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Originally Posted by Coram Deo  But Sociologist and even government people are defining all religions including Christianity, Reformed, Baptistic, Paedobaptistic, etc as cult..
They have said we brain-wash our adherents and shun/ex-communicate if they break the rules of the church.. I have even heard them say that to ex-communicate is abuse and a form of mind-control... That any form of church discipline is mind-control... This is what sociologist say about us...
By historical definition as least they are correct that the word cultus means adoration.. And We worship and adore the True God..
It seems like we christians use a different definition of cult then the society or culture.. How did this happen?
I am just not sure if the word cult is a good word to use in any case since there seems to be so much difference in understanding of it and how to define it.
It also seems that the groups it is used against each other... We call Mormons a cult, they call us a cult...
It is most likely better to just say that Mormonism is heresy and is a false religion then to use the emotionally charged misdetermined word definition of cult.. Quote:
Originally Posted by North Jersey Baptist Language morphs with time. An evangelical today is not the same as an evangelical thirty years ago. The term "cult" has come to define any group that is steeped in heresy and has a brain-washing effect on its adherents. Groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, B'hai, Unification Church (Moonies) are grounded in heresy and exemplify the brain-washing effect. Some of the more radical cults in recent memory are the Branch Davidians and The Peoples Temple (Jim Jones). Both groups came to a violent end. I have no problem with the term but that doesn't mean liberal Protestant churches, the Roman Catholic Church or the Oneness Pentecostals are any less dangerous. | |
Michael, I should have qualified my comments. I was coming from the true church position. In other words I was speaking of our definition of a cult, not the worlds definition. I fully expect the world to think of true believers as out to lunch or even dangerous. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals certainly has that opinion. What the "cults" think of us is of little consequence.