Christian Cults
In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.
Key words
- Rebuke: to criticize or scold someone strongly, often in a formal or official manner
The teacher rebuked the student for not completing the assignment on time.
- Creed: a set of beliefs or principles that guide one's actions
The company's creed emphasizes the importance of integrity and honesty.
- Cult: a religious group that has certain characteristics, including a charismatic leader
Their son ran away from home and joined a religious cult.
- Anachronism: a person, thing, or idea that exists out of its time in history, especially one that happened or existed later than the period being shown, discussed, etc.
The film was full of anachronisms. Jamaicans didn't arrive in Britain until centuries later.
- Inevitable: in a way that cannot be avoided
Their arguments inevitably end in tears.
Read the article to find the answers
- Why were the Epistles written?
- Why did Jesus rebuke the Church of Pergamum for?
- Whose beliefs are defined by the Nicene Creed?
- What did the Pharisees claim to have?
Early Christian Mistakes
When Jesus announced his intention to go to Jerusalem and suffer, Peter tried to stop Jesus from going. Jesus said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!" The Church has always made mistakes.
The Epistles were written by the Apostles to correct the widespread misunderstandings of the early Christians. Throughout the Epistles there are numerous warnings against false teachers. In 2 Thessalonians Paul corrected the believers who thought the resurrection had already happened. In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses improper worship practices influenced by Greek traditions, and in Galatians, Paul addresses the question of whether Gentile converts to Christianity had to be circumcised.
In Revelation, Jesus rebuked the Church of Pergamum for holding to the teachings of Balaam, and the Church of Thyatira for tolerating the prophetess Jezebel.
The Nicene Creed
There were several important creeds that emerged in early Christianity, but the Nicene Creed was the most influential and widely accepted. It was first adopted in 325 AD at a meeting called by the Roman Emperor Constantine. It continues to define the beliefs of the largest Christian denominations today, including the Catholic Church, thousands of Protestant denominations, and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Christian Cults
Two of the best-known Christian cults are the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Unification Church. The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that Jesus Christ returned in 1914. According to the Unification Church, the Second Coming of Jesus occurred when Sun Myung Moon was born in 1920 in what is now North Korea.
Surprisingly, the Chinese Communist Party grew out of a Christian cult led by a man who claimed to be the brother of Jesus.
Judaism & Islam
After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. Traditional Judaism came to an end. The nation split into those who became Christians and those who, like Paul before his conversion, followed the teachings of the Pharisees.
In response to the New Testament, the Pharisees claimed that they had another set of secret laws handed down from Moses called the Oral Law. The Oral Law was eventually written down 300 years later as the Talmud. This is where modern Jewish customs and beliefs come from. The Bible was also rewritten to include anachronisms, such as crucifixion in the time of Moses.
Islamic customs and beliefs were also created in response to the New Testament and are also based on an oral tradition, supposedly passed down over hundreds of years without human error. They also have many additions and anachronisms, such as crucifixion in the time of Moses.
A Christian Zionist Mission in Israel
Preterism
The vast majority of Christians throughout history and today believe in the Nicene Creed and expect the Second Coming of Jesus to be a future, visible event. There are a small number of Christians who believe that all biblical prophecy, including the Second Coming of Jesus, was fulfilled in 70 AD during the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
Preterism prevents the birth of cults based on false second comings, the need for a third temple in Jerusalem, and the belief in the inevitability of the war of Armageddon in the Middle East. It doesn't define Christianity as a set of rituals and traditions, but leads followers to believe that the daily spiritual sacrifice of putting the needs of the vulnerable before one's own is the kind of worship that God wants.
Discussion questions
- Do you have any questions about any of the vocabulary or grammar in this article?
- What are the biggest Christian cults in your country?
- Are there any popular creeds in your country?
- What do you know about the Talmud?
- Do you know anyone who is a Preterist?
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