What We Mean by the Word
Few words in religion are used as loosely as cult. People use it for any group they find strange, any church they think is too strict, or any religion they happen to dislike. This study uses it carefully, because the subject is too important for name-calling. What is at stake is the question the whole Bible presses on us: who is Jesus, and how is a sinner saved?
The word has at least three uses, and it helps to keep them apart.
- The old sense: worship. The word comes from the Latin cultus, meaning care or worship. Historians still speak of the cult of the saints (see Saints, Images, and Relics) and mean only a pattern of devotion.
- The sociologist's sense: control. In the news, a cult usually means a high-control group gathered around a strong leader, marked by isolation, fear, and abuse. Many scholars now prefer the neutral phrase “new religious movement.”
- The theological sense: another gospel. This is how we use the word. It describes what a group teaches about God and the Gospel. It says nothing about how its members dress, how they vote, or how they treat their neighbors.
A group that uses Christian words while denying the Gospel or the God it reveals. In Paul's terms, it preaches another Jesus, another spirit, or another gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4).
We do not use this word to sneer at anyone. Many people in these groups are sincere, kind, and devout, and some put us to shame with their zeal. The word describes a system's teaching, measured by Scripture. It is a warning label on a doctrine, never a verdict on a neighbor.
A label on a box tells you what ought to be inside. It cannot prove what is inside. The name Christian works the same way, and so does the name Baptist. Labels are useful, and they are not enough. We have to inspect the contents.
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For Deeper Study
- The Kingdom of the CultsAmazon Walter MartinThe standard evangelical reference, by a Baptist minister. Its opening chapters on how cults redefine Christian words are especially useful.
- Scripture Twisting: 20 Ways the Cults Misread the BibleAmazon James W. SireA short, clear guide to the reading errors these groups share. Evangelical.
- The Four Major CultsAmazon Anthony A. HoekemaA careful study of Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, and Seventh-day Adventism from their own writings. Hoekema was Reformed, and we differ on his theology of salvation.
- Unmasking the CultsAmazon Alan W. GomesA brief introduction to what a cult is and how to respond, from the Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements. Evangelical.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Mormonism
Mormonism, the teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, uses the Bible's words for an embodied God, a Jesus who is His firstborn spirit child, and an exaltation reached through ordinances and covenants, so its sincere people need to hear of the eternal God and Christ's finished work.
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