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What is the definition of a
Christian Cult? A Christian Cult is defined by what they believe about
Jesus. What does historic
Biblical Christianity teach us about Jesus? The Bible teaches us that
Jesus is the One and Only True God from eternity past who had no
beginning and will have no end. We are also taught that this One and
Only True God is of one essence, only one God, but is a
Trinity of three Persons:
The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Further, the Bible teaches us
that God the Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, in time took on a full human nature
with all of its human attributes by conception of the Holy Spirit through the
Virgin Mary so that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is now, and will be throughout
eternity, one person with a fully Divine nature and a fully Human Nature.
This means Jesus has two full, complete and separate natures but is one
Person. Further the Bible teaches us that Jesus lived a Human
being's life on this earth for 33 1/2 years with all of it's human limitations
by humble submission to God the Father; and that through this humble submission
He was crucified, died, was buried and then on the third day rose His dead
physical human body back to life as a glorified human body, and that forty days
later he ascended to heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father
with a full human and Divine nature, and will so forever.
A Christian Cult
is anything which deviates from this Biblical teaching about who Jesus is.
For example Mormonism teaches us that
Jesus was first a man who in time became a god and is now part of the godhead of
three persons which makes up the Mormon trinity. Notice that this trinity
is three gods of three separate essences, not one God of one essence manifested
in three persons. Note also that the Mormon Jesus is not first the one and
only True God from eternity past who who in time became a man also, but that he
was first man who became a god of many gods. They also teach that Jesus'
birth came about through Adam's, the god of this world, sexual relations with
Mary, thus they teach it was not a virgin birth through conception of the Holy
Spirit, but the result of a man's, who became a god, sexual relationship with
another human being: Mary. Since they do not teach the Bible's
teaching on the Nature of God
and since they teach Jesus was a man first, not God first from all eternity,
therefore this constitutes them as a Christian cult, not a Christian religion.
Jehovah Witnesses & the Watchtower are also a Christian cult.
They teach that Jesus was first Michael the Archangel the first and greatest
creation of Jehovah God, who became a man, died and rose spiritually, not
bodily, from the dead. The Jehovah Witness's Jesus is an Angel, not the
One and only True God, and not a man. They deny both his humanity and His
divinity and as a result are classified as a Christian cult.
Some groups of Christianity
would also classify some Pentecostal Religions as cults also
because they believe in what they call Jesus Only meaning they do
not believe in the Bible's teaching on the Trinity, but believe that God is only
One person who manifest's himself at times as God the Father and God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit. They don't believe these are three separate persons
who make up the One and Only True God of one essence, but that God is one
essence and one person. However they do teach that God in the person of
Jesus Christ is fully God and Fully Man but one person.
Any time a religion deviates
from what the Bible teaches us about who Jesus is, that he is fully God first
and now also fully Man, but one person, that is a Christian cult, not a
Christian religion. Therefore, both Catholicism and Protestantism are
classified as Christian religions. They both agree on who Jesus is and
that this One and Only True God of one essence is a Trinity of three Persons:
The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Where they disagree has to do
with their position on Authority and what constitutes Salvation. The
Protestant Church teaches that God's Word the Bible is final and highest
authority over the Church, its leadership, and its members. The Catholic
Church, while acknowledging that the Bible is God's Word, teach that Historical
Church traditions and the teaching of the Church are of higher authority than
the teaching of Scripture. The Protestant Church teaches that Jesus'
salvation for our sins is received
through faith and through faith
alone, not by any works of ours. The Catholic Church teaches that
Jesus died for our sins so that we can now work our way to heaven. But
concerning the nature of God and the nature and person of Jesus Christ, both
Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox religions are in complete agreement.
For further discussion on the
Nature of God and Jesus Christ, see the following articles:
Next: Jehovah
Witnesses
Non-Christian Religions & Christian Cults
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