Cult vs. sect

[djconklin]

B4 one asks if such and such denomination is a cult one has to know what the terms mean.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines cult as:

1. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
2. The followers of such a religion or sect.
3. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
4. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
5. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.<LI type=a>Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
6. The object of such devotion.
7. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines cult as:

1: formal religious veneration : worship
2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>
5 a: great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad
b: the object of such devotion
c: a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

From the above then we see that we need to know what is the difference between a cult and a sect in practical terms for religious groups. The difference lies in who will be saved. A sect recognizes that not all of God's children belong to their specific sect. A cult denies anyone other than members of their group the possibility of being saved. To date there is only one major Christian group that qualifies as a cult.

 

[RND]

[*]A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.

1: formal religious veneration : worship

Well, that settles it!

Christianity is a cult!

 

[JonMiller]

I addressed at least 3 of the standard definitions in my post: http://christianforums.com/t7045655-is-adventism-a-cult.html

JM

 

[JonMiller]

Well, that settles it!

Christianity is a cult!

Christianity definitely was during the time when Christ was on earth and for a period of time after.

JM

 

[RND]

Christianity definitely was during the time when Christ was on earth and for a period of time after.

JM

Still is.......

Let's break this down:

A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false,

Jhn 10:20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

Luk 4:32 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

Mar 1:27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine [is] this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

with its followers often living in an unconventional manner

Luk 9:3 And he said unto them, Take nothing for [your] journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.

Luk 10:4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.

Luk 6:35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and [to] the evil.

Mat 5:41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

under the guidance of an authoritarian,

Mat 7:29 For he taught them as [one] having authority, and not as the scribes.

Mat 15:35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

Mar 1:22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

Luk 4:36 And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word [is] this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

charismatic leader.

Mat 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

Luk 19:3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.

Mar 4:1 And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.

Jhn 6:2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

 

[DeanM]

Hi folks,

Please be aware that this thread is being looked at by staff as it comes close to crossing the line regarding this CF rule:

Sharing of information about one's beliefs, for instance by quoting Bible verses or witnessing, is encouraged. Honest debate and discussion regarding the existence and nature of God is allowed and welcome. Mockery of Christians, Christians beliefs, and the Christian God are not.

Let's please be very careful here.

 

[TrustAndObey]

DJ, I agree. If people that sling the word "cult" around knew what the actual definition said, they'd gladly call themselves in a cult as well.

Great verses RND!!!

 

[Lebesgue]

I am just gonna keep my mouth shut on this one. Whatever I say I will get reported because of the opinion I have which I won't share on here. If you wanna know what I think go on CARM. This is not the place for me to voice what I think on this subject.

Shalom,

Lebesgue

 

[RND]

Hi folks,

Please be aware that this thread is being looked at by staff as it comes close to crossing the line regarding this CF rule:



Let's please be very careful here.

Dean....

I just want to point out that I'm certainly not mocking Christianity. I'm merely attempting to demonstrate how ridiculous the "definition" of a cult really is.

If we take the definition at face value for what it is attempting to define we can certainly see how it can be changed into indicting all Christian as "cult" members.

Not looking to offend here, merely trying to make a strong point that, in essence, any religious views can be considered "cultish" in nature by this particular definition (in particular, Christianity), even though they certainly are not.

 

[honorthesabbath]

Good grief! Who keeps reporting EWG's posts? I see nothing wrong with any of them that have been reported. This is just NUTS folks!!

 

[NightEternal]

If you had actually been following things here, you would know that EGW is clearly mocking and trying to bait me in this thread by using my tag 'Night' in his comments. It is carry-over from this thread:

http://christianforums.com/t7046090-why-was-my-thread-locked.html

He has also sent a harrassing PM to me.

I am not going to fall for the bait but rather let the mods deal with him.

One of his posts has already had my name edited out. I also have my suspicions he is a sock account for someone else here.

Of course, I don't have to explain this to you because it really is not any of your concern.

So, don't worry yourself about it.

Carry on with your discussion.

 

[honorthesabbath]

If you had actually been following things here, you would know that EGW is clearly mocking and trying to bait me in this thread by using my tag 'Night' in his comments. It is carry-over from this thread:

http://christianforums.com/t7046090-why-was-my-thread-locked.html

He has also sent a harrassing PM to me.

I am not going to fall for the bait but rather let the mods deal with him.

One of his posts has already had my name edited out. I also have my suspicions he is a sock account for someone else here.

Of course, I don't have to explain this to you because it really is not any of your concern.

So, don't worry yourself about it.

Carry on with your discussion.

I wasn't talking to or about you Night. Please stop butting in.

 

[NightEternal]

I wasn't talking to or about you Night. Please stop butting in.

Excuse me? Do you even read your posts!?

Good grief! Who keeps reporting EWG's posts? I see nothing wrong with any of them that have been reported. This is just NUTS folks!!

Seeing as I was the one who reported him in this thread, yeah, I would say you were asking about me! Seems to me you shouldn't be asking the question if you don't want the answer!

So you can back the heck off any time.

Just unbelievable!

 

[honorthesabbath]

Excuse me? Do you even read your posts!?

Good grief! Who keeps reporting EWG's posts? I see nothing wrong with any of them that have been reported. This is just NUTS folks!!

Seeing as I was the one who reported him in this thread, yeah, I would say you were asking about me! Seems to me you shouldn't be asking the question if you don't want the answer!

So you can back the heck off any time.

Just unbelievable!

Unlike YOU--I have NO IDEA who is reporting whom. So again, back away.

 

[NightEternal]

And you obviously wanted to know or you wouldn't have asked, right?

Well, now you know.

 

[djconklin]

I wasn't talking to or about you Night. Please stop butting in.

He can't help himself. Guilty conscience.

 

[NightEternal]

I did not 'butt in' Conklin. She asked who reported him, I let her know. If she didn't want to know, she shouldn't have asked. It isn't rocket science.

If you think I feel guilty about reporting this guy or have any problem admitting it, you obviously don't know much about me by now.

I have no issues whatsoever admitting when I report someone. It is a common courtesy.

Of course, I'm still waiting to hear you admit that it is you spite-reporting me in the plagiarism thread.

 

[djconklin]

I didn't say that you butted in.

I have never, ever spite reported anyone (that's your thought pattern, not mine)--to get inane, off-topic posts removed, yes.

 

[FreeinChrist]

Good grief

closing for staff review

Edit to add that this thread will remain closed because of the number of reports and violations