The Most Dangerous Cult Threatening Christianity Today

The most dangerous cult threatening Christianity today is "The People of the Book." This cult has infiltrated and taken over many main stream Christian congregations. It is a true cult and a most dangerous heresey. Those who have been taken in by this cult, talk like Christians, use Christian terminology, use the same language, sing the same hymns, worship in the many of the same ways as Christians, but they put something othter than Christ first. For them, the book is as important as Christ. Although few of them will admit it, the actions of many of them show that the book is even more important to them than Christ. If there is a conflict between "The Book" and the love of Christ, the book takes precedence. If the Spirit says one thing and the book another, they quench the Spirit and defer to the book.

How do we know this is a real cult:

They talk like Christians, they look like Christians but they put something ahead of the living Christ in their beliefs and in their practice.
They seek to isolate their members from the general culture and to minimize contact with the "outside". The do this through:

sending their children to cult run schools
shopping at cult run stores and reading books and magazines put out by "believers."
listening to cult run radio stations
filling members social lives with internal "church" activities

Promoting fear and distrust in members through the teaching of an "Us vs Them" mentality

Many of these groups foster an appocalyptic, end times, mentality
They promote paranoid, conspiracy theory explanations of world events that are said to be prophesied in the book.

These factors combine to promote high social cohesiveness and to allow the group to control the behavior of the individuals.
The goal of these "Churches" is not spreading the message of the all encompasing love of Christ, but rather cultural preservation, preservation of the group, and increasing the social political power of the leaders and their members. The goal is sometimes presented as "Putting things back like they were when 'I was a boy.'"

The leaders of this cult teach that Jesus doesn't want women to work outside the home, that the Jesus wants women and blacks to know their places, and that Jesus wants the races to stay separate. They teach that Jesus wants us to ostricize people who have been divorced, limit the roles women can play in the church, condemn single mothers rather than supporting them, let people suffer the consequences of their sins (drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, many mouths to feed) and not use tax payers money to provide relief (child care programs so single mothers can work, sex education, safe sex programs, etc.).

These beliefs are called "Family Values." They say they want to "Restore Morality." They emphasize the importance of repentance more than love. They emphasize the law, the ten commandments, rather than Christ's commandment. (John 15:12, 17)

If you've got to have the book to know Jesus, then you need to let me introduce you to the Living Christ.

Jesus is alive. We must proclaim that from the roof tops. We know the truth because we have met Him. We know the truth because of the work of the Spirit in our lives. Dr. Truluck has written eloquently on this topic.

The Bible IS the Inspired Word of God

Clearly the Bible is our primary source in knowing about the life and teachings of Christ. But you don't become a Christian by believing in the Bible. You become a Christian by having a personal, life changing experience with the the LIVING Christ. This is not an experience with the book, although the experience may come while studying the book. It must be an experience with Christ. Bishop Spong's perspective on what the Bible actually is is most informative.

One of the most serious dangers to Christianity posed by "The People of the Book," is that by taking an extreme position on the Bible, they will lead many to dismiss the Bible and Christianity altogether. We already see this happening in our time.

Many thousands of women reject Christianity as a paternalistic religion used by old white men to keep women and other minorities in their place. This despite the fact that Jesus was a radical feminist in his time, encouraging women to take their full roll, equal to men. (Luke 8:1-3; Luke 10:38-42)

Many thousands of African Americans are turning to the Muslim religion because the Muslims portray themselves as a native African religion and portray Christianity as the religion of the slave owners which was imposed on their people by the whites. This despite Jesus explicit inclusion of individuals of different races and cultures through his ministry (Luke 7:1-10; John 4:1-42)

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Steve Falkenberg

Steve.Falkenberg@eku.edu