Is "cult" a synonym of "sect"?

Answer 1

Cults deny that Jesus Christ is God. This would be a foundation for the definition of a cult.

Sects don't necessarily do that. You can have a sect of a Christian church, but you can also have sects of other religions.

The two words are not synonomous.

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Answer 2

No -- a 'sect' is a group within a group -- you could call the Presbytarians a 'sect' of the Protestants, or the Shiites a sect of Islam.

A 'cult' can mean any group of people united under a system of religious or cultural beliefs, but generally is applied to beliefs that are not widely accepted, or generally believed to be false. For many, the Church of Scientology could be considered a 'cult'... on the same hand, many Muslims might consider Christians to be part of a 'cult'.

Answer 3

Lots of good answers here, and many of them correct. A cult is, by its definition, any religious group that doesn't have a large following. I would no longer classify scientology as a cult, as it has a rather large following and considerable notoriety. Additionally, a cult is not defined as being "anything in opposition to christian ideology." The word for that would actually be Pagan (though there is a movement of neo-Pagans who will probably disagree). Practitioners of Haitian voodoo, for example, may be defined as being in a cult, but one that has very strong ties to Catholic roots (Catholicism, of course, is a SECT or subcategory of Christianity--this is the proper definition of the word sect).
Additionally, all major religions began as cults. The Christians will be up in arms about this, but it's true. Ask any religious historian.

Answer 4

Not really

Cult -- from the Latin word "cultus" meaning worship, reverence, is almost a synonym for the world religion. It is a way or style of worshipping, and can be used non-pejoratively, but this is unusual; typically it is used to describe any religion that someone does not like, particularly if that is perceived to be a "new" religion.

It can be used in a non-pejorative sense: for example, the Roman Catholics have a cult of Mary.

Sect means a division of a major religion, usually along minor matters of doctrine or practise.

Answer 5

In usage, "cult" is thought of as small, far-out, intemperate, likely to believe and do something really weird.
A "sect" is thought of as being a small, but not so weird, part of another group--I think it was Mark Twain who said a sect is a religion without political power.
Let's put it this way: if you belong to it, it's a sect--if someone you don't like belongs to it, it's definitely a cult!

Answer 6

I agree with P.M. and Bailey.

By the way, it's better to go through life believing there is no such thing as a synonym. Words should have at least the respect of individuality that snowflakes receive.

Answer 7

a cult is a group directly agains the other group. a sect is a branch of a group that separated coz they think their method is better than the original.

Answer 8

yes