Originally posted by TheBear
Originally posted by edpobre
<B><B>Friends,
Being a CULT is relative depending on WHO is calling the shots. Catholics and Protestants REGARD non-Trinitarians as CULTS because to them, anyone who is NOT a Trinitarian is a CULT.
Trinitarians and non-Trinitarians alike REGARD the followers of Jim Jones as CULTS because although they believed in the Trinity, they were OBEDIENT to Jim Jones to the point of death.
Perhaps, JWs, Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists have their own STANDARDS and call everyone else a CULT.
To really know whether you belong to a CULT or not, you have to know the UNBIASED definition of CULT.
With regards to religion, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines CULT as: a religion REGARDED as UNORTHODOX or SPURIOUS; also, its body of adherents. RELIGION is a cause, principle or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith.
This leads us to the question: Who REGARDS a religion as UNORTHODOX or SPURIOUS.
The SAME dictionary defines ORTHODOX as: CONFORMING to ESTABLISHED doctrine esp. in religion. And SPURIOUS means FALSE.
This leads us to the next question: What are REGARDED as ESTABLISHED doctrine?
To answer the first question, we must ask ourelves this question: WHOSE religion is it that we are following - Christ, Mohammad, Budha, etc.?
If it is Christ's RELIGION that we are following, shouldn't we ALLOW the Bible ALONE to SHOW us which of today's Christian religions is UNORTHODOX or NOT conforming to established doctrine and SPURIOUS or false?
Having said these, which of today's religions do NOT conform to doctrines ESTABLISHED by Jesus and his apostles?
Is the "Trinity" a doctrine ESTABLISHED by Jesus and his apostles?
Is the "DEITY of Jesus" a doctrine ESTABLISHED by Jesus and his apostles?
Is "faith alone" a doctrine ESTABLISHED by Jesus and his apostles?
Is "once saved always saved" a doctrine ESTABLISHED by Jesus and his apostles?
Is "baptism NOT necessary to salvation" a doctrine ESTABLISHED by Jesus and his apostles?
Is "membership in the church that Christ built NOT necessary for salvation" a doctrine ESTABLISHED by Jesus and his apostles?
Any "professing Christian" religion that does NOT conform to ANY established doctrine <I>OF Christ</I> is a CULT.
If you find yourself INSIDE a CULT, God is imploring you to "come out of her lest you share in her sins and receive of her plagues" (Rev. 18:4).
Ed
</B></B><B>
</B>Some tell-tale signs of a cult, from my studies under Dr. Walter Martin. (if my memory serves correctly....this was over 20 years ago)
Cults isolate people from others. Cults take simple meanings in scripture, and create elaborate, multi-level submeanings to them. Cults, like Jehovah Witness, put more emphasis and focus on books and publications, written about what the Bible says, than on the Bible itself. Cults teach heresy. There are others. I don't recall them at the moment.
This is the MOST biased description of CULT that I have come across. As I said in the beginning of my post, CULT is relative depending on who is calling the shots. And until people DISCARD their PRE-CONCEIVED definition of CULT, they will NOT arrive at the knowledge of the TRUTH.
A lot of teachings or groups may have one of these traits, this does not make them a cult. It is when a group has a combination of these traits, that they should be considered a cult.
SELF-SERVING statements like this only serve to MUDDLE the issue. Wesbter was an UNBIASED person who made a living out of making UNBIASED definition of terms.
If people are TRULY seeking for the TRUTH (only the truth SANCTIFIES - John 17:17) why can't they acccept Webster's UNBIASED definition of CULT? After-all, we have ONLY ONE Bible to base our beliefs on, right?
Reducing your case to, "If you believe in this doctrine, or don't believe in that doctrine, you are in a cult", really does not make your case for presenting your view of the Trinity, or any other doctrine.
You need a new approach.
This is also a SELF-SERVING statement. You are only saying this because you are a Trinitarian. On the other hand, Trinitarians brand non-Trinitarians as CULT because they deny the deity of Christ.
If we go to Webster, we find that the word "ORTHODOX" means "according to ESTABLISHED doctrines." The question really is: WHO or WHAT church established doctrine? Was it the "early church Fathers" who ESTABLISHED doctrine? Does that give "mainstream Christianity" the authority to declare that they are "orthodox Christians?"
I contend that the Bible is the source of doctrine and Jesus ALONE is the authority regarding which are "established doctrines" and which are NOT.Whatever the apostles wrote, they LEARNED from Jesus.
Hence, any church that teaches doctrines that are contrary to what Jesus ESTABLISHED, is UNORTHODOX or SPURIOUS and according to Webster, a CULT.
I believe that the Bible plainly points to a triune Godhead.
A side note - The word "Trinity" is nowhere to be found in the Bible, nor is the word "Bible".
John
Your belief that the Bible "PLAINLY" points to a triune Godhead is WRONG.
Jesus, SPECIFICALLY, did NOT establish the Trinity doctrine. No other person on earth, NEITHER a council nor a Pope nor an Emperor, nor an apostle, nor a prophet can establish a doctrine that CONTRADICTS what Jesus established.
Jesus SAID: "MY doctrine is NOT mine but HIS who SENT me" (John 7:16). Thus, whoever establishes a doctrine CONTRARY to what Jesus established is establishing a doctrine CONTRARY to God's.
Jesus PLAINLY established the DOCTRINE (teaching) that he is a MAN (John 8:40) and the FATHER alone is the ONLY true God (John 17:3). This was the "ORTHODOX" view of Jesus and God during Jesus' and the apostles' time.
At that time, anyone who had a DIFFERENT belief was NOT a member of the fold, flock or church that Christ BUILT and was considered a Gentile or a PAGAN .
The word TRINITY is NOWHERE found in the Bible and for centuries now, has been a point of contention among professing Christians.
The word BIBLE is ALSO not found in the Bible but the SIMILRITY with the Trinity stops there. NOBODY has ever contended that the Bible is the word of God.
Thus, the mere FACT that the word Bible is ALSO not found in the Bible does NOT make the Trinity doctrine TRUE.
The ONLY reason why the Tinity doctrine is FALSE (spurious) and NOT in accordance with estanblished doctrine (unorthodox) is because it is CONTRARY to doctrines established BY Jesus.
Ed
