Thesis 34/36: Cults

DOCTRINES OF CULTS
Doctrine 34 / 36: Major Cults

According to the CIA world factbook, in 2007 in the United States of America, Protestants made up more than 50% of the population. That was followed by Roman Catholics with 23%, Mormons with 1.7% and "Other Christian" at 1.6%. The other Christian classification would include the Jehovah's Witnesses, who, though they don't have extremely large numbers, are a very visible religion in America.

Roman Catholicism is one of the oldest religions associated with Christianity, and its beginning is quite difficult to pinpoint. The religion developed over time out of the true Christian church, as some of the leaders began to become more secularized and tied to the government. By the year 590 AD, with Pope Gregory the Great, the Roman Catholic Church had begun to take power, and, as often occurs, power corrupted the leadership. The Pope and the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church began to take power to themselves, and even began to exalt their teaching and doctrine to be on equal level as the Scriptures themselves. Once this happened, the Roman church could develop and promulgate any doctrine that it wanted, without needing Scripture to support it.

Some of these doctrines that have developed over time include auricular confession (a person needs to confess their sins to a priest to receive forgiveness), papal infallibility (that the pope, when speaking ex cathedra, is not able to err), baptismal regeneration (that a person's baptism puts them into the body of Christ), transubstantiation (that the elements in the Lord's Supper turn into the actual body of Christ), an unbiblical veneration of Mary (Immaculate Conception, and Perpetual Virginity) and probably the biggest error is the means by which God's grace is bestowed to man. The Bible teaches that justification is by grace through faith, apart from the law (Romans 3:28). However, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that God's grace is bestowed through the sacraments of the church, such as, the Eucharist (Communion). The church leadership therefore has the ability to withhold the sacraments and claim to be withholding salvation from those that would deviate from their authority. Salvation gets narrowed to down to the performance of specific works, of which the priests have control.

Mormonism originated in the early 19th century under Joseph Smith, Jr. Joseph Smith claimed to have been visited by an angel, Moroni, who led him to an ancient, hidden book of Mormon. This book was allegedly translated by Joseph Smith, and as a result of it and of other visions, he began a new church. Joseph Smith was eventually killed by an angry mob that stormed the jail in which Smith was held because of some of his actions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as it is also called, has constantly been under persecution, with its headquarters moving frequently. Finally, in about 1847, the young church settled in Salt Lake City, Utah under the leadership of Brigham Young. Their teaching denies the existence of an Absolute Sovereign God. They teach that Elohim, God the Father, was once a mortal man but ascended into Deity; and in the same way, other mortal men can ascend into Deity to be God like Him.

The Jehovah's Witness religion and associated Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society were originated with Charles Russell during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although the present day Society does not claim to be the follower of an infallible man, his teachings are in line with their doctrine, and he was the first president of the society. Jehovah's Witnesses deny the biblical doctrine of the Trinity vehemently, and they deny the existence of eternal torment in hell for the lost. Instead, they teach that a lost person is simply annihilated at death. According to the doctrine of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the atonement of Christ was half the work of God, and half the work of man by enduring to the end, rather than the biblical doctrine that the atonement was entirely the work of God applied to those of faith.

Both Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses fail to teach properly the Deity of Jesus Christ. They allow that He is the Son of God, but they do not allow that He is equal with God. Jehovah's Witnesses use their New World Translation of the Bible to change John 1:1 from saying, "And the Word was God," to having it say, "And the Word was a god." Like the Mormons, they teach that Jesus was just another god, and not "God manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). The other common error they share with Roman Catholicim, is that the work of Jesus Christ is all sufficient to save, and that justification is by grace alone, through faith alone. All three religions teach that man has a part greater than simply believing to secure their salvation.

"Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar."