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What's the Difference Series What’s the Difference? An examination of the differences between … Christianity & the cults Christianity & world religions and Baptists & denominations Table of Contents Primary Resources Consulted for This Study ........................................2 Part 1: Examining the Differences Between Christianity and the Cults Lesson 1: What Makes a Cult a Cult?.......................................................................... 3 Lesson 2: The Jehovah’s Witnesses ........................................................................... 8 Lesson 3: Mormonism ................................................................................................ 21 Lesson 4: Christian Science....................................................................................... 32 Lesson 5: Seventh-day Adventism ............................................................................ 44 Lesson 6: Combatting the Cults ................................................................................ 53 Review Quiz ................................................................................................................. 58 Part 2: Examining the Differences Between Christianity and World Religions Lesson 1: Islam ........................................................................................................... 59 Lesson 2: Hinduism .................................................................................................... 74 Lesson 3: Buddhism ................................................................................................... 80 Lesson 4: Judaism ...................................................................................................... 87 Review Quiz ................................................................................................................. 98 Part 3: Examining the Differences Between Baptists and Denominations Lesson 1: Catholicism ................................................................................................ 99 Lesson 2: Orthodoxy................................................................................................. 113 Lesson 3: Anglicanism/Episcopalianism ................................................................ 121 Lesson 4: Lutheranism ............................................................................................. 127 Lesson 5: Presbyterianism (and Reformed Churches) ................................................... 134 Lesson 6: Methodism................................................................................................ 140 Lesson 7: Pentecostalism (including the charismatic movement) ...................................... 145 Lesson 8: Baptists..................................................................................................... 152 Review Quiz ............................................................................................................... 159 Review of 4 Key Doctrines Covered in This Study.............................160 1 What’s the Difference? Primary Resources Consulted for This Study On the differences between Christianity and the cults The Chaos of Cults by J. K. van Baalen (1962) The Four Major Cults by Anthony Hoekema (1963) Confronting the Cults by Gordon Lewis (1966) Handbook of Today’s Religions by Josh McDowell & Don Stewart (1983) The Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin (1985 & 1997) “The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error” pamphlet by Moody Press (1985) Fast Facts on False Teachings by Ron Carlson & Ed Decker (1994) Handbook of Denominations in the United States (10th ed.) by Frank Mead & Samuel Hill (1995) Mormonism: Changes, Contradictions, and Errors by John Farkas & David Reed (1995) Charts of Cults, Sects, & Religious Movements by H. Wayne House (2000) So What’s the Difference? by Fritz Ridenour (2001) “So What’s the Difference?” Sunday School series by Ken Brown (2002) “10 Questions & Answers on Jehovah’s Witnesses” pamphlet by Rose Publishing (2006) “10 Questions & Answers on Mormonism” pamphlet by Rose Publishing (2006) “10 Questions & Answers on Seventh-day Adventism” pamphlet by Rose Publishing (2010) “Christianity, Cults & Religions” pamphlet by Rose Publishing (2010) On the differences between Christianity and world religions Handbook of Today’s Religions by Josh McDowell & Don Stewart (1983) The Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin (1985 & 1997) Reaching Muslims for Christ by William Saal (1991) Fast Facts on False Teachings by Ron Carlson & Ed Decker (1994) Handbook of Denominations in the United States (10th ed.) by Frank Mead & Samuel Hill (1995) The Compact Guide to World Religions edited by Dean Halverson (1996) So What’s the Difference? by Fritz Ridenour (2001) Unveiling