Vol. 7, No. 9, 1990

Articles on Cults and New Religions

Craig Branch

Jesus warns, "See to it that no one deceives you... many false prophets will arise and will mislead many... there is no truth in him (Satan). Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his nature, for he is a liar, and the father of lies," (Matthew 24:3, 11; John 8:44).

These are just a few of the many Biblical warnings about the use of deception that the cults use in their fraudulent forms of Christianity.

Deception comes in many forms. Christians need to be well informed in many areas in order to avoid being deceived and to carry out their God-given responsibility to expose deception (Ephesians 5:11).

Christians should not begrudge people of other religions the freedom to believe whatever they wish. People have the right even to be wrong.

But Christians have the right and duty to defend their own faith from being attacked and usurped; and anyone should rightfully protest fraud and deception if it is used to promote membership in a religious organization.

A persons right to freely choose is actually protected when all the true objective facts are available and both sides are heard. Christians have a responsibility to protest when the leadership or members of a cult present themselves to the world that they are Christians yet deny the essential doctrines of the faith (2 Cor. 11:3-4, 12-15).

Christians also have the moral responsibility to expose the fraudulent techniques of cult leaders to both the members in the cult and to the public that the cult is exploiting (2 Peter 2:1-3). Examples abound in the ways cults use deception.

For instance, the Worldwide Church of God (Armstrongism) perpetuates a myth that their literature is free and that "you will never be asked for a cent."

The Mormon Church spends a lot of money and time in advertising and missionary work trying to create a public image that they are another Christian denomination and that they do not criticize other churches.

Yet they actually teach that theirs is the only true church on the earth and that all other churches are "an abomination in God's sight," (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith 1:18-19).

The Watchtower of Jehovah's Witnesses has recently published another scholastically dishonest book attacking the triune nature of God. In it they report that the early church fathers and modern scholars teach against the Trinity.

In fact when the quotes are researched in the actual publications, they actually support the Trinity doctrine. The only "scholars" supporting the Watchtower are liberal and deny the authority of Scripture. Groups like Scientology, and Unification Church, operate many front business organizations designed to extract money from people and to subtly recruit members.

"Professional" astrologers appear on television, radio talk shows, and in the print media, using their deception to exploit people psychologically, spiritually and financially.

Christians must never retreat from shining light into this darkness.

Ironically Watchman Fellowship agrees with the Watchtower book, Truth that Leads to Everlasting Life, on page 13, which says "Truth never fears to be investigated, error always seeks to hide in the dark."