Deception in
Christianity
Matthew
24: 4-5
And
Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many (KJV).
II
John 7
For
many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus
Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
2
Timothy 4:3
For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to
have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in
accordance to their own desires,
2Peter
2:1-22
But
false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false
teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even
denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth
will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false word
I
Timothy 1: 18-19
18
This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the
prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good
fight, 19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and
suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.
Titus
2:1 But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.
We
are to Go out and Teach Regardless of the Environment!
Matthew
10: 16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as
serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over
to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues;
II
Timothy 3: 5
having the appearance of godliness,
but denying its power. Avoid such people.
Proverbs
9: 7-9
Anyone
who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the
wicked will get hurt. So don’t bother correcting mockers;
they will only
hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. Instruct the wise,
and
they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more
(NLT).
2
Corinthians 11:14
No
wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Know Them By Their
Fruit:
One of the tactics of anti-Christian, religious based cults
is their ability to “spin” negative incidents to give the target plausible deniability of various biblical doctrines. Efforts are designed
to destabilize and undermine a subject's basic consciousness, reality
awareness, worldview, emotional control, and defense mechanisms. The subject is
guided to reinterpret his or her Christian history and adopt a new version of
belief. This seemed to be especially true when it came to the leaders of most
of these new religions who are most often characterized as “prophets and
apostles”. The cults make a person re-evaluate the most central aspects of their
Biblical Christian beliefs, with a focus on their negative experiences in the
Church.
The foundation of any cult is to make it difficult for a
target to leave. They convey hurdles to leaving which are either real or
imagined downfalls of leaving the cult. The cult's goal is to increase the “leaving
cost” of real or imagined downfalls one will incur if they leave the cult. For
example, you can say once you become a “Genuine Christian” (their version), you are one for life. If you
stray from their version of “Christ”, you are doomed to a Lake of Fire. The “leaving
cost” is easy to see: Leave us and you will suffer. Since most churches do not
teach the Bible as authoritative, the cult’s missionaries have a wide range of
targets to aim at to destabilize a believer. Therefore when a local
congregation or denomination removes the Bible as authoritative, and make it
politically difficult to leave: BEWARE!
One unbiblical tactic is where the preacher tells the
congregation what they expect to hear. By continually appealing to their ego, boosting
their pride, and self-esteem, as well as simply reassuring them that they are
correct in what they believe; they lull the listener into believing that is
their version of the “correct” ideology to accept. This results in a “GIVE THEM
WHAT THEY WANT INSTEAD OF WHAT THEY NEED” mantra. Another tactic is to appeal
to people's laziness and intellectual complacency. They do not wish to be
challenged and want to live according to what is important to them. Some who
call themselves “Christian” prefer intellectual laziness, and even hide from
learning anything about the Bible. As long as they know nothing about the
Scripture they are happy with the skewed view the cult church teaches them because
it seems correct even though they are swayed away from the truth.
Examples of Anti
Christian Cultic Beliefs
Liberalism:
Liberalism in theology is similar to liberalism in politics.
Both want to secularize their respective societies to match the Humanist
tenets. They put their faith in evolution, historical relativism, progress
through science, the “benevolent” state, and getting someone else’s money. To
do this they must quiet the Bible fundamentalist and their revealed truth. The
liberal refuses to believe the miracles of the Bible regardless of the evidence
for them. Liberalism promotes Christianity without the Spirit or the power
of God.
Modernism:
Modernism is a more subtle and increasingly popular idea to
reframe the Bible in a way that makes Biblical writers present God according to
their own superstitious world view. The most prominent is the “bible
contains the word of God, but is not the world of God.” This means that man
wrote it and therefore it has no authority. Modernists say “Glean
the good stuff and don’t worry about the negative”. For example, the
Israelite’s tribal god was Jehovah, who is no different from the Canaanite’s
tribal gods like Moloch, Baal and others. Of course at the time of Christ,
paganism abounded with a firm belief in what we call mythology.
Relatively few pagans exist today that still worship Zeus, Ares and the other
“titans”, however modern thinkers point to the fact that all deities of the day
interacted with humans and produced half-god, half-human offspring. So,
they say Jesus is no different, he is just another myth that hung on long after
the others fell pray to modernism. they say people today no longer believe the old fairy
tails and archaic religion of a mean God with a half-human
son. Jesus was about love, not judgment so let’s just forget all
the “righteousness stuff” and accept anything that makes others happy.
Secularism:
According to secularists, Christianity and God should
be forced out of everyday life and be kept behind the closed doors of the home
or church where it belongs. We see this attitude in our schools and now in
our governments. Secularism puts pressure on people to keep religion
private and out of the public eye. It is anti-evangelism and as a religion,
has its own doctrine.
Universalism
Popular books like The
Shack and other similar fictitious “Christian” books are promoting a
theology called Universalism. Universalism basically says since Jesus
died for everyone, everyone will be saved. The extreme brand of
Universalism, called Ultimate Reconciliation, teaches that even Satan will be
reconciled to God in the end. Universalism’s appeal is that God loves
everyone. After all who doesn’t want a loving God? Forgiveness
comes without repentance and the Christian relationship with God is without
discipline or strength of character. If we all make it to heaven in the
end, why bother living a Christian life? This doctrine is more insidious
than it seems and is affecting many people today – even if they do not know it
by its theological name.
Politicalism:
Politicalism seeks to enforce certain religious
viewpoints through political power, either in a church or secular
government. Those with this viewpoint cringe in fear when they
hear a news story about Islamic fundamentalists wanting to force a country and its
entire population to adopt Islamic religious law as the law of the
land. Yet they will do the exact same thing in America. It is
the idea that America is like Old Testament Israel and if we can just make
enough Christian “laws”, God will bless us. The problem is that there are
no Christian nations – only Christian people. If America was birthed with
Christianity it was because she had Christians, not Christian laws. When
will the church learn that political power will not save a soul? Yet if
we save a soul, we will probably get that person to follow in the moral
lifestyle we promoted in the first place. The Church- that is individual
Christians – will have to deal with these issues more and more in
the coming days. If there ever was a time to “earnestly contend for
the faith that was once delivered to the saints,” it is today.
Americanism:
This
subject can be much misunderstood. We love America and are blessed that the
Lord saw fit to place us here. We have the most freedoms of any nation on earth
but we must be cautious to not place Americanism before our Christianity. Jesus
said that He is the way the truth and the life (John 14: 6). He did not say
that any country on this earth is to replace Him. Many that claim Christ as
their savior seem to think that our salvation comes from the United States of
America. For example, they believe that since the first amendment to the US
Constitution provides religious freedom, all religions are equal. That is not
what says, here is what it says:
Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion Ratified 12/15/1791.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and
to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Cults That Promote Themselves as Genuine Christian
Anti-Christian
Cults stealthily attack Christianity from a doctrinal viewpoint. So, those
cults that are nearest to Christianity are viewed as just another denomination
with some differences but are not considered destructive. We are led into
believing that it is inappropriate to speak out against them because it causes
division in the Body. We simply do not know enough about these different groups
to adequately prepare to speak out against them and prevent others from
embracing these corrupt theologies. We fall for the lies because we do not know
the truth of either the Bible and therefore the false doctrines of the
Christian Cults. Dr. Donald Campbell
expressed the problem very succinctly when he said, “When the gospel
message is corrupted, the way of salvation is confused and people are in danger
of being eternally lost.” [1]We
must realize this and strive to warn of the dangers of the Christian Cult’s
doctrine.
Mormonism:
Joseph Smith the founder was greatly influenced by his father, who searched
for buried treasure using occult methods. His life changed in 1820 when he
supposedly received a vision from God the Father and the Son, who told him that
all other religions were an abomination, but that he was the prophet to bring
restoration.
In 1823
another vision from the angel Moroni convinced Smith that God was calling him.
Moroni said he would find some golden plates requiring translating. Smith
discovered these plates, inscribed with what he called “reformed Egyptian
hieroglyphics,” outside Palmyra, New York. He was able to translate them with a
huge pair of spectacles that he called the “Urim and Thummim.” According to his
story, between 1827 and 1829, he “translated” the plates, and in 1830 published
The Book of Mormon. The plates were
purportedly taken to heaven by Moroni.[2]
·
Mormonism teaches
that God has a physical body and lives on a planet near a star called Kolob.
