Although there are especially now many New Age cults, in this web page I intend to cover more a contrast with Christianity and the more established cults that attempt to present their teaching in a partial or pseudo Christian way. Many of these cults to some extent will use the Bible sometimes a particular version but will overemphasize or twist these scripture verses from a more substantiated context as they are used in more accepted or carefully biblically grounded Christianity. Many of these cults also use their own teachings from some of their founders or prominent spokespeople to establish their doctrine. Many of these cults have a works based religion that among other things denies the full deity of Jesus Christ and His atoning or sin payment making work by his death on the cross and his resurrection. Many of these cults also are quite high pressure or relentless to keep established members in their groups even when these disenchanted members are seeking to leave these organizations. These groups often also go to extreme lengths to cut off outside contact with other people or materials other than from their organizations especially from the Bible or Bible centred Christian material or Bible believing Christians that would seek to warn followers of cults of the danger and error of these groups. This curtailment of outside contact practiced by some of the cults is their practice that is sometimes called brainwashing. Although Christians shouldn't be afraid of contact with people or materials outside our faith we should still keep our focus with other Christians or Christian teachers or materials so we can grow in our Christian faith, fellowship and teaching.
Biblical Christianity teaches God is self-existent, eternal, all-knowing, everywhere present and almighty. The Bible also teaches God is personal and is a God of forgiveness and salvation blending his holiness or righteousness and grace and love. The Bible also teaches God is the creator of all things - the earth and the heavens and all that is in them including humans. The Bible also teaches that God exists from everlasting to everlasting in three co-divine persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit of which the Father or Jehovah or the LORD is the senior person and that God is one in being or essence but three in persons. Jehovah's Witnesses deny the Christian doctrine of the trinity and teach only Jehovah is God and is eternal. Mormons believe in God the eternal Father, his son Jesus Christ and the holy Ghost. However they teach that they shouldn't be thought of one in substance and person but are three Gods that are separate in personality but united in purpose, plan and attributes of perfection. Mormons teach that God is not everywhere present and can't be in more than one place at the same time. They teach there were always Gods and worlds. Armstrongism now represented by the Philadelphia Church of God teaches that God is a family or a Kingdom and not a limited trinity. They teach that God is a family and God is reproducing Himself and man was created to literally become God.
The Bible or Biblical Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ was the Son of God or the second person of the divine trinity God the Son who was from everlasting with God the Father and the God the Holy Spirit one God in three Persons. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ came into the world as God who took on a human nature but didn't cease having his divine nature then as well and that this was primarily so God could give a priceless and sinless substitutionary sacrifice of death and the shedding of blood of God in the flesh dying for our sins and in our place do we might not have to bear our own sins and their penalty in hell forever. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ to come into the world in a sinless human nature was born of a virgin (Mary) and was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches also that Jesus by the power of Himself and God the Father and the Holy Spirit on the third day after he died on the cross for our sins rose from the dead bodily in an incorruptible and eternal or heavenly body and then after forty days ascended and returned to heaven. Although of secondary importance to Jesus' death on the cross for salvation the Bible also teaches that Jesus in his life provided us an example of how we should live in this world after we trust in him and are saved and get a relationship with God. Finally the Bible teaches that Jesus will soon come to judge the world and set up God's kingdom on earth to be shared with his people of all ages. Jehovah's witnesses teach that Jesus Christ is not Jehovah God but was the first son that Jehovah God brought forth. They teach that Michael the archangel is none other than the only begotton Son of God now Jesus Christ. The Jehovah Witnesses teach that at baptism Jesus was annointed to become the Messiah or Jesus the Christ. They teach that Jesus Christ was not raised in the flesh, but with a spirit body. Mormons teach that among the spirit children of Elohim, the firstborn was and is Jehovah or Jesus Christ, to whom all others are juniors. They teach by obedience and devotion Jesus become the most intelligent which ranked him as a God, even in his preexistent state. Mormons also teach that Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose again and is coming again in power and glory to set up his kingdom on earth.