Islam by Ergun Mehmet Caner & Emir Fethi Caner (2002) “So What’s the Difference?” Sunday School series by Ken Brown (2002) “Christianity, Cults & Religions” pamphlet by Rose Publishing (2004) “Islam & Christianity” pamphlet by Rose Publishing (2004) Hinduism and Other Eastern Religions by Trevor Barnes (2005) “Christianity & Eastern Religions” pamphlet by Rose Publishing (2008) On the differences between Baptists and denominations The Marks of a Methodist by Gerald Kennedy (1960) Charismatic Chaos by John MacArthur (1992) The Gospel According to Rome by James McCarthy (1995) Handbook of Denominations in the United States (10th ed.) by Frank Mead & Samuel Hill (1995) The Roman Catholic Controversy by James White (1996) So What’s the Difference? by Fritz Ridenour (2001) “So What’s the Difference?” Sunday School series by Ken Brown (2002) “Denominations Comparison” pamphlet by Rose Publishing (2003) The Unauthorized Guide to Choosing a Church by Carmen Renee Berry (2003) “What’s the Difference?” Sunday School series by Ken Brown (2003) Fast Facts on False Teachings by Ron Carlson & Ed Decker (1994) Christianity for Dummies by Richard Wagner (2004) Charismatic Confusion by Ernest Pickering and Myron Houghton (2006) 2 What’s the Difference? Part 1: Examining the Differences Between Christianity and the Cults Lesson 1: What Makes a Cult a Cult? Before we begin studying four of the more renowned American cults 1 of today (the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, Christian Science, and Seventh-day Adventism), we must first answer the question, What makes a cult a cult? The aim of this lesson is to define what a cult is, identifying the characteristics that make a cult a cult. I. Definitions and Distinctives A. A cult is “a group that claims to have exclusive possession of the truth that is necessary for salvation” (Brown, “So What’s the Difference?,” p. 57). B. Cults are “quasi-Christian groups whose doctrine deviates from the fundamental tenets of historic Christianity—particularly in the area of Christology 2” (Phil Johnson, www.spurgeon.org/~phil/cultists.htm). C. "A cult, then, is any religious movement which claims the backing of Christ or the Bible, but distorts the central message of Christianity by (1) an additional revelation, and (2) by displacing a fundamental tenet of the faith with a secondary matter 3" (Lewis, p. 4). D. “... [A] cult may be defined as a group of people who, though claiming to be Christian, accept one or more central tenets of belief that run contrary to historic Christianity” (House, p. 9). 1The English word “cult” comes from the Latin word for worship, cultus . 2 “The sure mark of a cult is what it does with the person of Jesus Christ. All cults ultimately deny the fact that Jesus Christ is God the Son, second Person of the Holy Trinity, and mankind’s only hope” (McDowell & Stewart, p. 25). 3”We may further note that the cults have a tendency to major in minors. That is to say, cults tend to take certain peripheral truths (or teachings which are held to be truths) and to elevate them to a prominence far greater than they deserve, whereas matters of major importance are played down. The result is that the theology of the cult becomes lopsided and distorted” (Hoekema, p. 375). 3 E. “A cult, then, is a group of people polarized around someone’s interpretation of the Bible and is characterized by maJor deviations from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith, particularly the fact that God became man in Jesus Christ” (Walter Martin, quoted in McDowell & Stewart, p. 19). F. Hoekema (pp. 377-388) identifies five “distinctive traits” of a cult: (1) an extra-Scriptural source of authority; 2) the denial of Justification by grace alone 4; 3) the devaluation of Christ; 4) the group as the exclusive community of the saved; and 5) the group’s central role in eschatology 5 G. Ridenour (pp. 111-112) identifies five “maJor characteristics” of cultists: 1) they reJect the Trinity; 2) they usually believe that all Christian churches are wrong and that their group has the only real truth about God; 3) they claim to believe the Bible but they distort its teachings; 4) they deny that people can be saved by faith in Christ alone; and 5) they are skillful at using Christian terminology, but they are not talking the same language as biblical Christians H. McDowell & Stewart identify eleven characteristics of cults: 1) new truth; 2) new interpretations of Scripture; 3) a non-biblical source of authority; 4) another Jesus; 5) reJection of orthodox Christianity; 6) double-talk; 7) non- biblical teaching on the nature of God (Trinity); 8) changing theology; 9) strong leadership; 10) salvation by works; and 11) false prophecy I. My definition: A cult is a religious group that claims to be Christian but contradicts
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