Jarl Waggoner's Articles

The New Religions

by Jarl K. Waggoner

Nearly all of the New Testament epistles contain some warning against false teachers and false teaching. This stands as solemn testimony to the fact that Christ's newly established church, almost from its inception, faced the threat of heresy. Jewish legalism and Greek philosophy were mixed with Christ's teachings and led many Christians astray.

There is no end to the religious movements that have challenged the Christian faith since New Testament days. Gnosticism was an early opponent of Christianity, as were Montanism and Monarchianism. The rise of Islam in the seventh century brought a different kind of challenge, and as Christianity reached into new areas of the world, it encountered the ancient Eastern religions of Hinduism and Buddhism.

False religions are still with us. In fact, as history has moved forward, they have multiplied in number. The evidence is all around us-the Mormon television ads, the Jehovah's Witnesses at our doors, the Transcendental Meditation being taught in some schools, and the New Agers' celebrated harmonic convergence of 1987. What are these religious movements? What do they teach? And how should we respond to them? Before attempting to briefly address these questions, we must first define some terms.

Terminology

Undoubtedly the most common term for false religious movements has been the word cult. As used by Bible-believing Christians, a cult is "any religious movement which claims the backing of Christ or the Bible, but distorts the central message of Christianity by (1)an additional revelation, and (2) by displacing a fundamental tenet of the faith with a secondary matter" (Gordon Lewis, Confronting the Cults, p. 4).

Irving Hexham, however, represents a growing number of scholars who suggest that the abuse of the word cult (for example, the word has been used by some to describe evangelical Christians) has made it a useless term. They prefer to speak of new religious movements (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p. 289). This is a much broader term than cult and allows the inclusion of the New Age Movement and others that have their roots in Eastern religion, whereas cult limits the discussion to pseudo-Christian groups-those that claim to be Christian and Bible based. With the increasing influx and popularity of New Age teaching, it might be better to use the more general term new religious movements to speak of all those movements of relatively recent origin that are contrary to biblical Christianity.

Who Are They?

There are literally thousands of new religious movements in the United States today. Some represent little more than a handful of people and are not widely known. Some, like the Hare Krishnas and Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, are well known but cannot be considered major movements in the United States because of their relatively few numbers. There are, however, a number of new religions in America that can claim hundreds of thousands, even millions, of adherents.

The largest of the new religions in America is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). The Mormons have about 4 million members in the United States. Compared to the 14 million members of the largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, this may not sound like an alarming number; yet membership in the Mormon church in the United States has more than doubled since 1965.

The Jehovah's Witnesses claim about 800,000 members in America and, like the Mormons, are growing rapidly overseas as a result of their zealous missionary activities. One group often overlooked, perhaps because it has maintained a rather low profile, is the United Pentecostal Church International. This anti-trinitarian sect should not be confused with the many other groups employing the Pentecostal name and adhering to an orthodox view of the Trinity. The United Pentecostal Church has a membership of about 500,000.

Membership figures are not available for the Church of Christ Scientist (better known as Christian Science) or The Way International, but they certainly rank below those mentioned above. Two other movements that must be listed among the most prominent in the United States are the Unity School of Christianity and the New Age Movement. Both are somewhat sycretistic and unorganized; thus it is hard to determine how widespread their teachings are. No one can deny, however, that the New Age Movment in particular is rapidly expanding, especially as a result of its "missionaries" in the entertainment industry.

What Do They Teach?

The various new religions, of course, have their own unique teachings. Some, like The Way International, hold doctrines that are very similar in many respects to biblical Christianity, while the teachings of others can only be described as bizarre. There is no lack of books that set forth the beliefs of these groups, but we can note two common characteristics that mark them all as false religions.