The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person who helped the FAther and Jesus the Son in creation and who inspired the writers of the Bible and who can be lied to, grieved and who can be physically manifest and when he was manifest as a dove at the baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is also omnipresent, everywhere at once as a characteristic of God and all knowing and all-powerful. The Holy Spirit also protects all true believers (Christians) from demonic possession or if we depend on him even influence. The HOly Spirit helps takes the Bible and the things of Jesus and teaches us to a fuller understanding and he also convicts unsaved people of sin. The HOly Spirit brings the Christian to spiritual birth and relationship with God and Jesus and then helps us grow in that relationship and fellowship. The Holy Spirit also gives us fruit or evidences of God's character in our new nature and gifts for Christian service after we trust in Jesus as our personal Lord and Saviour and become born and indwelt of the Holy Spirit. According to the false teaching of Christian Science: "Holy Ghost is Divine Science; the development of eternal LIfe, Truth, and Love (SH, 588:78), They also say falsely: "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, (that is) Divine Science, the Word of God, saith to the darkness upon the face of earth, "God is All in all" SH 503:8-14. Spiritualism falsely denies the Personality of the Holy Spirit. They also say falsely: The Holy Spirit from God is the spirit of some holy person who has once been in the flesh (Hastings p 91). Jehovah's Witnesses falsely say: "The holy spirit is the invisible active force of Almighty God which moves his servants to do his will (LG p. 108) Armstrongism that includes The Philadelphia Church of God, the United Church of God and probably the Living Church of God falsely says: "The Father and the Son are in definite locations with respect to each other ... spirit proceeds from them and fills the entire universe Spirit is God's life (How Can You Be Imbued With the Power of God p. 5). They also falsely say: "Whenever we become members of God's begotton family, we receive a portion, a seed or germ, of the Father's HOly Spirit (HYIPG, p. 4). Mormonism falsely teaches: "The Holy Ghost is a "personage of Spirit." He does not have a body of flesh and bones, like the Father and the Son (DC, 130:22). They also falsely teach about the Holy Spirit:"He "can only be in one place at one time" although he "emanates from Deity" like "electricity, or the universal ether ... which fills the earth and the air, and is everywhere present" (McConkie, MD p 359, 753). Unity church teaches falsely: "The very spirit of truth lying latent within us, each and every one" (Unity Magazine, February 1918) They also falsely say: "Spirit is substance ... that invisible, intangible but real something which as its indestructible core and cause stands under, or at the center of, every visible thing in existence" (Cady, God a Present Help, p 53-54). The Unification Church falsely says: "The Holy Spirit is a female Spirit. She also cleanses the sins of the people in order to restore them, thus indemnifying the sin committed by Eve. ... the Holy Spirit, being female (negativity) in working on earth (DP, p 215).
According to Christianity the Bible is the inspired and infallible (absolutely truthful) word of God. Conservative or biblical Christianity also teaches that the Bible although it was written by men was overided by God directing them what to write by the Holy Spirit although with their own vocabulary. Genuine or conservative Christianity teaches that the Bible gives his record of his dealing with and plan for mankind that ultimately focus on his salvation of all people who are willing through the death for our sins and resurrection from the dead of the Son of God Jesus Christ who will end history as we know it by his coming again to earth and setting up God's kingdom on earth. The Bible also gives God's revelation of himself and his character and all parts of His creation. The cults either don't regard the Bible as their final authority or think it has been changed or corrupted or think their leader's interpretation of the Bible is superior to the Bible. For instance the final authority for Mormons are books like Doctrine and Covenant, Pearl of Great Price and the Book of Mormon, in Christian Science it is the articles by Mary Baker Eddy, in the Unification Church it is the book Divine Principle by Rev. Moon while in the Jehovah Witnesses it is their distorted New World Translation of the Bible and their Watchtower and Awake magazines. In the Worldwide Church of God by Herbert W. Armstrong it used to be The Plain Truth magazine but some of their offshoots use their own magazines now such as The Philadelphia Trumpet for the Philadelphia Church of God.
