What Is A Cult?

Many Christians think they know all there is to know about cults.  They may reason something along these lines:  "Oh, I've heard about cults; you know, Jonestown, Satanism, and that survivalist group in Montana.  They're simply too smart -- anyway, they're very involved in our church ..."

However, most Christians actually know very little about cults and what makes people join cults. To test your own general knowledge about cults, take a few minutes to answer the following true-or-false quiz.

The Cult Susceptibility Quiz

1. I am lonely a good part of the time.
2. I tend to be a follower more than a leader.
3. I am not very satisfied with my church.
4. Somehow, I feel my idealism and purpose in life haven't been properly tapped or challenged.
5. I've been having some personal problems I can't seem to solve.
6. The cult issue is not much of a problem in society.
7. There are about ten to twenty cults in the U.S.
8. I could spot a cult with little effort.
9. Most cultists wear unusual clothing or uniforms.
10. Most cults recruit on the street by selling flowers or books, or by requesting a donation.
11. There are very few cultic problems within evangelical Christianity.
12. All cults teach non-Christian or heretical doctrine.
13. I'm not the type of person who joins a cult.
14. Most people who join cults are weird.  They have "problems."
15. Truly dedicated, Spirit-led Christians would never join a cult.
16. People are in cults because of spiritual problems.
17. People in cults are not "saved."
18. Cultism has little to do with totalitarianism or addiction.
19. People who join cults know what they are doing.
20. Groups that preach the Gospel and are winning many to Christ cannot be cultic.

If you answered "True" to any of these questions, you may be susceptible to cults.  Most people are susceptible to cults either because of unmet needs or ignorance of cult issues.  The first five questions on the above quiz suggest that personal unmet needs make a person vulnerable to the right pitch.  The remaining fifteen questions reveal typical "myths" and misinformation about the cult problem.

Everyone is Susceptible

Parents may not fully realize the subtlety and deceptiveness of the lure of the cults.  But the truth of the matter is, virtually anyone can get involved in a cult under the right circumstances.  The president of the student body at Wheaton College later became one of Jim Jones' right-hand men.  David Berg, a preacher's son who was briefly a Christian and Missionary Alliance pastor, later became one of the most notorious cult leaders in the 20th century.  The truth is that smart, well-adjusted kids from good Christian homes can and do join cults.  

One reason few recognize their vulnerability to cults is that we fail to understand that our society is faced with a growing and pervasive cult problem.  The danger from cults is more insidious than ever as cultic groups become more subtle and skilled in recruiting and retaining members.  Many older cults adapt to the times with cosmetic changes designed to make themselves look more acceptable.

The Definition of a Cult

Traditionally, cults have been defined as groups that deviate from the orthodox tenets of the Christian faith.  For example, Harold Bussell, author of Unholy Devotion:  Why Cults Lure Christians, states that among other things a cult is "any religious body that holds beliefs and practices clearly in opposition to historic Christianity as expressed in the Apostles' Creed."  In his book The New Cults, Walter Martin defines a cult as "a group religious in nature which surrounds a leader or a group which either denies or misinterprets essential biblical doctrines."  And Ronald Enroth has aptly commented that "for the Christian, the most significant component of a definition of a cult is theological in nature."  

While heresy can and does cause psychological damage, orthodoxy does not guarantee that similar psychological and moral injury will not occur.  Therefore, a strictly theological definition of the word cult is not enough.  There also needs to be a psychological definition.  Ronald Enroth points out that Christians have neglected the psychological aberrations of cults, and he quotes a concerned Christian layman who said, "I think there is merit for placing more stress on the other danger zones created by cults, such as psychological and moral injury, disruption of family ties, impairment of scholastic and professional careers.  

Therefore, many definitions of cults included not only theological, but also psychological elements.  Here are a few examples:

A group that uses methods that deprive individuals of their ability to make a free choice.  They use deceitful recruitment techniques, they deceptively and destructively use the devotees' energies and they capture the devotees' minds.

Destructive cults are those which tend to use extreme and unethical techniques of manipulation to recruit and assimilate members and to control members' thoughts, feelings, and behaviour as a means of furthering the leaders' goals.  Although most cults that have aroused concern are religious, they can also be politicial, commercial, or pseudotherapeutic.

A group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to highten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.) designed to advance the goals of the group's leaders to the actual or possible detriment of members, their families, or the community.

With these above definitions in mind, another aspect of the cult problem becomes apparent -- cults can include groups and organizations that typically are not viewed as cults.  These could be fringe churches, psychotherapy groups, New Age organizations, and various extremist political movements.

(from Cult Proofing Your Kids by Dr. Paul R. Martin)

If you attend Barrie Victory Centre, you are in a cult.  Make no mistake about it.