·
He is but one of an
infinite number of gods, each ruling over his own world located somewhere in
the universe. Supposedly, each god has untold numbers of goddess wives who
produce millions of spirit children. Amazingly, these spiritual offspring of god
and his goddesses must then be birthed through physical beings (non-gods) on
earth. This obtains for them the physical bodies necessary to become gods and
goddesses, who create and rule over their own worlds.
·
Polygamy was a major
part of Mormonism. It met the need for producing bodies for the spirit babies
birthed by multiple mother goddesses. It is still practiced among some Mormon
sects today. The Latter Day Saints’ focus on the family has more to do with the
Church’s biblically unorthodox theology than with domestic well-being.
·
According to LDS
teaching, Jesus was one of those spirit babies (as was his spirit brother
Lucifer, who became Satan).
·
The conception of
Jesus was unique but not virginal; God, who is physical, had intercourse with
Mary.
·
Since producing
children is critical to a Mormon male’s progression to godhood, Jesus had
children through the women (the sisters Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene) who
accompanied him. Supposedly, he married them at the wedding feast of Cana.
·
Mormonism’s
salvation accommodates nearly everyone in one “heaven” or another. The death of
Jesus on the cross was redemptive only in that it provided physical
resurrection (bodies) for all.
·
Obeying the
commandments and performing Church duties and rituals are necessary in order to
reach the Celestial Kingdom.
·
Those who fall short
of such requirements may still enter in as Celestial servants, and, if not,
they can abide in the Terrestrial Kingdom.
·
Moral non-Mormons
may spend eternity in the Telestial Kingdom.
·
Hell is a purgatory-like
place and is eternal only for those few who commit an “unpardonable sin,” such
as apostasy. Nearly everyone has a chance to improve his eternal status after
death.
We have opinion leaders and high-level politicians who
are Mormons and as 1st Amendment Americans we accept them as just another
denomination teaching the truth. Anyway there are many ways to heaven, aren’t
there?
Christian Science:
Christian Science is not Christian in terms of biblical
doctrine. Only the name itself is Christian. The idea of Christian Science came
in 1866 when Mary Baker Eddy said she discovered the "Science of
metaphysical healing". She organized it in 1879 and it was founded on her
book, "Science and Health (with Key to the Scriptures)" the last part
of the title was added later.
·
They believe there is no such thing as sin, it
is an illusion.
·
They believe there is no such thing as sickness,
it also is an illusion.
·
They believe that sick people must be convinced
that they are not sick, then they will get well, since sickness is an illusion
and does not really exist.
·
There is no such thing as death, a person gets
old and dies because they believe that is what is supposed to happen. This
stems from the fact that they believe that the whole universe is an illusion.
·
Their god is not the personal God of the Bible.
Everything is god and god is good. Therefore, there is no sin, disease, or
death because all is god and god is good. The whole universe is falsehood - an
illusion.
·
They claim that there is healing from Christian
Science. Their method of healing is denying the disease itself, e.g.,
"I am not sick. I do not have cancer." This is not prayer but simply
talking out loud to yourself. In fact, Christian Science says that prayer to a
personal God is a hindrance.
·
They believe women can become pregnant by a
supreme effort of their own minds, a man is not needed for procreation.
·
Man is not made of the dust of the earth as in
Genesis 2 because matter does not exist, therefore Eddy calls Genesis 2 "a
lie". They take her word over the Bible.
·
They believe that Jesus is not God, he was the
highest human concept of the perfect man, but not to be worshipped.
·
They believe that Jesus was never tempted by the
devil. Eddy says, "He was tempted by the false beliefs in His own
mind."
·
They believe that Jesus never died because death
does not exist; He just thought He was dead.
·
They believe the blood of Jesus has no atoning
value and since sin is an illusion we are not guilty.
·
They believe that salvation is deliverance from
delusion and entrance into Christian Science.
Mary Baker Eddy claimed that her teachings guaranteed health; however, she suffered considerably at the end of her life, requiring large doses of morphine to cope with her pain. [3]
Jehovah Witness:
Charles Taze Russell officially founded Jehovah’s Witnesses
(JW), also known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (with headquarters
in Brooklyn, New York), in 1884. Originally called the Zion's Watch Tower and
Tract Society, or the Zion's Watch Tower (1879), they officially adopted the
name of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931. In 1870, Russell originally denied the
doctrine of Hell, and would go on to reject nearly every other Christian
doctrine, as well as add many physically and spiritually dangerous doctrines of
his own making. Many of these unique and bizarre teachings were to be found in
his six volume series titled, Studies in the Scriptures.[4]
·
Source of Authority. JWs claim the
Bible as their final authority, but Russell's writings, especially Studies
in the Scriptures, are considered "the light of the
Scriptures." JWs have their own translation of the Scriptures (New
World Translation, published in 1961), which reflects the
binding interpretations of the group's leaders.