Christianity teaches in the Bible that God made the universe (the heavens) and the earth and everything in it material and invisible but that he himself is self-existent and eternal. The Bible teaches that all three persons of the One God in Three Persons, the Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit had a part in the creation and at least implies that they all have a part in its continued orderly functioning although with God's option of overiding the laws of nature by His miracles. The Bible also teaches that the physical world is real as well as the spiritual world. The Bible also says God will also judge the physical world especially the earth and ultimately make a new heavens and new earth without any sin or aging. There are different views of the world with the different cults: the Jehovah's Witnesses have approximately the same view of creation as the Christian one although they would say only God the Father (Jehovah) had a part in creation or in continuing operation of the world. They would also say this physical world is real. The Worldwide Church of God kept on by the Philadelphia Church of God, the United Church of God and the Church of God, International teach that any human being can become part of the Godhead. However I am not yet sure of their exact idea of the original creation. The Mormons believe that God created the earth at least and the animals etc. here by Adam that they say had some Godlike role in creation and came from another planet with Eve. Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses vol 3, p. 319. Spiritualism, the Unity School of Christianity and Christian Science are very similiar to Hinduism and teach that the physical world is an illusion and that the true reality is the universal spirit they would call God that is impersonal. The Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon teaches that heaven is a place of spirits and that the human line was corrupted by sex with Eve and Lucifer to supposedly produce people of communist background while another child of Adam led to people of South Korea, United States and other democratic countries. His theology teaches a week and powerless God that is not effective in ruling this world.
In true Christianity the Bible - the Word of God teaches that all human beings are sinners who seek to live our lives the way we desire and putting ourselves first in both our nature and our practice and that this tendency is inherited from our parents then their parents etc. all the way back to our first parents Adam and Eve. The Bible teaches that our first parents Adam and Eve obtained a fallen nature after they disobeyed God and took of the forbidden fruit and became spiritually separated from God and that this has passed on by inheritance to all children and their children since then. The Bible teaches the only exception to this was the Lord Jesus Christ who was born of a virgin and conceived of the Holy Spirit so he could obtain a nature that was human but sinless and that didn't seek sin even though he faced very real temptations. Jesus then lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins and bore God the Father's wrath for all our sins when Jesus was bearing our sins. The Bible also teaches that if we admit we are sinners and ask Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour we can have full forgiveness of sins and a restored spiritual relationship with God to overcome some of the damage caused by the first Adam's transgression against God. Christian Science falsely claims about salvation: "The material blood of Jesus was no more effecacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon the accursed tree than when flowing in his veins as he went daily about his Father's business (SH, 25:6-9)." or "Salvation is Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness, and death destroyed (SH, 593:20-22)." Spiritualism falsely claims the following about salvation: "We affirm the moral responsibility of the individual, and that he makes his own happiness or unhappiness as he obeys or disobeys Nature's physical and spiritual laws." and "Man becomes a spirit after death, doing both evil and good, but he may be saved as he progresses from one spirit level to the next. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any human soul, here of hereafter (Declaration of Principles, Nos 7 and 8. Jehovah's Witnesses falsely teach the following about salvation: "His (Jesus') perfect human life with all its rights and prospects, was laid down in death, but not for sin and in punishment" (LG, p 116). (Jesus was raised a divine creature.) and "All who by reason of faith in Jehovah God and in Christ Jesus dedicate themselves to do God's will and then faithfully carry our their dedication will be rewarded with everlasting life" (LG, p 298). The Worldwide Church of God and its offshoots falsely teach the following about salvation: "Jesus alone, of all humans, has so far been saved" (WWYB, p. 11). and "The blood of Jesus Christ does not finally save anyone. It saves merely from the death penalty (of sin)" (All About Water Baptism, p 1-3). and, "Baptism is an essential ordinance for salvation. You must be baptized to become a true Christian" ("This is the Worldwide Church of God," in TW, Feb. 1971, p 16-17. and, "When Jesus Christ returns to this earth, He will, for the first time, set His hand to save the world. He will offer salvation (to all people)" (There Is a Real Hell Fire, p. 6). Mormonisn falsely teaches the following about salvation: "We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel (AF, 3)." and, "The first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: Faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; repentance; baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost (AF, 4)." The Unity church falsely teaches about salvation the following: "Jesus of Nazareth played and important part in opening the way for every one of us into the Father's kingdom. However, that was not through His death on the cross, but through his overcoming death" (UTC, p. 67) and, "That which died upon the cross was the consciousness of all mortal beliefs that hold us in bondage - such as sin, evil, sickness, fleshly lusts, and death - which He overcame" (UTC, p. 68-69). and, "We believe the repeated incarnations of man to be a merciful provision of our loving Father to the end that all may have opportunity to obtain immortality through regeneration as did Jesus" (Unity Statement of Faith, art. 22). And finally the Unification Church on Sun Myung Moon falsely teaches about salvation the following: "God's will that all people be restored to Him is predestined absolutely, and He has elected all people to salvation" (DUTA). and, "He (Jesus) must come again to consummate the mission he left undone 2000 years ago. He was crucified ... not given a chance to restore his bride" (CIC, p. 27) and, "Christ will come as before, as a man in the flesh, and he will establish a family through marriage to his Bride, a woman in the flesh and they will become the True Parents of all mankind. Through our accepting the True Parents (the Second Coming of Christ), obeying them and following them, our original sin will be eliminated and we will eventually become perfect" (DUTA).
The ultimate goal of all those who become God's people in this age, Christians, is to go to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in our heavenly dwelling places in the heavenly Jerusalem where we will live forever in glorified bodies and only in our new nature separated from our old sinful and selfish nature we get from natural birth and conception back from the first Adam. However what we look for first according to the Bible is the translation of all true or born again Christians to heaven at the end of this church age which could happen any time before the tribulation. Then we will come about seven years later with our Lord Jesus Christ when he will put down all ungodly rule and power on earth and set up His and God the Father's glorious Kingdom on earth fully and visibly for 1000 years. In eternity we as God's restored people will also enjoy a new heaven and new earth that will be totally free of the curse and last forever. In the 1000 year Messianic Age God will also fulfill all His covenant promises to His chosen earthly people the Jews through Abraham, Moses and David. In eternity Christians and believers in God and in Messiah Jesus from the Jews and Gentiles will also be spared any suffering in hell or the lake of fire by God's grace through faith in Jesus even though this is what we deserve for our sins. Christian Science falsely says about the ultimate goal that: "Sin makes its own hell, and goodness its own heaven" (SH, 196:18-19). and, "No final judgment awaits mortals, for the judgment day of wisdom comes hourly and continually" (SH, 291:28-29). and, "Universal salvation rests on progression and probation" (SH, 291:12) and, "If man should not progress after death, but should remain in error, he should be inevitably self-annihilated. (Misc. Writings, p. 2). Spiritualism falsely claims about eternity or ultimate goals: "We affirm the moral responsibility of the individual, and that he makes his own happiness or unhappiness as he obeys or disobeys Nature's physical and spiritual laws." (Declaration of Principles 7) and, "Hell does not exist and never will." (Doyle, The New Revelation, 1918, p. 68). and, "We do not believe in such places as Purgatory and Hell. Communicating spirits have already graduated from this form of life into another. That life can be heaven or