul’s encounter on the road to Damascus? Many cult leaders set themselves up to be divinely inspired leaders or messiahs? How does that differ from Jesus?

Moses - considering how the Lord manifested Himself, I would think it was pretty clear that God truly was speaking to him.

Paul - Paul didn't start a new sect. His encounter was personal, and the only doctrine change he has was how he interpreted prophecies of the identity and mission of the Messiah. He never led an exclusive group, nor did he act apart from the blessings of the Body of Christ.

Jesus - umm...seriously?

[SavedByGrace1980]

The word "cult" has a specific dictionary definition, but we Christians sometimes wish to re-define it to suit our own purposes. Personally, I believe it has a broader definition than just "any belief that is other than Christianity."

Perhaps looking at specific examples helps to clarify:

Scientology, for an example. Few would argue that Scientology, a belief system started by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, is a cult.

But what about - say - Mormonism? I happen to believe it qualifies as a cult, but someone who IS a Mormon might counter that it is just another form of Christianity. Are we going to convince him/her by getting into a back and forth as to what is or isn't a cult? Probably not.

I suppose the bigger question is this: what is our purpose in defining what a cult is? Is it to convince someone who might be a member of a cult that their belief system has no basis?

If so, we need to be careful and make sure that we are being guided by the Holy Spirit. Most of the time we will find that the best "selling point" for Christianity is Jesus Christ and Him alone.

Sometimes it may be best to leave the worrying about differences between religions and cults to the I.R.S.

Blessings!

-Ed