Cults and Christianity?

Question

Why do people say that cults are bad when so many people are christian? If you think about it is a cult in itself. Jesus convinced a group of people that he was all high and mighty and it was believed. And they have, for a very long time, told people what to think, what to believe, how to live their life, etc. It demands complete devotion and consequences anyone who does not obey entirely to hell! If there was a hell, how do they not know that it would be a 'good place'? It tells people who to be friends with. Me and my friend had a wiccan friend, our parents found out and told the church. They sat us down and told us that we needed to discontinue anything involving her as well as another friend of mine who had been pregnant. So could Christianity and all its forms very well be considered one of the greatest scams/cults of all time?

How do you know that any of this stuff is actually truth?

Answer 1

A cult is very different from orthodox Christianity.

The term 'cult of Christianity' is used of a group, church or organization whose central teachings and/or practices are claimed to be biblical, but which are in fact unbiblical.

The term can also be applied to groups, organizations or churches whose statement of faith may sound orthodox, but who add aberrant, heterodox, sub-orthodox and/or heretical teachings to such an extend that the essential doctrines of the Christian faith are negatively affected.

It should be noted that in addition to aberrant, unorthodox, and/or heretical doctrines, many - but not all - religious cults also have excessive or abusive sociological characteristics (e.g. authoritarian leadership patterns, strict conformity requirements, manipulative controls, etc.)

"Central doctrines" of the Christian faith are those doctrines that make the Christian faith Christian and not something else.

The Christian faith is a definite system of beliefs with definite content (Jude 3). Certain Christian doctrines constitute the core of the faith.

Central doctrines include the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the bodily resurrection, the atoning work of Christ on the cross, and salvation by grace through faith. These doctrines so comprise the essence of the Christian faith that to remove any of them is to make the belief system non-Christian.
Scripture teaches that the beliefs mentioned above are of central importance (e.g., Matt. 28:19; John 8:24; 1 Cor. 15; Eph. 2:8-10).

Because these central doctrines define the character of Christianity, one cannot be saved and deny these.

Central doctrines should not be confused with peripheral issues, about which Christians may legitimately disagree.

Peripheral (i.e. non-essential) doctrines include such issues as the timing of the tribulation, the method of baptism, or the structure of church government. For example, one can be wrong about the identity of "the spirits in prison" 1 Peter 3:19) or about the timing of the rapture and still go to heaven, but one cannot deny salvation by grace or the deity of Christ (John 8:24) and be saved.

All Christian denominations — whether Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant — agree on the essential core. The relatively minor disagreements between genuinely Christian denominations, then, cannot be used to argue that there is no objectively recognized core of fundamental doctrine which constitutes the Christian faith.
- Source: Source: Alan Gomes, Cult: A Theological Definition, excerpt from "Unmasking The Cults" Zondervan Publishing Company (May 11, 1995)

Answer 2

"Why do people say that cults are bad when so many people are christian?"

Cults are usually destructive,like Heaven's Gate.

"If you think about it is a cult in itself. Jesus convinced a group of people that he was all high and mighty and it was believed."

That is not the common definition of 'cult'.And actually,Jesus proved his divinty,by peforming miracles and of course the resurrection.

"And they have, for a very long time, told people what to think, what to believe, how to live their life, etc."

No,God has set laws and consequences.For example:Murder is wrong.Incest is wrong.The Bible provides laws for moral behaviour.For example:Do not steal,Do not bear false witness.No one can force anyone else to believe in Christianity,so that's wrong.

"It demands complete devotion and consequences anyone who does not obey entirely to hell!"

Well,following Jesus is devotion.You have to be comitted.It's not something you do for a couple of hours each day,and then get back on with your life.Christianity is not a cloak you put on if it suits you.And that is not the idea of hell.It doesn't work like that,and that is not what is taught.

"Me and my friend had a wiccan friend, our parents found out and told the church. They sat us down and told us that we needed to discontinue anything involving her as well as another friend of mine who had been pregnant."

I'm sorry about that.I don't think that that was the right thing to do,but your parents are in authority and you must respect them.

"So could Christianity and all its forms very well be considered one of the greatest scams/cults of all time?"

No.It's not a scam.