hell-like, just as each spirit chooses to make it; the same applies to our life here (SM, p. 183). The Jehovah Witnesses falsely claim about ultimate goals: "The Bible plainly shows that 144,000 will share in heavenly glory, while the others will enjoy the blessings of life down here on earth" (LG, p. 298) and, "All who by reason of faith in Jehovah God and in Christ Jesus dedicate themselves to do God's will and then faithfully carry out their dedication will be rewarded with everlasting life (LG, p. 298). and, "An unnumbered crowd of faithful persons do not expect to go to heaven. They have been promised everlasting life on earth if they prove their faithfulness (LG, p. 231), by faith in Jehovah's baptism, "provided ... they abide in him, keeping their good conscience through faith and loyal service" (NH, p. 311) and, "The doctrine of a burning hell where the wicked are tortured eternally after death cannot be true (LG, p. 99). and, "Those supporting Satan (at the end of Millennium) will, with the Devil himself, be cast into the "lake of fire and sulphur." They are drowned in everlasting destruction (annihilated) and for them there is no resurrection (LG, p. 270). Whe Worldwide Church of God founded by Herbert W. Armstrong and its consistant offshoots the Philadelphia Church of God and the Church of God, International etc falsely teach about the ultimate goal of people: "One who is born of God is merely begotten spiritually. He is not yet really born. Only those who develop spiritually shall finally be given immortality ... at the second coming of Christ" (AAWB, p. 2). and, "When Jesus Christ returns to earth, He will, for the first time, set His hand to save the world. He will offer salvation (to all people)" (There is a Real Hell Fire, p. 6). and, "A majority of those who die without Christ will be resurrected and gain opportunity to believe during the Millennium" (Predestination - Does the Bible Teach It?) and, "The wicked will be resurrected at the close of the Millennium, but only to be annihilated" (Lazarus and the Rich Man). The Mormons falsely teach the following about the ultimate destiny of people: "Baptism is ... the very gateway into the kingdom of heaven, an indispensable step in our salvation and exaltation" (Bennett, Why I Am a Mormon, p. 124) and, "The second sphere, the Terrestrial, will be inhabited by "accountable persons who die without law" or who " did not accept the gospel" or with Latter Day Saints who "were not valiant" (MD, p. 784). and Most of the adult people who have lived since Adam (having rejected Christ and lived wickedly) will go to the "Telestial Kingdom" (MD, p. 778). and "Perdition is for Satan, and the Sons of Perdition, angels who rebelled with him. Also for men who commit the unpardonable sin (Talmage, DC, p. 410). Also it is at best speculation with their teaching: "Those who attain the highest sphere, the Celestial, will "have spirit children in the resurrection, in relation to which offspring they stand in the same position that God our Father stands to us" (MD, p. 257). The Unity Church falsely says about ultimate destiny: "The eternal life taught and demonstrated by Jesus is not gained by dying, but by purifying the body until it becomes the undying habitation of the soul" (UM, July 1922) and, "We believe the repeated incarnations of man to be a merciful provision of our loving Father to the end that all may have opportunity to obtain immortality through regeneration as did Jesus" (Unity Statement of Faith, art. 22). The Unification Church falsely claims about ultimate destiny: "The human body, once it is dissolved into dust, cannot be resurrected to its original state. It is not necessary for a spirit man to resume his flesh, when there is a vast spirit world where he is supposed to go and live forever" (DP, p. 170). and, "Paradise is the region of the spirit world where those spirit men who have attained the life-spirit stage by believing in Jesus while on earth go after death, and stay until the gate to the Kingdom of Heaven is opened" (DP, p. 177) and, "The spirit men who left their missions unaccomplished on earth descend to earthly men ... and cooperate with them for the accomplishment of the will ... In this case, the earthly man is the "second coming" of the spirit man ... John the Baptist ... had to accomplish the mission Elijah had left unaccomplished" (DP, p. 187-88).
Some material used from the pamphlet The Spirit of Truth and The Spirit of Error (1) Biblical Christianity and the Cults compiled by Keith L. Brooks revised by Irvine Robertson and published by The Moody Bible Institute. Also some material is based on the section The Cults in Handbook of Today's Religions by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart.
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