Christian countercult movement

The Christian countercult movement, also known as discernment ministries is the collective designation for many mostly unrelated ministries and individual Christians who oppose non-mainstream Christian and non-Christian religious groups, which they often call cults. Protagonists often come from an Evangelical or fundamentalist background, although some are former members of non-mainstream groups. While a considerable proportion of those who identify with the Christian countercult are Protestant Evangelicals, there are also Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Ancient Oriental Orthodox groups critical of cults.

Christian apologists who write from within this movement argue that a religious body may be defined as a cult if its doctrines involve a denial of central Christian teachings about God, the person and work of Christ, salvation and so on. Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionary or apologetic purpose. It seeks to identify problems with a given group's teachings or practices and present a rebuttal emphasizing doctrinal discernment in a mainstream Christian vein. Christian countercult writers also emphasize the need for the evangelization of followers of cults, and often present advice and strategies on how Christians may evangelize.

The Christian countercult movement, with its emphases on apologetics and evangelism, does not constitute the totality of concerns which many Christians have about cult practices. Some Christians share concerns similar to those of the secular anti-cult movement.

History

Precursors & pioneers

Christians have applied theological criteria to assess the teachings of non-orthodox movements throughout church history. In the Protestant traditions some of the earliest writings opposing unorthodox groups like Swedenborg's teachings, can be traced back to John Wesley, Alexander Campbell (Restoration movement) and Princeton theologians like Charles Hodge and Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield. The first known usage of the term "cult" by a Protestant apologist to denote a group is heretical or unorthodox is in Anti-Christian Cults by A. H. Barrington, published in 1898.

Quite a few of the pioneering apologists were Baptist pastors, like I. M. Haldeman, or participants in the Brethren, like William Irvine and Sydney Watson. Watson wrote a series of didactic novels like Escaped from the Snare:Christian Science, Bewitched by Spiritualism, and The Gilded Lie, as warnings of the dangers posed by cultic groups. Watson's use of fiction to counter the cults has been repeated by later novelists like Frank Peretti.

The early twentieth century apologists generally applied the words "heresy" and "sects" to groups like the Christadelphians, Mormons, Spiritualists, and Theosophy. This was reflected in several chapters contributed to the multi-volume work released in 1915 The Fundamentals, where apologists criticised the teachings of Charles Taze Russell, Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science), the Mormons and Spiritualists.

Mid-20th century apologists

Since at least the 1940s, the approach of traditional Christians was to apply the meaning of cult such that it included those religious groups who use other scriptures beside the Bible or have teachings and practices deviating from traditional Christian teachings and practices. Some examples of sources (with published dates where known) that documented this approach are:

The Missionary Faces Isms, by John C. Mattes, pub. 1937 (Board of American Missions of the United Lutheran Church).
Heresies Ancient and Modern, by J.Oswald Sanders, pub.1948 (Marshall Morgan & Scott, London/Zondervan, Grand Rapids).
Cults and Isms, by J.Oswald Sanders, pub.1962, 1969, 1980 (Arrowsmith), ISBN 0551004584.
The Chaos of Cults, by J.K.van Baalen, pub. 1938, 1944, 1960, 1962 (Eerdmans)
Heresies Exposed, by W.C.Irvine, pub. 1921, 1975 (Loizeaux Brothers).
Confusion of Tongues, by C.W.Ferguson, pub. 1928 (Doran & Co).
Isms New and Old, by Julius Bodensieck.
Some Latter-Day Religions, by G.H.Combs.

One of the first prominent countercult apologists was Jan Karel van Baalen (1890-1968), an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. His book, The Chaos of Cults, which was first published in 1938, became a classic in the field.

Walter Martin

Historically, one of the most important protagonists of the movement was Walter Martin (1928-89), whose numerous books include the 1955 The Rise of the Cults: An Introductory Guide to the Non-Christian Cults and the 1965 The Kingdom of the Cults: An Analysis of Major Cult Systems in the Present Christian Era, which continues to be influential. He became well known in conservative Christian circles through a radio program, "The Bible Answer Man", currently hosted by Hank Hanegraaff.

In his 1955 book, Martin gave the following definition of a cult:

"By cultism we mean the adherence to doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity and which yet claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources. Cultism, in short, is any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith."

