People often confuse the words “cult” and “occult.” One reason, undoubtedly, is the similar sound of the word “occult” with the expression “a cult.” Despite similarity in sound, there is a significant difference in definition. We must be careful, therefore, to differentiate between “cults” and the “occult.”

The word “cult” comes from the Latin word “cultus” and means “a system of worship distinguishable from others.” Today, the word “cult” is used to designate sectarian groups that identify themselves with a religion, particularly with Christianity, but deny one or more of the cardinal doctrines of the “parent” religion’s orthodoxy. For instance, Jehovah’s Witnesses are a cult because they claim to be Christian while denying cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith; such as: the Trinity, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and Christ’s bodily resurrection. On the other hand, Islam, though it denies the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith, is not a cult, but another religion, because it does not claim to be Christian. This distinction between religions and cults does not make anti-Christian, false religions, like Islam, benign; it merely serves to differentiate between religions and their heretical offshoots.

Although we are concerned with cults of Christianity in this article, other religions have their cults as well. For example, the Nation of Islam—“Black Muslims”—is a cult of Islam. Hare Krishna is a cult of Hinduism.

The word “occult” comes from the Latin word “occultus” and means “hidden,” “secret,” or “concealed.” Whereas the word “cult” is always used in reference to a particular group, the word “occult” refers to particular mystical practices performed to obtain magical or supernatural knowledge or power. Occult practices fall into four primary categories.

1. Divination (fortune-telling) - The attempt to predict the future or reveal something secret or unknown by supernatural means. It is the pagan counterpart of prophecy and strictly condemned in the Bible (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).

(1) Astrology - This is the most popular form of divination. It is based on the theory that planets and stars affect events on earth, particularly the lives of people. Through the use of horoscopes, astrologers allegedly predict the future and dole out sound advice on how we should live our lives. All who look to their daily horoscope for guidance, instead of to the living God, are scoffed at by the Scriptures and condemned for playing the fool (Isaiah 47:12-15; Jeremiah 10:2-3).

(2) Palmistry - This is the belief that a person’s future, especially their longevity or length of life, can be predicted by examining and interpreting the lines on the palms of their hands.

(3) Crystal Gazing – This is an ancient form of divination, in which the diviner supposedly sees future events by gazing into a crystal-ball.

(4) Other forms of divination include Tarot Cards and Ouija Boards.

2. Witchcraft and Magic – This is an attempt to manipulate universal forces into doing man’s bidding through the power of man’s mind or incantations. The word “magic” is often spelled “magick” by occultists, to discriminate between it and mere slight-of-hand tricks. Since it is a blatant attempt to manipulate universal forces into doing man’s will, as opposed to man submitting his will to God’s, the Bible associates “witchcraft” with “rebellion” (1 Samuel 15:23).

3. Spiritism – This is an attempt to communicate with the dead through mediums, channeling, or séances. It is strictly forbidden by the Scriptures; see Leviticus 19:31; 20:6; Isaiah 8:19.

4. Satanism – This is definitely the darkest side of the occult and can be divided into two groups.

(1) The first group of Satanists is made up of those who do not believe in a literal devil, but see Satan as a mere symbol of their staunch opposition to Christianity.

(2) The second group of Satanists is made up of those who do believe in a personal devil and who worship him as a powerful god who can grant them immediate gratification.

Along with mistaking the words “cult” and “occult” as synonyms, today’s varied opinions over what constitutes a cult add to people’s confusion on the subject. The media seems to think of cults only in terms of the weird and bizarre—the Heaven’s Gate Cult who committed suicide in hopes of boarding a secret spaceship hidden behind the Hale-Bop comet.

Psychologists think of cults in terms of “mind control.” To them a cult is a group of people being exploited and manipulated by a domineering and deranged leader who fancies himself to be either God or God’s special messenger—David Koresh and the Branch Davidians.

Sociologists tend to use cultural idiosyncrasies as their criteria for identifying cults. In other words, to the sociologist, cults are not necessarily good or bad, but just reclusive or different. To avoid the negative connotations of the term “cult,” as well as to appease today’s politically-correct crowd and to promote pluralism, modern day sociologists often refer to cults as “new,” “minority,” or “alternative religions.”

As Christians we are not interested in identifying cults from a journalistic, psychological, or sociological perspective. Instead, we are concerned with identifying cults from a theological perspective. This is especially true when it comes to cults of Christianity. Notice, like Dr. Alan Gomes, in his excellent book: Unmasking The Cults, I prefer the expression “cults of Christianity” to the more popular “Christian cults,” which is actually an oxymoron, since cults are not Christian. 

A cult of Christianity is a sectarian group, which claims to be Christian, but denies at least one of the cardinal doctrines of the historic Christian faith. The historic Christian faith is that which was taught by the apostles, defended by the church fathers and rediscovered by the reformers. Having been “once” and for all “delivered unto the saints,” it is now to be “earnestly” contended for by the church (Jude 3). Therefore, all attempts by today’s cults to alter the Christian faith must be seen by the church as a call to arms. We must fight for the purity of our faith against cultic foes with all of our hearts lest the Christian faith be lost to future generations.

In his classic work, The Art of War, Sun Tsu wrote, “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.” If we are to win our war with the cults we must know both ourselves—the distinguishing doctrines of biblical Christianity—and our enemy—the distinguishing marks of a cult. If we are ignorant of either we put ourselves at a distinct disadvantage on the field of battle; if we are ignorant of both we place our faith in great peril. No wonder Hosea taught that God’s “people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).   

 THE DISTINGUISHING DOCTRINES

OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

When we speak of the cardinal doctrines of biblical Christianity, we are talking about the nonnegotiables of our faith—definitive beliefs that cannot be compromised without Christianity losing its distinctiveness. We are not talking about nonessentials—the details of our faith over which Christians agree to disagree. For instance, the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is a nonnegotiable. All true Christians believe that Jesus Christ will gloriously, personally and visibly return to the earth; however, Christians disagree about the details of Christ’s return. Some Christians are postmillennialists, some amillennialists and others premillennialists. Among premillennialists there are pretribulation, midtribulation, posttribulation and prewrath rapturists. Although there is uniformity among us when it comes to the cardinal doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming, there is great diversity when it comes to the details of His coming.

Perhaps, the best passage in all of the Bible on the nonnegotiables of the Christian faith is Ephesians 4:4-6. Having stressed the importance of spiritual unity; see verses 1-3, Paul now proceeds to point out that even something as important as unity cannot be purchased at the exuberant price of doctrinal compromise. In verses 4-6, Paul spells out for us the nonnegotiables of the Christian faith.

The first nonnegotiable is our belief about God. All Christians believe in “one God” (v. 6). We are monotheists (believers in one God), not polytheists (believers in many gods) or pantheists (believers in the divinity of all things). Not only do we believe in one God, but we also believe in a triune God. We believe in God the Father—“One Father of all” (v. 6), God the Son—“One Lord” (v. 5), and God the Holy Spirit—“one Spirit” (v. 4). Any group that claims to be Christian, but denies the Trinity, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, or the deity of the Holy Spirit is a cult.

The second nonnegotiable is our belief about the church. Christians believe that there is only one church of Jesus Christ—“There is one body” (v. 4). This church transcends denominational lines and is made up of all born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, any group claiming exclusivity as the one and only true church of Jesus Christ is a cult.

The final nonnegotiable is our belief about salvation. Christians believe that the only way to be saved from sin and reconciled with God is through faith in Christ—“one faith” (v. 5). Only those who trust Christ for salvation and believe in His virgin birth, sinless life, miraculous ministry, vicarious death, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven and promised Second Coming, receive Spirit baptism—“one baptism” (v. 5), the indwelling Christ—“who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (v. 6), and the hope of eternal life—“even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (v. 4). Any group claiming to be Christian while teaching another way to God apart from faith in Christ is a cult.

THE DISTINGUISHING

MARKS OF A CULT

Apart from professing to be Christian and failing at least one test of Christian orthodoxy, there are other distinguishing marks of a cult of Christianity. Hopefully, the following list will assist you in identifying and fighting the cultic foes of our Christian faith. Although each cult of Christianity does not bear all of these marks, all cults of Christianity, in one form or another, bare the majority of them.

1. DEIFIED and/or DICTATORIAL LEADERSHIP

     Cults of Christianity normally begin with a heretic, an individual who teaches unbiblical doctrines; see Isaiah 8:20 and Acts 17:11. Afterward, the heretic gains a following and forms a group [cult] around his/her heretical teachings. The cult’s founder normally fancies himself/herself to be either God or God’s special messenger. As a result, they claim infallibility and demand unquestioning devotion, even to the point of dictating in great detail how their followers are to think, act and live.        

2. EXTRABIBLICAL AUTHORITY

     It has been said, “You can make the Bible say anything.” In one place it says, “Judas went out and hung himself” and in another place it teaches, “Go do thou likewise.” No one is better at twisting the Scripture to “their own destruction” than the cults (2 Peter 3:16). Though they often borrow from the Bible and pay it token respect, they use its verses out of context as proof texts for their leader’s or group’s false teachings. Some cults go so far as to rewrite the Bible to conform to their false beliefs by publishing their own peculiar translation of the Scriptures—the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ New World Translation. Other cults actually write their own unique scripture which they consider equal or superior to the Bible—the Mormons’ Book of Mormon.

3. BRAINWASHING and MIND CONTROL

     Cults of Christianity normally discourage education and individual thought. At the same time, they encourage the severing of ties with family, as well as former friends and acquaintances. By discouraging intellectual inquiry and eliminating external ties, cults can indoctrinate their members without any outside interference. After indoctrination, continual conformity to cult doctrine is assured by teaching cult members that all alternative views are satanically inspired and that leaving the cult is tantamount to turning one’s back on God.

4. ISOLATION

     Cults of Christianity normally insist upon members severing all ties to their past, to their families and to their former acquaintances. All future socializing is to be confined within the cult itself.

5. EXCLUSIVITY

     Cults of Christianity view Christendom as apostate and themselves as the sole steward of God’s truth and the only true church of God.

6. ANTAGONISM

     Cults of Christianity have a us-verses-them mentality, which translates into deep seated antagonism toward everyone outside their group. Since their group is all that is good or of God, everything and everyone outside their group is bad and of the devil.

7. PERSECUTION COMPLEX

     Cults of Christianity expect persecution and endure it as proof that they alone are standing for God against the world’s massed forces of evil. Any mistreatment of a cult member actually fosters a sense of heroic euphoria.

8. TRICKY SEMANTICS

     Cults of Christianity use Christian terminology, but replace the traditional meanings of the terms with their own meanings. As Walter Martin wrote in The Kingdom of The Cults, “Cultists’ words do not always mean what they have always meant.” For instance, when Christian Scientists speak of sin, they mean illusion, not disobedience to God.

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