·
Trinity. JWs believe that
God is not a triune God, but only "Jehovah God" (Let God Be True,
pp. 100-101); they teach that Trinitarianism is a belief in three gods, and
thereby, Satan-inspired polytheism. The JW's second president Joseph Rutherford wrote: "... sincere persons
who want to know the true God and serve him find it a bit difficult to love and
worship a complicated, freakish-looking, three-headed God.”
[5]
·
Jesus
Christ. Since JWs do not
believe in the Trinity, they also do not believe that Jesus is God in the
flesh. They add the word "other" four times to Colossians 1:16,17,
teaching that Christ was God's first creation, i.e., the reincarnation of
Michael the archangel created by Jehovah, rather than the Creator. The "Watchtower" teaches
that Jehovah God created Michael the Archangel before the foundation of the
world; Michael was His only begotten son by virtue of the fact that he was the
only creature directly created by Jehovah. It was this created Michael who
became the JW Jesus (i.e., a denial of the eternality of Christ). JWs say that
"Since actual conception took place, it appears that Jehovah God caused an
ovum or egg in Mary's womb to become fertile, accomplishing this by the
transfer of the life of his first born son (Michael) from the spirit realm to
the earth"[6] Marvelously,
Jehovah transferred the life-force and the personality pattern of his first
born heavenly son (Michael) to the womb of Mary. God's own active force, his
holy spirit, safeguarded the development of the child in Mary's womb so that
what was born was a perfect human" [7]
JWs also add an "a" in John 1:1, making the verse read, "the
Word was a god" (which in essence, makes the
JWs guilty of the same polytheism of which they accuse Trinitarians).
·
Use of Name Jehovah. JWs use the
name "Jehovah" only for God (in order to distinguish between God and
Jesus Christ), while failing to recognize that Jesus is the fulfillment of
"Jehovah" in Isaiah 40:3 and Matthew 3:3.
·
Resurrection of Christ. JWs deny the
bodily resurrection of Christ through their teaching that the body of Christ
was annihilated by God -- not risen -- but rather a new one was created three
days after His death. This they call the "resurrection" of Christ.
Thus, Jesus was "resurrected" as a "glorious spirit
creature" and does not now have a glorified physical
body. Instead, they claim Jesus arose spiritually and only
"materialized" at various times after His resurrection so He could be
seen alive.
Ellen G. White plays a central role in the Seventh Day Adventist
(SDA) Church. One of the "27 Fundamental Beliefs" of the SDA Church
is that Ellen White manifested the gift of prophecy and her writings are
"authoritative" for the Adventist Church They say:
The Gift of Prophecy: One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is
prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and was
manifested in the ministry of Ellen. G. White. As the Lord's messenger, her
writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth that
provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction.
According to Adventist leaders, the writings of Ellen G.
White are "inspired" by the Holy Spirit in the same way as the
Biblical authors were inspired. Mrs. White was a prophet to the church of
Christ today. And the same as the messages of the prophets were received in old
days, so her messages should be received at present times. The Following quote
is directly from the Seventh Day Adventist Review and Herald October 4, 1928.
“Seventh Day Adventists hold that Ellen G. White performed
the work of a true prophet during the 70 years of her public ministry. As
Samuel was a prophet, as Jeremiah was a prophet, as John the Baptist, so we
believe that Mrs. White was a prophet to the church of Christ today.”[8]
Here are four practices that are divergent from the genuine teachings of
Scripture:
·
Add to
the Bible. Ellen Gould White is credited
to have written 25 million words that are quoted by Adventists just like Bible
Scripture. Adventists that have grown up in the church have familiar quotes
that come to mind, but they often do not know if the imbedded information is
from the Bible or Ellen Gould White. Adventists have also taken to
printing their own Bibles with the messages of Ellen Gould White hidden in the
verses of Scripture.
