Biblical Cults: Who Are They?
The Apostle Paul and the early church dealt with many problems and influences, were there cohesive bodies of people behind and around certain teachings and influences? The question begs to be asked, were their cults in the Bible? What is a cult? Let's not read today's definitions of cults back into the Bible. How did the Bible define them? What groups in the Bible can you identify as cults? What are their teachings and influences on the people of God? Are cults and heresies the same? Were there cults in the Bible with or under other names? Getting a handle on these groups will help one to understand the Bible and its interpretations. CM
Comments
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If the Antichrist is a cult leader, we can see the emergence of cults in the early church where John says there were several in his day. And throughout history beginning with the monarchial bishops, developing into the papacy.
In a narrower sense, if Jesus is God, then any who deny that God came in the flesh has the spirit of antichrist according to John.
“Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:2–3)
JESUS CHRIST
“Jesus Christ” is a composite name made up of the personal name “Jesus” (from Gk Iēsous, which transliterates Heb/Aram yēšû (a)ʿ, a late form of Hebrew yĕhôšûaʿ, the meaning of which is “YHWH is salvation” or “YHWH saves/has saved”) and the title, assimilated in early Christianity to Jesus as a name, “Christ” (from Gk Christos, which translates Heb māšı̂aḥ and Aram mĕšı̂ḥāʾ, signifying “anointed” and referring in the context of eschatological expectation to the royal “son of David”). The name “Jesus Christ” thus binds together the historic figure Jesus with the messianic role and status that early Christian faith attributed to him. In Jesus’ own lifetime, his name, since it was common in Israel, called for a specifier: “Jesus the Galilean” (Matt 26:69; cf.21:11), or, more often, “Jesus of Nazareth” or “Jesus the Nazarean.”
Meyer, B. F. (1992). Jesus (Person): Jesus Christ. In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 3, p. 773). New York: Doubleday.
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The Bible doesn’t specifically define a cult but is quite clear about heretics.
Knowing fundamental truths about the Bible is not difficult. Those who speak differently or cast doubt on such fundamentals are heretics. Cults are groups in agreement who are heretical. Let’s just leave it at that. -
@GaoLu said:
The Bible doesn’t specifically define a cult but is quite clear about heretics.
Knowing fundamental truths about the Bible is not difficult. Those who speak differently or cast doubt on such fundamentals are heretics. Cults are groups in agreement who are heretical. Let’s just leave it at that.If what is said is so, then, what are some of the key heresies of the Bible and its influence upon the early Christian Church? It would help with the background to certain passages and interpretations. CM