Answer 3

So you've noticed. What you seem to be trying to understand is that a cult is in the eye of the beholder. Those that think that they have it right are critcizing subjectively. Yes, some think that Christianity is a cult of Judaism. And if applied analytically, it is. But the meaning of the word changes with the use or the word. Here are some of the definitions of 'cult':
–noun 1. a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2. an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3. the object of such devotion.
4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5. Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
6. a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.
7. the members of such a religion or sect.
8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.
–adjective 9. of or pertaining to a cult.
10. of, for, or attracting a small group of devotees: a cult movie.

Answer 4

Many of the top legal minds in history have come out in favour of believing the ressurection account would stand if on trial in a court room. These names include Simon Greenleaf who's works are the basis for what is and isn't acceptible evidence. He also wrote a book examing the testimony of the gospel evangelists. Then there is Hugo Grotius considered the father of international law. Then Sir Lionel Luckhoo the most successful lawyer in history twice knoghted by the queen. Wendell R. Byrd, Lord Caldecote and a whole slew of others. If possible obtain a book called what leading lawyers say about the resurrection.

Answer 5

Cult: a system of religious or spiritual beliefs, especially an informal and transient belief system regarded by others as misguided or unorthodox.

There are flavors of "Christianity" that some consider cult-like due to their unorthodox interpretations of the scripture, but Christianity in general? No, not a cult.

EDIT - If you want to know why I believe, then go to my 360 page and click on the blog topic entitled "Why I believe" there's my story and my evidence.

Here, have some zucchini bread with almond butter. Fresh from the oven!

Answer 6

Yes, seen from the outside, Christianity does have some of the characteristics of a large cult.
(even down to internal dissent and power struggles). It maintains that it alone has the key truths necessary for mankind. This is the key identifier: any religion or faith which does not claim exclusivity cannot really become a cult.

There is one, and only one, defence to holding exclusive truth and explicitly or implicitly declaring all other views of the world to be anything from incomplete to manifestly evil.
That is the defence of "But it's true."
However narrow, uncomfortable, or unpopular a doctrine is that matters little or nothing if it is true, that is, it conforms with reality.
(Not: "conforms with the fervent belief of adherents", that's something else!)

So yes, Christianity escapes from being a cult if, and only if, its exclusive claims represent reality.
On that dichotomy you will have to decide.

Answer 7

I think that wiccan friend of yours had an effect on you sister. If you knew Jesus Christ and all the love and peace he brings into our lives you wouldn't need to ask that.
People are always trying to fill voids in their lives, they use alcohol, drugs, sex,food, fake religion, cults, etc. They haven't experience the abundant life and fullness of Jesus Christ.
And remember that Jesus wasnt just some guy like a cult leader promising space ships, he came here for a reason. He fullfilled the oldest prophecy in all our time.
I hope you pray and start reading your Bible. You will be in my prayeres tonight, God bless you.

Answer 8

Christianity is not a cult. The Unification Church and the People's Temple were cults because of their insistence on isolation and indoctrination. There are certain features to cults and they usually involve the use of mind control, separation of members from their immediate families, absolute devotion, an inability to leave and a cult of personality. Their leaders encourage their followers to view them as saved by them and to worship them as incarnations of God.

Answer 9

Christianity is the ultimate cult. Look at all the answers that those other people gave. Right away they defended their Christian ways without regard to you or your question. Christians do not follow God's word. They have become the ultimate destruction of the human race. They crave power and they use the bible to get it. The Christians have started wars and destroyed whole countries to spread their beliefs. They have even infultrated our own government. Our presedent has said that God speaks through him and he has even vetoed bills that would have benefitted our society because it goes against his religious beliefs. The Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives, that the presedent created, gives grants to religions that believe in God. However, other religions such as Wicca, Buddist, or even Jewish have been denied for the grants. The Christians pass judgement onto others (like they did to your friends), they have killed thousands of people (the crusades, Iraq) and they decieve their own people into believing their version of the bible. They even worship Jesus as Holy. Thou shall not have any gods before me. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not worship any graven image (the cross that Jesus died on). They will kill and die for what they believe and will defend it to the end. They seem to have forgoten that Jesus was a peaceful man and he spread the word of God with shedding a single drop of blood during his travels. He did not desire money or need giant glass cathedrals to to encourage others to hear God's word. Christians created all this mess to feed their own desires. Christians trust and follow their leaders like lambs to the slaughter.

Answer 10

All religions are cults, it's just some are bigger than others. Not all cults are evil brainwashing entities. Some are purely for the worship of their lord. After all most mainstream religions started of as just a small group of people believing in something different to others. All it takes is for one man (or woman) and a small band of devotees to change the world.

Is it just me or does that sound real familiar...