I will repeat here for clarity, seeing as a new thread was made in an effort to shift the conversation;
Quote:
|
In religion and sociology, a cult is a group of people devoted to beliefs and goals which are not held by the majority of society, often religious in nature. Its marginal status may come about either due to its novel belief system or due to idiosyncratic practices that cause the surrounding culture to regard it as far outside the mainstream.
|
Quote:
Counterfeit religions are also skilled at focusing their members’ attention on peripheral issues. They most often appeal to their emotions by talking about love and by getting people heavily involved in church-sponsored social events, or even missionary-type activities. If their members feel good about what they are doing, it makes little difference to them what they are being taught. Such people often remain loyal to a counterfeit church no matter what. Even when some are exposed as frauds, it doesn’t keep a loyal, but ignorant, few from continuing to support them.
Among those counterfeit churches that do study the Bible, many use only a small portion of it. They constantly refer to pet scriptures that can seem to support their beliefs. Often they have pulled these verses out of context and misinterpreted them, giving a far different impression than what the Bible actually means.
Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Revised Standard Version).
|