·
Subtract
from the person of Jesus Christ or His Deity.
Ellen Gould White claimed Jesus did not come in the flesh when he walked the
earth some 2000 years ago, as the Bible warns some evil people would do. Ellen
Gould White also claimed Jesus was an Angel from Heaven.
·
Multiply
the requirements for Salvation. Adventists have published many
hundreds of books that contain what they call "Testimonies", which
are full of thousands of commandments directed toward their members. If you do
not follow these commandments, you are not following the counsels of God, the
Adventists claim. These books contain over 25 million words of Ellen
Gould White, and it would take a lifetime to read them all. SDA members are
expected to purchase and read as many of these books as possible, and they
teach from these books in their Churches like most denominations teach from the
Bible. One of the teachings of the Church is to not eat meat, in order to
obtain Salvation Other doctrines they hide from new members are: eating pork
causes leprosy. Wearing wigs damages the brain. Wearing bonnets indicates
satanic control. Drinking coffee, tea or some soft drinks is a sin Having
butter, eggs, or meat on your table keeps your prayers from reaching heaven
·
Divide
the loyalty of the follower between God and other Christians. Adventists claim all other churches are
"Babylon" and will be lost when Jesus comes back to earth.
Adventists are taught to convert as many people to Adventism as they can, and
quickly, because the people in other churches are lost. Adventists spend little
time converting the truly lost because they spend most of their effort debating
people in other churches, telling them they are in a fallen church and not in
the true church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Ellen Gould White also
worked at separating people inside her church, teaching that church members
should not pray for each other when they are sick if those sick people are not
loyal tithe payers to their church.
Daniel Woodhead Ph.D.
End Notes
[1] Campbell, D. K. (1985). Galatians. In J. F. Walvoord
& R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible
Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2). Wheaton,
IL: Victor Books.pg 591
[2] Eckman, J. P. (2004). The truth about worldviews: a biblical understanding of worldview
alternatives. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. pp. 98–99
[3] Rusten, S. with E. Michael. (2005). The complete book of when & where in the
Bible and throughout history. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. pg.
388
[4] Vonderlack, R. (1992). Russell, Charles Taze. In J.
D. Douglas & P. W. Comfort (Eds.), Who’s
Who in Christian history. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House. Pg. 600
[5] Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc. Let God Be True, Second Edition,
Published by The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc. Brooklyn, NY USA
1946, pgs. 100-101
[6] JW Organization Web Site accessed February 20, 2015 http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-teach/who-is-michael-the-archangel/#?insight[search_id]=7251be95-903f-4bb1-818b-96eebd27beae&insight[search_result_index]=0
[8] Morey, R. A. (1989). How to keep your faith while in college (p. 129). Iowa Falls, IA:
World Bible Publishers.
Referenced Works:
Berry, Harold J. (1990) What They Believe, BTTB: pp. 51-70
Branch, Rick, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society," (accessed February 20, 2015) (Watchman Fellowship Profile, 1993)
Cross, F. L., & Livingstone, E. A. (Eds.). (2005). In The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed. rev., p. 870). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Eckman, J. P. (2004). The truth about worldviews: a biblical understanding of worldview alternatives (p. 4). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia,
Grolier's 1995 Multimedia Encyclopedia,
Lowery, K. (2007). Numbers in the Bible. In T. Cabal, C. O. Brand, E. R. Clendenen, P. Copan, & J. P. Moreland (Eds.), The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith (p. xxxiv). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Martin, Walter, (1985) The Kingdom of the Cults. Published by Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, MN 55438
Morey, R. A. (1989). How to keep your faith while in college . Iowa Falls, IA: World Bible Publishers.
Morey, R. A. (1989). How to keep your faith while in college . Iowa Falls, IA: World Bible Publishers.
Morey, R. A. (1980). How to answer a Jehovah’s Witness. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany Fellowship.
Sin, Jack, Examining & Exposing Cultic & Occultic Movements. , "Focus on JWs," April 2000, pp. 16-20.
Vonderlack, R. (1992). Russell, Charles Taze. In J. D. Douglas & P. W. Comfort (Eds.), Who’s Who in Christian history (p. 600). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
Watchtower Online Library, Research tool for publications in various languages produced by Jehovah’s Witnesses accessed February 20, 2015
