CULTS

WHAT DO U MEAN BY CULT
1. A system of religious veneration and
devotion directed toward a particular figure
or object.
2. A relatively small group of people having
religious beliefs or practices regarded by
others as strange or sinister.

MAJOR RELIGIONS OF THE
WORLD ARE NOT CULTS
A CULT IS NOT JUST A RELIGION. THE MAJOR
RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD LIKE
CHRISTANITY,
JUDAISM,ISLAM,BUDDHISM,HINDUISM ARE
NOT CULTS

HOW DO CHRISTANS DEFINE
RELIGIOUS cult
• Christians define religious cults from a
different perspective. Simply, a cult is any
religious group that deviates from the
fundamental teachings of the historic,
Bible-based, Christian faith as confirmed
through the ancient ecumenical creeds.
• Generally, if a religious organization follows
Jesus Christ, but denies or distorts essential
Christian doctrines such as the Trinity, the
resurrection, or salvation by grace alone,
that organization is considered a cult.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A CULT
C CUT OF FROM THE WORLD
U UNDER NOURISHED POOR NUTRITIONAL
INTAKE & SLEEP
DEPRIVATION OFTEN
CHARACTERISES CULT
MEMBERS
L LEADERSHIP IS AUTHORITARIAN &
COERCIBE
T THEOLOGY OR BELIEFS OF A CULT ALWAYS
INVOLVE SOME UNIQUE OR NEW
PERSPECTIVES

SOME PROMINENT CULT GROUPS
OF THE WORLD
THERE ARE MORE THAN THOUSANDS OF CULT
GROUPS IN THE WORLD. PROMINENT OF THEM
BEING:-
• JEHOVAH WITNESS
• SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST
• CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
• UNIFICATION CHURCH
• CHURCH OF BIBLE UNDERSTANDING
• HEAVEN’S GATE

JEHOVAH WITNESS
• Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorations Christian
denomination with non Trinitarian beliefs distinct from
mainstream Christianity.
• The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million
adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of
over 12 million, and annual Memorial attendance of over
18 million.
• They are directed by the Governing Body of Jehovah's
Witnesses, a group of elders in Brooklyn, New York that
exercises the final authority on all doctrinal matters.
• Jehovah's Witnesses' beliefs are based on their interpretations
of the Bible, and they prefer their own translation, the New
World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.

SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST
• THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH (COMMONLY
ABBREVIATED SDA) IS A CHRISTIAN DENOMINATION WHICH
IS DISTINGUISHED BY ITS OBSERVANCE OF SATURDAY, THE
ORIGINAL SEVENTH DAY OF THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN WEEK,
AS THE SABBATH, AND BY ITS EMPHASIS ON THE
IMMINENT SECOND COMING (ADVENT) OF JESUS CHRIST.
• THE DENOMINATION GREW OUT OF THE MILLE
RITE MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES DURING THE
MIDDLE PART OF THE 19TH CENTURY AND WAS FORMALLY
ESTABLISHED IN 1863.AMONG ITS FOUNDERS WAS ELLEN
G. WHITE, WHOSE EXTENSIVE WRITINGS ARE STILL HELD IN
HIGH REGARD BY THE CHURCH TODAY.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCES
• CHRISTIAN SCIENCE IS A SYSTEM OF THOUGHT AND PRACTICE
DERIVED FROM THE WRITINGS OF MARY BAKER EDDY AND
THE BIBLE.
• IT IS PRACTICED BY MEMBERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH OF
CHRIST SCIENTIST AS WELL AS SOME OTHERS WHO ARE
NONMEMBERS. ITS CENTRAL TEXTS ARE THE BIBLE AND THE
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TEXTBOOK, SCIENCE & HEALTH WITH KEY
TO THE SCRIPTURES BY MARY BAKER EDDY. IN THE TEXTBOOK,
MARY BAKER EDDY DESCRIBES THE TEACHINGS AND
HEALINGS OF JESUS AS A COMPLETE AND COHERENT SCIENCE
WHICH IS BOTH DEMONSTRABLE AND PROVABLE THROUGH
HEALING.

UNIFICATION
CHURCH{MOONIES}
• THE UNIFICATION CHURCH IS A NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT
FOUNDED BY KOREAN RELIGIOUS LEADER SUN MYUNG MOON.
• IN 1954, THE UNIFICATION CHURCH WAS FORMALLY AND LEGALLY
ESTABLISHED IN SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, AS THE HOLY SPIRIT
ASSOCIATION FOR THE UNIFICATION OF WORLD CHRISTIANITY (HSA-
UWC).
• IN 1994, MOON GAVE THE CHURCH A NEW OFFICIAL NAME: FAMILY
FEDERATION FOR WORLD PEACE AND UNIFICATION. MEMBERS ARE
FOUND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, WITH THE LARGEST NUMBER
LIVING IN SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN. CHURCH MEMBERSHIP IS
ESTIMATED TO BE SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND TO A FEW MILLION.
THE CHURCH AND ITS MEMBERS OWN, OPERATE, AND SUBSIDIZE
ORGANIZATIONS AND PROJECTS INVOLVED IN POLITICAL, CULTURAL,
COMMERCIAL, MEDIA, EDUCATIONAL, AND OTHER ACTIVITIES.

Church of Bible
Understanding
• THE CHURCH OF BIBLE UNDERSTANDING (FORMERLY KNOWN
AS THE FOREVER FAMILY) IS A DESTRUCTIVE CULT STARTED IN
1971 BY FORMER ATHEIST AND VACUUM REPAIRMAN
STEWART TRAILL IN ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.
• THE CULT TARGETED TEENS AS YOUNG AS 13 BY DRAWING ON
THEIR WEAKNESSES. THROUGHOUT THE 1970S, THE CULT
EXPANDED TO MANY OTHER PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
• TRAILL, BORN IN QUEBEC IN 1936 IS THE SON OF A
PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, WHO TEACHES THAT HE IS THE
REINCARNATION OF ELIJAH, AND THAT HE KNOWS THE DATE
OF THE RETURN OF CHRIST. MEMBERS OF THE CULT LIVE IN A
COMMUNE AND DONATE 90% OF THEIR INCOME TO THE
CULT.

HEAVEN’S GATE
• HEAVEN’S GATE IS A DESTRUCTIVE, DOOMSDAY CULT
CENTERED IN CALIFORNIA. 21 WOMEN AND 18 MEN
VOLUNTARILY COMMITTED SUICIDE IN THREE
GROUPS ON THREE SUCCESSIVE DAYS STARTING ON
MARCH 23, 1997. MOST WERE IN THEIR 40′S; THE
REST COVERED AN AGE RANGE OF 26 TO 72.
• THEY FOLLOWED A SYNCRETISTIC RELIGION,
COMBINING ELEMENTS OF CHRISTIANITY WITH
UNUSUAL BELIEFS ABOUT THE NATURE OF UFOS.
THEY INTERPRETED PASSAGES FROM THE FOUR
GOSPELS AND THE BOOK REVELATION AS REFERRING
TO UFO VISITATION.

CONCLUSION
YOU CAN RESIST THE CULTS AND HELP YOUR
FRIENDS TO RESIST. THE GREATEST COMMAND
IN THE BIBLE, ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRIST
AND JEWISH RABBIES, IS TO LOVE GOD WITH
YOUR HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH.
DON’T SURRENDER YOUR MIND OR SOUL TO
THE UNDUE CONTROL OF THE CULT GROUP.
YOU HAVE A CHOICE ; GOD CREATED YOU WITH
THE ABILITY TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR
OWN ACTIONS AND DESTINY.