{"id":14587,"date":"2006-09-01T21:04:08","date_gmt":"2006-09-02T02:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=14587"},"modified":"2019-11-01T21:11:11","modified_gmt":"2019-11-02T02:11:11","slug":"is-the-church-of-christ-a-cult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-church-of-christ-a-cult\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Church of Christ a Cult?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\tby David Diestelkamp<br \/>\nvia The Sower, Vol. 51, No. 4, July\/August 2006\n<p>One man jokingly wrote that a cult was any group he didn&#8217;t like. He was pointing out the tendency to use prejudicial or inflammatory language to describe those with whom we disagree. People sometimes throw the word cult around out of fear of the unknown and as a way to avoid open-minded investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there are religious cults that are spiritually, emotionally, and sometimes physically dangerous and damaging. Deciding what is a cult and what isn&#8217;t can be difficult because there is not one all-encompassing definition that can be applied in every situation. While using care to avoid unsafe religious groups, we also need to resist the temptation to label as a cult any group we aren&#8217;t familiar with or which seems different from what we are used to.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;According to cult expert David Halperin, most cults are groups organized for the purpose of venerating an authoritarian, usually self-proclaimed leader. This leader claims to have a special relationship with God or with some other supernatural force, a relationship that imbues him or her with special powers.&#8221; [<em>A Parent&#8217;s Guide to Teens And Cults<\/em>].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Because some people are unfamiliar with the church of Christ they have wondered if we are a cult.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some reasons why we do not fit the cult description:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We do not have a human leader. Christ is the Head of the church (Ephesians 1:22).<\/li>\n<li>We do not claim to have special revelation (knowledge) which others do not have &#8212; we believe the Bible is our sole authority (II Timothy 3:16,17).<\/li>\n<li>Reason from Scripture is used in teaching, not pressure, manipulation, or control tactics (Isaiah 1:18).<\/li>\n<li>Every member is to study and understand God&#8217;s Word, not following any man or group ideology (I Corinthians 4:6; II Timothy 2:15).<\/li>\n<li>We do not isolate ourselves but are to be in the world while not being of the world (John 17:14,15; Matthew 5:13-14).<\/li>\n<li>We are not closed-minded but are willing to &#8220;test all things&#8221; (I Thessalonians 5:21).<\/li>\n<li>We are not antagonistic but believe, &#8220;if it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men&#8221; (Romans 12:18).<\/li>\n<li>Zeal is expressed in ways controlled by God in the Scriptures (Romans 10:2).<\/li>\n<li>Without exception, we are committed to God&#8217;s high standard of morality, refusing to compromise anything revealed in the New Testament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Being a follower of Christ has always been about faith based on personal study and investigation. True faith and its expression may seem strange, even extreme, to those who are unfamiliar with faith as revealed in the New Testament. Different or devoted does not mean cultic.<\/p>\n<p>Our desire to do what is right in the sight of God must drive us to search for and find His true Will as revealed in the Bible. These are the people you will find in God&#8217;s true church. A cult tries to decide for you &#8212; God&#8217;s people want you to look to God in His Word to decide for you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by David Diestelkamp via The Sower, Vol. 51, No. 4, July\/August 2006 One man jokingly wrote that a cult was any group he didn&#8217;t like. He was pointing out the tendency to use prejudicial or inflammatory language to describe those with whom we disagree. People sometimes throw the word cult around out of fear of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[448,1066],"class_list":["post-14587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church","tag-cults"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28186,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-list-cults-among-the-denominations\/","url_meta":{"origin":14587,"position":0},"title":"Why do you list cults among the denominations?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have just viewed your web site, and once again have seen cults included in a listing of Christian denominations.\u00a0 I fail to understand why church of Christ folk do this.\u00a0 I have emailed a few different ones, asking for an answer, but no one seems to want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68567,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cults\/","url_meta":{"origin":14587,"position":1},"title":"Cults","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Timothy 3:1-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cults periodically make the news. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is unfortunate that gullible people exist, willing to believe anything that will bring them contentment within themselves. Some people are willing to suspend all reason to have some hope. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John 8:44 - Satan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25576,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-son-started-worshiping-on-saturdays-with-a-group-on-the-internet-is-he-in-a-cult\/","url_meta":{"origin":14587,"position":2},"title":"My son started worshiping on Saturdays with a group on the Internet. Is he in a cult?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My son was raised in the church. He recently started \"keeping the Sabbath,\" and is taking my three grandsons to a motel where they have a private church -- just the four of them. They study the word with a group on the Internet! He will not go to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10870,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-tell-my-cousin-that-mormonism-is-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":14587,"position":3},"title":"How do I tell my cousin that Mormonism is wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My cousin just starting going to a Mormon church. She once used to go to a Christian Church but has started going to church with her ex-mother-in-law. How should I begin to tell that the church she is going is not one of Christ and is pretty much a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14585,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-think-you-have-the-right-to-judge-your-fellow-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":14587,"position":4},"title":"You think you have the right to judge your fellow man","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was raised in the Church of the Nazarene, but my husband was raised in the Church of Christ.\u00a0 I cannot believe that you continue to perpetuate the untruths, misconceptions and basic misinterpretations of the Bible.\u00a0 The Church of Christ does not believe in the forgiveness of sin and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46480,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-about-christian-reconstructionism\/","url_meta":{"origin":14587,"position":5},"title":"What about Christian Reconstructionism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am curious if \"Christian Reconstructionism\" is real and if so, a cult. Some people said that Christian Reconstructionism is the idea of some Christian trying to bring America back to its Christian roots, but they are trying to follow some Old Testament laws. In doing so, some of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}