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Ephesians 4:4–5
“One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4:5).
We are continuing our examination of characteristics of cults. Cults typically are marked by the following.
4. Syncretism
This is the merging of divergent and dissonant elements from diverse religions in an effort to create a synthesis. Cults that do this will blend elements from two or more faiths. Of course, it is often no easy task to blend religions with highly different tenets, so cults tend to play down doctrine—except for their own synthesized teachings. That leads to our next point.
5. An emphasis on their own distinctives
Cults tend to major on the minors, giving lesser attention to those subjects that historic Christianity affirms as the essentials of the faith. This tendency is clearly exhibited in many of today’s cults. Latter-day Saints place a high value on their doctrines of “celestial marriage” and “baptism for the dead,” teachings that are virtually unknown outside their circles. The cultic portions of Seventh-day Adventism place a high degree of importance on Sabbath observance and diet. And Christian Scientists emphasize healing and an esoteric doctrine of sin.
6. Perfectionism
Most cults hold that perfect obedience can be achieved in this world, and that some of their adherents do indeed accomplish it. We might wonder how any cult can proclaim this—and how any cult member can believe it—given the sinfulness of the human heart. The answer lies in the way cults define perfectionism, and there are two main techniques. First, cults reduce their definition of moral perfection to a level that human beings can attain. Usually these definitions involve crass legalism. Obedience becomes a purely external matter of doing or avoiding certain practices. The cult might declare that its members must not smoke, drink alcohol, dance, play games, or use “tainted” versions of the Bible. Those who faithfully observe these prohibitions can therefore count themselves among the “perfect.” They are ignorant of the fact that the cult’s standards are far below God’s, which take into account even our thoughts and motivations. Second, perfection is defined simply as obedience to the leader. Those who do what the leader asks, preferably unquestioningly, are the truly righteous ones within the cult.
Tomorrow we will look at four final characteristics of most cults.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Do you love the great doctrines of the Christian faith? We must be growing in our knowledge of all of the Word of God, but we should come back repeatedly to the foundational truths. A good systematic theology book can ground you in the basics of the truth. Ask your pastor to recommend one, then use it to undergird your Bible study.
For Further Study
- Mark 7:6–7
- Philippians 3:12
- Colossians 2:20–23
- Hebrews 7:19
- Hebrews 13:9