Why don't Born Again Christians include themselves as "Cults"?

by booker-t 41 Replies latest jw friends

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  cofty

  Where would you place born agains?

  It varies very much depending on the particular group. Perhaps 5 at best and all the way up to 9.
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  LisaRose

  A cult usually has one leader, or group of leaders against be obeyed, they cannot leave and go to another similar church, their time is monopolized with cult activities, they have a clear reporting structure, and they control your time. I don't see that in the born again churches. What is it about them that is that much different from any religion? You could argue that all religions are a cult, but you particularly singled out born agains, I don't see it.
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  Band on the Run

  I don't agree with the usage of "cult." While I am too lazy to look up a definition, belief itself does not make a cult. Cults cut off from family and friends. They often exist in isolated locations. A cult overreaches which is a legal concept. Cults are high control. Individual thought is discouraged. Access to other points of view is denied. Language is distorted in a cult.

  Academics don't like the term. Wikipedia says we should use the term "New Religious Movement," a term phrased with Jehovah's Witnesses in mind. Traditions of centuries are abandoned. I would say the WT is cult light. When people were agitated about the Moonies, a Congressmen gave an interview. He said his biological sister decided to become a cloistered nun. She had no contact with her parents for over twenty years. He asked how we could see one case as a respected religion and the Moonies a cult.

  Oh, new religious movement has to do with the age of these religions. New religions are not respected much. The primary reason the OT is in the Christian Bible was to make Christianity respectable by grafting elements of one of the oldest and most respected. The emperors arranged for sacrifices to YHWH. Jews were exempt from many Roman rules. They had YHWH fear. I laugh whenever I read of Joseph Smith receiving golden tablets in Westchester County, by the end of the subway line.

  There are norms of behavior for conduct with others. Ovverreaching is when not much space is left between an individual and the larger group. Lawyers often overreach. Healthy relationships have boundaries. The blood card is a perfect example. Telling people what it is and explaining where to download it is very different from chasing publishers around the KH or at home and making certain it is completed.
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  Band on the Run

  Altho I disagree with them, I would never term born-again Christians a cult. Jimmy Carter is born again. I see a drastic difference between born-again Christians and the Witnesses or Mormons.
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  Perry

  Early Christians trusted in Christ Alone, [ for salvation from Judgment] not men, a group, a church or a single man... like a Pope figure. The New Testament written by the apostles, was their only authority. Being born again was accompanied by renewed strength of the believer to live a separated life and victory over the sin they were previously powerless to change. I say "renewed" because children have this "strength".

  When these evidences of an exchanged life (with Christ) were experienced, the believer could truthfully testify that it was not due to his own will-power. What exactly happens is this: at the moment of being born again, the believer receives a new and perfected spirit that cannot sin. This is a part of his inheritance that he receives in this life as a child of God - being no longer God's enemy.

  The believer will still sin to the extent that he follows his unsaved and unregenerated flesh. To the extent that he follows the spirit that now resides in him, he will not sin.

  In the Christian faith, reliance on will-power only creates more debt to God and more damnation. This is what the cults are all about - trusting in someone or something other than, or in addition to - Jesus. This is idolatry and their will-worship is vanity.

  Romans 4: 4 - Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt

  Col. 2: 23 - Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship

  (King James Version)
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  InChristAlone

  Booker, I am saddened that you feel the way you do, but I do understand why you feel that way. The people you described in your initial post are not born again. They may think they are, but without the experience that Perry said above, they are no different. There is a real and distinct change with those who are truly born again. The reason that born agains believe "once saved always saved" is because this change is permanent. The ones you described will likely hear, "I never knew you" from Christ.
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  InChristAlone

  Real born agains do not judge others because they know that they are no better. They don't control others because they know they are ultimately not in control of anything. They follow Christ's commands not out of fear, but out of gratitude. They understand the impact of grace, not only toward others but also to themselves. There is a marked difference between a real born again and a member of a cult.
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  OnTheWayOut

  Not too many Born Again Christians are really calling any groups cults. It seems to be a subject they are really afraid of. Oh, I am sure some BAC individuals manage to deny their own cult and convince themselves that cults are defined in some way their BAC group doesn't fit because they have "THE TRUTH/JESUS/GOD/HOLY SPIRIT/CORRECT INTENTIONS. But mostly, it is former members that understand what a cult really is and is not.

  I don't imagine that any grou ever labels themselves as cults.

  I mean, they don't say "I am in a cult." If they realized that, they would do something about it.
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  villagegirl

  I don't think there is anyone on this thread that really understands

  what the "born again" concept is. The WTpoisoned your view of this.

  It was something Jesus said, about spiritual awakening, (think enlightenment)

  an epiphany a freeing of the self and a unity with God, internally, spiritually,

  in the mind. It didn't cure terminal stupidity, or a low IQ or any existing condition

  of mental incompetence. Its about oneness in the universe, a body connected,

  not about forgiveness of sins or lack of accountability. Speakers of truth are rare,

  and often not in evangelical churches, but some are, thats why only God knows

  who are his own, they don't wear identifying T-shirts or patches on their hats.
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  Laika

  Probably because in born again churches you are not generally ostracised for disagreeing with the teachings.