As Martin's definition suggests, the countercult ministries concentrate on non-traditional groups that claim to be Christian, so chief targets have been the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science and the Unification Church, but also smaller groups like the Swedenborgian Church

However, Martin's own Baptist faith is a major deviation from Catholicism (which has existed for nearly 1500 years longer than any Protestant denomination), thus proving that any Christian church can be given the "cult" label.

Various other conservative Christian leaders—among them John Ankerberg and Norman Geisler—have emphasized themes similar to Martin's. Perhaps more importantly, numerous other well-known conservative Christian leaders as well as many conservative pastors have accepted Martin's definition of a cult as well as his understanding of the groups to which he gave that label. (Compare this definition with heresy.)

Other technical terminology

Since the 1980s the term "new religions" or "new religious movements" has slowly entered into Evangelical usage, alongside the word "cult". Some book titles use both terms.

The acceptance of these alternatives to the word "cult" in Evangelicalism reflects, in part, the wider usage of such language in the sociology of religion. However, there is no unanimity about whether these terms are synonyms.

"Countercult apologetics" as accepted term

The term "countercult apologetics" first appeared in Protestant Evangelical literature as a self-designation in the late 1970s and early 1980s in articles by Ronald Enroth and David Fetcho, and by Walter Martin in Martin Speaks Out on the Cults. A mid-1980s debate about apologetic methodology between Ronald Enroth and J. Gordon Melton, led the latter to place more emphasis in his publications on differentiating the Christian countercult from the secular anti-cult. Eric Pement urged Melton to adopt the label "Christian countercult", and since the early 1990s the terms has entered into popular usage and is recognised by sociologists such as Douglas Cowan.

The only existing umbrella organization within the countercult movement in the USA is the EMNR (Evangelical Ministries to New Religions) founded in 1982 which has the evangelical Lausanne Covenant as governing document and which stresses mission, scholarship, accountability and networking.

Countercult outside the USA

While the greatest number of countercult ministries is found in the United States of America, ministries exist in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Russia and Sweden. A comparison between the methods employed in the USA and other nations discloses some similarities in emphasis, but also other nuances in emphasis. The similarities are that globally these ministries share a common concern about the evangelisation of people in cults and new religions. There is also often a common thread of comparing orthodox doctrines and biblical passages with the teachings of the groups under examination. However, in some of the European and southern hemisphere contexts, confrontational methods of engagement are not always relied on, and dialogical approaches are sometimes advocated.

Contextual missiology

The phenomena of cults has also entered into the discourses of Christian missions and theology of religions. An initial step in this direction occurred in 1980 when the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization convened a mini-consultation in Thailand. From that consultation a position paper was produced Thailand Report on New Religious Movements". The issue was revisited at the Lausanne Forum in 2004 with another paper and Non-Religious Spirituality in the Western World". The latter paper adopts a different methodology to that advocated in 1980.

In the 1990s discussions in academic missions and theological journals indicate that another trajectory is emerging which reflects the influence of contextual missions theory. Advocates of this approach maintain that apologetics as a tool needs to be retained, but do not favour a confrontational style of engagement.

Apologetic nuances and models

Countercult apologetics has several nuances and methods employed in analysing and responding to cults. The different nuances in countercult apologetics have been discussed by John Saliba and Philip Johnson.

The dominant method is the emphasis on detecting unorthodox or heretical doctrines and contrasting those with orthodox interpretations of the Bible and early creedal documents. Some apologists, such as Francis J. Beckwith, have emphasised a philosophical approach, pointing out logical, epistemological and metaphysical problems within the teachings of a particular group. Another approach involves former members of cultic groups recounting their spiritual autobiographies, which highlight experiences of disenchantment with the group, unanswered questions and doubts about commitment to the group, culminating in the person's conversion to Evangelical Christianity.

Pop apologists like Dave Hunt in Peace, Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust and Hal Lindsey in The Terminal Generation have tended to interpret the phenomena of cults as part of the burgeoning evidence of signs that Christ's Second Advent is close at hand. Both Hunt, and Constance Cumbey, have applied a conspiracy model to interpreting the emergence of New Age spirituality and linking that to speculations about fulfilled prophecies heralding Christ's reappearance.

Other apologists like Bob Larson blend an understanding of cults as heresies with a strongly nuanced emphasis on Satan as the energising power behind the growth of cults. This theme has been portrayed in the anti-New Age novels by Frank Peretti (This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness)where demonic forces empower practitioners of New Age groups while Christians engage in spiritual warfare tactics of prayer and exorcisms to counter the groups.

