Cult

What it means

In ordinary speech "cult" can mean any strange or controlling group. On this site it is a theological word. A cult, in this sense, is a religious group that claims to be Christian, uses the Bible and Christian vocabulary, but denies one or more doctrines without which the faith is not Christianity: that God is one God in three persons, that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, that he rose bodily from the dead, and that sinners are saved by grace through faith in him rather than by their own works or membership.

The same words often carry different meanings inside such a group. "Jesus" may be a created being, a spirit brother, or a mode of the Father; "salvation" may mean progress toward godhood or faithful service to an organization. That is why the site looks at what a body officially teaches, from its own sources, rather than at the words it uses.

Many cults also add a new authority beside the Bible: a prophet, a governing body, or another book that controls how Scripture may be read. Calling a group a cult describes its teaching. It is not a verdict on the sincerity of any member, many of whom are seeking God and deserve patience and the truth.

In Scripture

• Galatians 1:6-9

  Galatians 1:6-9

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  Paul says a different gospel is no gospel at all, whoever preaches it.

• 2 Peter 2:1

  2 Peter 2:1

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  False teachers arise inside the visible church and bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord.

• 1 John 4:1-3

  1 John 4:1-3

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  Believers are to test the spirits by what they confess about Jesus Christ come in the flesh.

• 2 John 1:9

  2 John 1:9

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  Whoever does not remain in the teaching of Christ does not have God.

• Matthew 7:15

  Matthew 7:15

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  Jesus warns of false prophets who look like sheep.