What is a Cult?
Alan Gomes writes: “A cult of Christianity is a group of people, which claiming to be Christian, embraces a particular doctrine system taught by an individual leader, group of leaders, or organization, which (system) denies (either explicitly or implicitly) one or more of the central doctrines of the Christian Faith as taught in the sixty-six books of the Bible.” Alan Gomes, Unmasking The Cults (Zondervan, 1995)”A cult is a group or movement exhibiting a great or excessive devotion or dedication to some person, idea, or thing and employing unethically manipulative techniques of persuasion and control (e.g., isolation from former friends and family, debilitation, use of special methods to heighten suggestibility and subservience, powerful group pressures, information management, suspension of individuality or critical judgment, promotion of total dependency on the group and fear of leaving it, etc.
The Cult Danger Evaluation Frame developed by Issac Bonewits is available gives a good indication of the difference between a cult and a viable group. Each item is scored from 1-10. The higher the scores, the greater the danger. This chart can be used to evaluate ANY organization, church, or group with which one is thinking about associating. A very high score is an indication that you should run away very fast.
