In the broadest usage and lexical sense of the word "cult," all religious entities of whatever description are "cults." Webster defines the word as meaning, "a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also, its body of adherents." The word itself has no relation to what is, or what is not, the truth; it simply specifies a category of group existence.

Christianity itself is a "cult" within the scope of all religion, as are all other systems of religious beliefs and their adherents — the Jewish cult, the Islam cult, the Hindu cult, the Buddhist cult, etc. Christianity claims to be the exclusive revelation of the truth of the Christian religion (John 14:6; 1 John 4:6). This is the core of what is meant by "cult".

The Bible itself does not use the word "cult." Religious error and errorists of serious proportions are specified in the Bible by words such as "heresy," "heretic," "false teachers," "false prophets," and "false apostles." This pretty well "covers the field," and one cannot escape censure for such error by saying, "O, but we are not a 'cult'!" The Bible censures heresy, false teachings, false doctrines, and false prophecy. You do not have to be a "cult" (as it is used today) to be censured for your errors.

But how serious must error be so as to be "so serious" that it serves as a line of demarcation, categorizing a group as another "cult" of its own, distinct and separate from the overall cult of Christianity?

A group becomes such a cult when it becomes so distinct from other sects within the Christianity cult that it has reason to reject all of the other sects as not being basically Christian. In other words, the group declares "exclusivity" for itself, and theoretically and practically separates as "an island unto itself."

In declaring its own uniqueness from all other Christian sects, and from all other religions as such, it has "culticized" itself.

When does this happen? It happens when (1) no other sect is regarded as having any "true Christians" in that sect, and (2) no other sect is regarded as preaching the true Gospel which is capable of producing a "true Christian."

Thus, as Baptists and other Christians of the same basic Gospel faith and brotherhood, we do not unilaterally declare "who" is a cult by our own determinations; rather, the cult creates and declares its very own culticization. The cult REJECTS US. It declares itself to be exclusive from others, and considers itself to be a distinct and unique entity from all other sects, wherein alone is the valid truth of God to be found along with the legitimate adherents of that truth.

As for the assembly known as 'Mormons' (so-called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), they so declared themselves a distinct cult on the basis of Joseph Smith's acceptance of the messenger's rejection and condemnation of the Christian sects, such as the Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. These sects were declared to be "wrong" and their Articles of Faith (creeds) declared "abominations" unto God, and Joseph was directed to have no part with them.

Our Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian brethren did not declare the cultic category for Mormons; rather, the Mormons under Joseph Smith assumed a cult category on their own. They declared themselves to be the exclusive Christian church, the exclusive source of the gospel, and the exclusive source of the truth of God (inclusive of course, of the Book of Mormon).

So when we refer to the Mormons as a "CULT," we are not denigrating them; we are accepting the particular category which they have assumed for themselves: lexically, they are "a system of religious beliefs and ritual, with a body of adherents." In other words, they are ANOTHER religion to the religion of the "sects" of Christianity. This is of their own determination, their own claim of exclusivity.

Author: Bob L. Ross

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