Doctrinal Ambiguity (Mark #5)

If the trumpet give an uncertain sound,
who shall prepare himself for the battle?

The answer to this biblical question is that many strange people will. Response may well come from multitudes of individuals as they move out from the dark haunts of personal failure and confusion. There are increasing multitudes of people living in our generation to whom uncertain sounds seem to be beautiful music. To them uncertainty is a form of certainty and ambiguity satisfies the mind more than anything specific.

It is no wonder then that these types are attracted to the ambiguous doctrines of cult religions. Doctrinal ambiguity is a mark of a cult. One of the very fascinating characteristics of the cults is the interesting and sometimes hilarious changes of doctrine through which they pass. Their doctrines are being continually altered in order to adapt themselves to new situations, arguments, or the whims of their leaders. They know nothing of the command of Scripture, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive" (Ephesians 4:14). Scripture is clear that craftily changing doctrine is a cunning device used by those who prey upon the unwary.

The illustrations are many. During and after the days of Mary Baker Eddy, the Christian Science cult republished her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures nearly every year. The annual update made it possible for the glaring contradictions and preposterous doctrines of the past to be adapted to the new demands of the present.

The word "doctrine" has no meaning in the fever swamps of the mind which are inhabited by the cults, for doctrine means a systematic presentation and understanding of truth. The idea of doctrine is therefore virtually unique to organized Christianity.

By contrast what passes for doctrine in the cult is really a sub-rational set of disconnected thoughts and practices that only serve to confuse the mind and the emotions as well. God gave us emotions so that they might be the source of flavour, happiness, joy at the understanding of truth and the fulfilment of duty. Emotions were never intended to be an end in themselves and are totally untrustworthy as the custodians of truth. Any religion, therefore, that deliberately bypasses rational doctrinal understanding and seeks to build upon the emotions will inevitably deceive rather than enlighten.

The use of chants, the raising of hands along with the clanging of cymbals, the sing-song repetition of simple musical structures, the repeated, staccato articulation of any word that is supposed to represent God, joy, or peace -- all of these practices are sub-rational. They are simply calculated to play on the limited strings of the emotional structure, creating what passes as a religious experience but is nothing more than a mindless emotional trauma. Christ declared that we are not heard because of our "much speaking." This is a suggestion that is regularly ignored by the cults, whose adherents are not really speaking to God anyhow.

The illustrations of doctrinal ambiguity from the old and the new cults are endless. Never in the history of the world have there been so many confused and contradictory religious propositions pressed upon people in the guise of truth. The mind reels in confusion at any attempt to understand with any logical comprehension the preaching and doctrinal system of modern-day cults.

This "mindlessness" of the cults is a most useful device. The cult promoters are not truly appealing to the mind but rather are attempting to set the mind aside and to appeal to a set of religious emotions. Devotees say to one another in effect, "Forget what he is saying, can't you feel the vibrations?" Surely we are in divine presence as the guru is speaking to us."

This "divine presence" is always justified by calling it higher knowledge, deeper truth, or the use of some other adjective that excuses it from being the real thing. Converts are not urged to understand; rather it is recommended that they feel. Terms like "self-realization," along with concepts like love, peace, and joy are the expressions in which they traffic. The words of the cults are the products of a corrupted language. The words themselves have no real meaning. They have become emotional triggers connoting to you whatever you want them to mean. The cult promoters have denied the doctrine of objective value as relates to the words they use.

By contrast, our Lord Jesus Christ was careful about the use of His words. The result is that those who heard went away saying that they had never heard anyone who spoke like this man spoke. Christ clearly warned us as to the utter importance of the proper use of words with real meaning, saying, "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:37).

The Word of God is therefore very careful to avoid ambiguity. The contrast between bewildering, ambiguous cult doctrines and true Christianity is a very marked one. Nothing is clearer than the call in Scripture to sound doctrine. In a thousand ways, the Scriptures of the New Testament commit themselves to a careful exposition of the truth of God.

Indeed, unlike the religions of the world, Christianity commits itself to careful details of all kinds. The Bible is filled with notations of cities, villages, rivers, dates, times, kings, and exact quotes of what many individuals have said. Like no book in all of the world, the Bible is a book of careful historic details.

In addition to this, important theological propositions in the Bible are stated in many ways so that there can be simply no question about the meaning. So clear and broad is the presentation of the facts of the Gospel that Paul was able to say to Timothy, "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, charity, patience" (2 Timothy 3:10).

We see then that clarity of belief is one of the characteristics of true Christianity. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).

The Christian who studies the Word of God becomes spiritually mature, a defender of the faith, and able to even teach others. The clear doctrines of Holy Scriptures can be understood to the point of certainty by faithful people as they are transmitted from person to person, place to place, and age to age. Paul wrote, "The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2).

The Word of God clearly warns that "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth; and shall be turned into fables" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Fables, predicted in Scripture, are one of the marks of a cult. One can listen endlessly to cultic representatives on radio and television and never be sure what they are talking about. They pose questions that they do not answer. One of the most mentally frustrating experiences in life is to attempt to decide exactly what a religious promoter meant by what he said. The answer cannot be found even by reading hundreds of pages of his literature. Rather, the reader is lead into an even deeper labyrinth of confusion.

This is the way they plan it. They intend to confuse, not to clarify. Being confused themselves, they only are able to throw dust in the air so that it gets in the eyes of others. It is almost impossible to understand what a Jehovah's Witness believes about God, biblical inspiration, eternity, and many other subjects.

The tendency of the cults is to move away from the objective, categoric truth as taught in Scripture. They hide behind the trees in the endless forest of philosophic discussion. To them the process of discussion is itself the truth. Nothing can be resolved because all things are continually and everlastingly relative. These indeed are people who are "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth" (2 Timothy 3:7).

The message of the Gospel of Christ is continually presented in the Word of God as the profoundly beautiful and simple truth of the Christ who died and rose again in order that we by faith in Him might have everlasting life.

By contrast, the dark night of doctrinal obscurity has settled on many segments of the current religious establishment because of the obfuscations and contradictions of the confused representatives of religion. The individual who seeks after truth in our times does well to head the words of Christ, "If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth because there is no light in him" (John 11:9-10).

The great need in the religious establishment of our time is for the candid preaching of sound doctrine as against the tantalizing sentences of those who never do quite get to the point. Thank God for the faithful Christian expositors of the Scriptures in our time (may their tribe increase!) who can truthfully say, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but have shown you and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:20-21).

Ambiguity is the devil's gospel, whereas clarity is divine.

(from Know the Marks of Cults, the Twelve Basic Errors of False Religion by Dave Bresse)