Today there exist many and very diverse countercult ministries and authors including everything between scholars and soapbox preachers and there is no overall agreement regarding which groups are part of traditional Christianity.

Some Protestants classify Catholic, Eastern-orthodox, Seventh-day Adventist or Pentecostal churches as cults, because they allegedly have non-Biblical teachings.

Others speak out mainly against current non-Christian groups or trends in society like the New Age movement, the popularity of Harry Potter books or Halloween.

Some ministries, often led by former members, target single groups like Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons.

Some of the criticisms of contemporary "cults" (heterodoxy, breaking up families etc.) were, in its early days, originally directed against Christianity itself.

Prominent protagonists in the Christian countercult movement

People

Hank Hanegraaff is the successor to Walter Martin on the radio and in CRI. He has continued the work of Martin; he also speaks out against Oneness Pentecostalism, Word of Faith ministries, and other similar movements.
Norman Geisler
Douglas Groothuis
Anton Hein targets many groups from a Christian point of view. His Apologetics Index also operates a weblog, the [http://www.religionnewsblog.com Religion News Blog.
J. P. Moreland, Biola University
Richard Abanes ^*
Walter Martin ^* was the host of the Bible Answer Man radio broadcast and the president of the Christian Research Institute. He often gave Biblical and logical arguments against Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and other cultic and occultic movements.

Organizations

Answers in Action ^*, Bob and Gretchen Passantino
Apologia report ^*, maintaining also a professional mailing list for apologetic resources
Apologetics resource center ^*, by Craig Branch
Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, founded by Matt Slick.
Christian Research Institute (CRI) founded by Walter Martin ^*
Dialog Center ^* founded by Johannes Aagaard
EMNR Evangelical Ministries to New Religions ^*, an umbrella group for ministries to the cults and new religions
Eternal Ministries ^* director, Dr. Ron J. Bigalke Jr.
Institute of Religious Research ^*
Midwest Christian Outreach {http://www.midwestoutreach.org]
New England Institute of Religious Research (NEIRR) ^*
Personal Freedom Outreach ^*
Probe Ministries ^*
Spiritual Counterfeits Project ^*, president Tal Brooke
Watchman Fellowship ^*, founder David Henke, president James K. Walker

External links

Bibliography

Primary sources

Abanes, Richard, Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family, Crossway Books, Wheaton, 1998.
Ankerberg, John and John Weldon, Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Harvest House, Eugene, 1999.
Enroth, Ronald (ed)., A Guide to New Religious Movements, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2005.
Geisler, Norman L. and Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask, Baker, Grand Rapids, 1997
House, H.Wayne, Charts of Cults, Sects and Religious Movements, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2000.
LeBar, James J. Cults, Sects, and the New Age, Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, 1989.
Martin, Walter R. The Kingdom of the Cults, edited by Ravi Zacharias, Bethany, Bloomington, 2003
McDowell, Josh and Don Stewart, Handbook of Today's Religions, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1992
Rhodes, Ron, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2001
Sire, James W. Scripture Twisting: Twenty Ways the Cults Misread the Bible, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1980.
Sire, James W. The Universe Next Door 4th ed., InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2004.
Tucker, Ruth A. Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions and the New Age Movement, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2004.
Vatican Report on Sects, Cults and New Religious Movements, St. Paul Publications, Sydney, 1988.

History and critical assessments

Cowan, Douglas E. Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult (Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut & London, 2003).
Enroth, Ronald M. and J. Gordon Melton, Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails (Brethren Press, Elgin, 1985).
Jenkins, Philip, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History (Oxford University Press, New York, 2000).
Johnson, Philip, "Apologetics, Mission, and New Religious Movements: A Holistic Approach," Tribes: Journal of Christian Missions to New Religious Movements, 1 (1) (2002)
Melton, J. Gordon., "The counter-cult monitoring movement in historical perspective," in Challenging Religion: Essays in Honour of Eileen Barker, edited by James A. Beckford & James T. Richardson, (Routledge, London, 2003), pp. 102-113.
Saliba, John A., Understanding New Religious Movements, 2nd edition (Alta Mira Press, Walnut Creek, Lanham, New York & Oxford, 2003).

Christian fundamentalism and evangelicalism | Cults | New religious movements | Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Christian countercult movement