Chart of comparative doctrines of traditional Christian, Seventh day Adventist, Jehovah's witnesses, Mormonism and Christian Science

	Mormonism	Christian Science
Bible	Inspired Bible and Book of Mormon	Bible inspired and Science and Health is its inspired interpretation
God	Polytheism	Impersonal and pantheistic
Man	Pre-existent soul takes body at birth in the world.	Soul only; body is an illusion.
Sin	It was necessary for Adam to sin. This brought morality with out guilt	“There is no sin” - it is illusion.
Christ	Called creator but pre-existent spirit who took body at incarnation	Christ is a divine idea; Jesus is mere human
Redemption	Atonement gives man chance to earn salvation	Salvation by casting out idea of sin
Church	Other churches apostate; efficient hierarchical organization	A denomination like protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish
Future	Pre-millennial reign at Independence, Mo. Tends toward universal salvation	Universal salvation in future when idea of sin gradually dies.

Chart of comparative doctrines of traditional Christian, Seventh day Adventist, Jehovah's witnesses, Mormonism and Christian Science

Chart of comparative doctrines of traditional Christian,

Seventh day Adventist, Jehovah's witnesses,

Mormonism and Christian Science

Chart of Comparative Doctrines

	Traditional Christian	Seventh day Adventist	Jehovah's Witness	Mormonism	Christian Science
Bible	Verbally Inspired	Reluctant to affirm verbal inspiration; vague about status of Mrs. White	Verbally Inspired	Inspired Bible and Book of Mormon	Bible inspired and Science and Health is its inspired interpretation
God	Three persons in one Essence	Approximately traditional Christian View	Uni-personal	Polytheism	Impersonal and pantheistic
Man	Body-soul created good	Body-soul creature, created neutral or with inclination to evil	Body. Soul not distinguishable from body	Pre-existent soul takes body at birth in the world.	Soul only; body is an illusion.
Sin	Result of Adam's disobedience; corruption of nature and action	No clear doctrine of imputation of Adam's sin; man now polluted	Adam's sin brought liability to temporal death	It was necessary for Adam to sin. This brought morality with out guilt	“There is no sin” - it is illusion.
Christ	One divine person in two distinct natures (Divine human)	Like traditional view but represents human nature as having tendency to sin	First-born creature; changed into man at birth in this world	Called creator but pre-existent spirit who took body at incarnation	Christ is a divine idea; Jesus is mere human
Redemption	Faith in atonement as expressed by holy life	Believing in atonement made in heaven plus holy living including observance of Saturday Sabbath.	Christ's ransom gives man chance to earn salvation	Atonement gives man chance to earn salvation	Salvation by casting out idea of sin
Church	Mystical union of all true believers, visible union of all professed believers	Seems to regard itself as true remnant church	Traditional church rejected 144000 witnesses make up church	Other churches apostate; efficient hierarchical organization	A denomination like protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish
Future	Eternal heaven, eternal hell, temporary purgatory (R.C)	Annihilation of wicked; millennium in heaven and eternity on new earth	Earthly millennium during which final probation leading to annihilation or eternal life	Pre-millennial reign at Independence, Mo. Tends toward universal salvation	Universal salvation in future when idea of sin gradually dies.

What is cult and why do people join cults?

The traditional definition for the word cult seems to be very difficult in todays society, because of its religious beliefs. Most of the groups are reject themselves to be called as the cult or cultic group or cultic movement. The use of this word cult however is determined by the standpoint of user. Generally speaking cults represent a break with the main stream of religious traditions of the society in which they exist. Ronold Enroth, says that the origin of the world cult can be traced back to the Latin word 'Cultus' which means all that is involved in worship – rituals, emotions, liturgy and attitudes. To the Christina the word cult means any group or movement or teaching which deviates from the Biblical Orthodox Christianity. God's objective truth as revealed in the Scripture is the standard for evaluating all beliefs and practices. A cult is a deviation from the Orthodox Christianity and teaching which is important to the Christian who is concerned more about discerning truth from error. According to the Oxford Dictionary the word cult is defined as a system of religious beliefs and worship, especially the one that is expressed in rituals.

Charles Braden defines cults as any religious group which differs significantly in one or more respects as to the beliefs and practices of those religious groups which are regarded as the normative expressions of religious in our total culture.

John C Schaffer defines cult as a group of people gathered about a specific person or persons' misinterpretation of the Bible. Example Jehovah Witnesses are the followers of interpretations of Charles T. Russell and J. F. Ruther Ford.

Cult can be defined in common terminology as a group of people who claim to be godly but deviate considerably from the Orthodox Biblical teachings though they are not true. The culty groups accept the authority of the Bible but with their own interpretations. They generally come up with prophesies, with special emphasis on some passages of the Bible.

The cultic teachings can also be called as false teachings, false doctrines, false prophesies, heresy, hypocrisy etc.

Cult can also be called as heresy which is taught by a heretic, which means belief or opinion that is contrary (opposite) to what is generally accepted especially in a religion.

The common beliefs and understanding of the Cults

A strong challenge to the Christian challenge over the last 150 years has being the emergency of several cults which fall under the banner of Christianity referring to God, Jesus, and the Bible but deny the central truth, and the claims of Christian faith. These cults are referred to as Christian Cuts. Ex. Mormons, and Jehovah Witness are categorized as Christian cults. Cults which differ from the Christian cults are generally called as non-Christian cults. Ex.: Hare Krishna Movement (ISKON) and Bahaism etc, can be categorized as non Christian Cuts.

Cults are growing faster than the main stream religion. According to the religious survey done in 1992 says that the population increased in the world 3 times by 1900 along with it Christianity, Roman Catholicism and Hinduism tripled the actual number. Islam grew 4 times, where as cults, the culty groups and the cultic movements increased by 18 times than the actual number. The survey also tells us that in America there are nearly 3000 cults, cultic groups and cultic movements existing today. For this reason America is called as the boiling part of cults and cultic movements.

Why do people join cults?

When we look at the situation in the world that we are living today most of the people are attracted to join with cults for long theological reasons. Several reasons can be brought out to ask why people join cults. Many Christians approach the topic of cults exclusively in terms of false teaching, errors and false prophecy. The Christians are called to examine the teachings and doctrines of any questionable group in the light of God's word (Bible).

The appeal of the cults is very simple. One of the basic reason as to why the cults attract the people and are successful is because their meeting the basic human needs – the need to belong, the need to have fellowship, to have a sense of identity and purpose to be affirmed as a person to have answers for lives enduring problems and suffering etc. Another reason to why people join cults is to satisfy the need for authority and certainty in their lives. In a cult the meaning of everything seems to be crystal clear and provides clear direction and are usually approachable.

People join cults in moments of weakness when they are angry about something in their personal life or the world around them. People want simplicity which a cult can provide with ready made answers to their problems.

Instead of emphasizing preachings and worship the cults stress on teaching and training every member to become the missionary of the cultic movement. They are expected to do door to door visitation sharing and witnessing about their cultic group. The members are given personal attention through friendship fellowship and classes.

Cultic literature is made available in huge quantities with attractive formats, at very reasonable price. They also teach and propagate the cultic teaching through correspondence courses. These are the reasons which attract the people to join the cults. This is the reason for the cults to grow much faster than the religions.

Long term commitment.

People grossly underestimate how far they can get in 6 years, but normally overestimate how far they can get in 6 months.  If you desire for results, make a long term commitment to a particular path.  A 5 year plan for a particular project.  It could be developing a blog, building an online business, becoming a trainer, learning a skill, developing your social skills, becoming a writer, etc. 

A lesser commitment is a waste of time and effort.  When I started to learn pitman shorthand in 1994, I expected to be a stenographer in the long run.  After learning shorthand for 6 months, I found it very difficult as I am nowhere in taking dictations.  I quit for a short while.  Then I restarted and continued for 5 years.  Many of my friends quit with with the first few months, which is largely a wast of time and effort. 

If you are going to quit within such a short time, it means you are not serious about it to begin it.  The best results comes after the first year.  If you can't make it more than one year, why bother about it at all?  Surely you will get some experience from short term commitment.  By changing frequently you will have many experiences to talk about.  That experiences will not make any money for you. 

Many bloggers quit within their first year, which is largely a waste of effort. It shows that they are not serious about their blogging activity.  If you have quality blogs, it can make some money for you.  By inserting ads in your blog, you can promote goods and services.  But for that you need a good traffic to your blogs.  Online business are some good option for making money online.  If you are not going to continue for a long period of time, why you are wasting your time?  Stop it at once.

If you start a shop in your neighborhood, on the first month you will not have many customers.  You have to build relationships with you customers.  After a few months people will be aware of the fact that there is a shop near to their residence.  But they are not sure whether the good they need are available in that shop.  Over a period of time, all the people in your area will be aware of the existence of the shop.  You need to build a longterm relationship with the customers.  Then you can sell goods repeatedly.   Your customers would love to build personal relationship with you.  It will increase your sales.  You need to be polite and gentile to your customers.  After 4-5 years, you will be having a lot of customers.  Those who are traveling around your neighborhood also will be aware of your shop over a long period.  So if you want succeed in your business, you need to have a long term commitment to your business.

It is same with the personal relationship.  Family life is build up on a long term relationship with the husband and wife.  In this modern era, people are not committed for a long term.  That is the reason for the increasing divorce rate.  People prefer live in relationship as they are not interested in long term relationship. They don't like marriage.  Because marriage demand a long term relationship.  If you want to lead a good family life, you need to look for people interested in a married life.  Live in partner relationship is a temporary arrangement and very soon you will find that your partner move on to another live in partner.  Long term relationship demand patience and perseverance.   It have it's own benefits and joy as well as its own drawbacks. 

You may gain some experience and pleasure from your short term commitments.  But will not last for long.  If you are only interested in a bunch of short term experience, then go for it.  That's fine.  You will be a "Jack of all trades, master of none".

To build a commercially competitive skill set, to  build strong new relationships, to build a fulfilling career path or some strong income streams, then you need a strong and long term commitment in what you do.  You need to forget about short term experiences.

Noncommittal people start a new project every 6 months.  Before reaching the transition into a moderate result territory, you are switching the project and deleting the progress.  You could be just about the transition point into a moderate result when your switching on to another project.  That is dangerous and a waste of time and effort.

In the first year, your new blog will just begin to get some links, social networking recognition, search engine placement, and some moderate traffic. The seed has grown to a sapling. Then the owners look at the sapling with disappointment because they wanted a full-grown tree by that point, so they uproot it and start another project from scratch. After five years of this pattern, they have little to show for their efforts. This is something we need to avoid.

After a single year on a new path, it may look like you’re barely getting anywhere. Transformation often looks that way at first. But fast forward five years and look back, and the total transformation can be profound.