are cults and religions the same?

Answer 1

No they are not the same.

The term, 'cult’, 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 (One God, three Persons), the deity of Christ as the second person of the Trinity, 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.

Answer 2

OK, every nation (a long time ago) had a Pantheon of Gods, and a "Cult" was when someone chose one or two Gods they wanted to worship rather then worshiping the Hundreds of Gods in the Pantheon.

So a Cult isn't what people usually think it is.
The people in a Cult don't always do that Mass suicide thing.

And Yes all religions were at one point in time a Cult.
Because now a days every religious movement is considered a cult until they get a certain amount of followers and until a certain amount of time has passed.

Like Wicca, it has only been around for 50 years, but there are so many adherents that it cant be called a cult anymore.

Answer 3

Yes, though there are some simple differences.

First off, the number of adherents is much smaller in a cult than it is for a religion.

A religion has already gone through the steps of slander, rumors, and lies while a cult is beginning to undergo that scrutiny.

However, generally speaking a cult and a religion share the same basic things. A belief in some form of divine being(s). Some view of the afterlife. A practice of some sort that honors the divine being(s). A special code that dictates morals and/or ethics that a person should live by.

Essentially they are the same, the only difference is media coverage and tabloid stories.

Answer 4

Religion is a man made product.. Catholic. Protestant, Baptist, etc.. Each has it's own form of doctern but in the end they all believe in GOD.

Jesus taught us that we could break free of dictated religion and have a personal relationship with God. That's what he was telling the Jewish people who were die hard old Testimate believers.

. In religion and sociology, a cult is a term designating a cohesive group of people (generally, but not exclusively a relatively small and recently founded religious movement[citation needed]) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be outside the mainstream or reaching the point of a taboo.

Answer 5

As someone mentioned in an earlier post today, the difference between a religion and a cult is the size of their congregations.
By strict definition, all religions are cults.

Answer 6

Yes they are both the same.

A group of people who would die for the sake of a unified belief that may or may not even be true.

Remember the cult years ago called Heaven's Gate? they believed there was an alien spaceship hiding behind the moon or something & when they die the spaceship would take their souls to heaven. How is that belief any different than believing in Jesus or a god who will do basically the same thing if you have unyielding faith & die in his name?

Answer 7

1. Yes... Religion = Cult = Religion.
2. No... "A cult is a religion with no political power." – Tom Wolfe (1931 - )

Answer 8

An organization is what it is, regardless of the label one applies to it.

However, in the mainstream definition of the words, "cults" have a negative connotation and "religions" have a positive one. Therefore, intolerant people tend to apply "cult" to any "religion" that they disagree with.

Answer 9

According to the dictionary, it is those of unorhtodoxed religions and there adherents.

To me a cult is to persuede by means of untruth and a feeling of belonging to something is what gets you there.... So, I don't know but that's not what I adhere to.

Answer 10

Religions are cults with tax exempt privileges.