First, every new religious movement is marked by extra-biblical revelation. The Mormons have The Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price, which in truth take precedence over the Bible in their theology. The Jehovah's Witnesses have their New World Translation of the Bible, which is not a translation at all but a Bible that has been altered to comply with their particular doctrines. Even in those groups that profess to follow Scripture alone, one finds leaders claiming personal revelation from God as the source of their teachings or of their understanding of the Bible. All this stands in stark contrast to the clear teaching of the Bible itself which claims to be God-breathed and sufficient for our spiritual development (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

A second characteristic common to the new religions is a defective Christology. They all utterly fail to answer correctly the question: Who is Jesus Christ? Usually this involves a denial of the Trinity and of the deity of Christ. To the Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus is a created being whom they identify with Michael. The Mormons make Jesus a mere man, and polygamist at that. Christian Science sees him as merely an example. New Agers sometimes speak of Jesus as being divine but only in the same sense that everyone is divine! Jesus said, "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5:23). Any teaching that devalues the person of Christ is heretical, and every false religion does exactly that in one way or another.

What Can We Do?

According to one study several years ago, 78% of those entering the cults were coming from Protestant (mostly mainline) churches. Indeed, some of those came from evangelical churches. What can we do to protect ourselves and our families from the influence of these new religions? How can we reach those who have fallen prey to their deceptions? Much can be said in answer to these questions, but for our purposes, we can offer the following suggestions.

1. Become a theologian. Far too many Christians simply do not know what they believe or what they should believe. The mistaken notion that doctrinal study is boring and impractical has resulted in the avoidance of theological study, which in turn has created an inability to effectively deal with theological error. A clear understanding of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith is crucial. Not only does it increase one's knowledge and appreciation of God, but it also provides the framework for detecting error in another's teaching and providing the answers his religion cannot. There are a number of well-written, and even interesting, books on theology available today that will give the eager student a good grasp on what the Bible teaches.

2. Be informed. While it is impossible to keep up with all the new religions, concerned Christians should have a general knowledge of the teachings of the more common sects. By informing ourselves of their teachings and tactics, we will be more effective in countering their appeal. The resources listed below are a good place to start.

3. Be loving. When dealing with adherents of the new religions, a loving attitude is extremely important. They may be thoroughly indoctrinated in their religious beliefs now, but most joined the movement because they found love and acceptance there that they had not found elsewhere.

4. Stress Christ, the Bible, and assurance. It does little good to talk with one involved in a new religion about church, spiritual experiences, or some of the finer points of theology. Christ and the biblical teaching on salvation should be central, but assurance is often a good place to start. Because salvation is by works or is an ambiguous concept altogether in the new religions, the faithful lack the assurance that Christians can possess. They can never be sure of their acceptance by God. This grave uncertainty provides an excellent opportunity for Christians to present the gospel of grace that offers peace with god and divine assurance of eternal life.

Resources

This brief introduction to the new religious movements (or cults if you prefer) is just that-it is brief, and it is introductory. The following resources offer detailed analyses of the various movements, along with helpful suggestions for dealing with their followers.

Kenneth Boa. Cults, World Religions, and You. Victor Books. This book offers brief descriptions of the history and teachings of 27 different movements, along with suggestions on how to evangelize adherents.

Dave Breese. Know the Marks of Cults. Victor Books. Discusses the 12 basic errors of false religion.

Gordon Lewis. Confronting the Cults. Deals with 6 major American cults. Excellent helps for teachers are included.

Walter Martin. Kingdom of the Cults. Bethany House Publishers. This is the standard work that has recently been revised. Very detailed.

Josh McDowell and Don Stewart. Handbook of Today's Religions. Here's Life Publishers. Comprehensive and up to date.

Elliot Miller. A Crash Course on the New Age Movement. Baker Book House. Perhaps the best description and analysis of the movement.

The following web sites are also very useful. Both are the work of Christian organizations devoted to research and counter-cult ministry.

Watchman Fellowship (www.watchman.org/watchman.htm)

Christian Research Institute (www.equip.org/)

(This article was originally published in two parts in The Update, a church newsletter, February and March 1992.)