cults critical thinking
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I love this statement! I was involved in a cult where redefinitions of words and new extra biblical revelation was given out. everyone spoke as they wanted.
I can share some examples from that time!
I actually am worried for the body of Christ, as it seems tons are being led astray by these things at the moment, theres a new movement called the New Apastolic Reformation, which has blown up. This movments teachings extend outside of them into many different churches of kinds.
I'll give a short history based off of the very little I know , Classic Penecostalism>Charasmatic movement> Third wave> and now within the Hyper Charasmatic world, there is emerging the New Apastolic Reformation.
The NAR is effected much by the earlier movements but they take things to a whole different level. They believe that the house of Apostles has been released back into the Chruch, therefore there are people akin to the Apostles back here on earth.
These Apostles are no different in authority than Paul, Peter, John..so on..
Because of this, they can give extra biblical revelation given to them directly from God, and this word is within the level of authority as the Bible,
What they say is as if God was talking directly to people.
These people also believe that they are called to go out and plant Churches, which would usually be a good sense of the word Apostle, but they also come bringing their own revelations, setting up new Apostles for those churches and establishing a ministry which demonstrates the worst of Apastolic succession.
It is sad.
My Aposle did these things, every one is different.
My Apostle personally believed that everyone had to be baptized again in the Spirit to be saved
He believed that everyone had to speak in tongues of fire, otherwise their faith wasn't demonstrated
He believed that the mark of the one and only true church are giftings, Prophesy being the most desirable
He taught that in order to be saved you have to be sinless in Character
He taught that in order for Jesus to come back, we had to be Sinless, and "bring heaven down to earth" (kingdom domininism? I think)
He believed that It was on the Church to cleanse the world of evil, to make a perfect world down here on earth
He taught that everyone has demonic influences that need to be casted out
He taught that mental illness is only spiritual, but when cornered he would change the story.
He believed that we had to grow into our giftings and that the more giftings you could display, the more relationship you had with God
He had scripture he used for all of this.
The issue is nobody doubted these things but me, and I tried to tell others that scripture contradicted his teachings. People thought I was demonic and evil hearted, but really I wanted to see them freed from a different Gosple than the one God taught through his true Apostles.
I ended up leaving after awhile, people gosspied about me for awhile and many think I am not saved to this day. They believe only they, the true church are saved. Im worried they may not even have the gosple understood enough to repent and be saved..
Im going to see if I can help them change their minds. But I have a lot more learning I have to do beforehand.
I can share some examples from that time!
I actually am worried for the body of Christ, as it seems tons are being led astray by these things at the moment, theres a new movement called the New Apastolic Reformation, which has blown up. This movments teachings extend outside of them into many different churches of kinds.
I'll give a short history based off of the very little I know , Classic Penecostalism>Charasmatic movement> Third wave> and now within the Hyper Charasmatic world, there is emerging the New Apastolic Reformation.
The NAR is effected much by the earlier movements but they take things to a whole different level. They believe that the house of Apostles has been released back into the Chruch, therefore there are people akin to the Apostles back here on earth.
These Apostles are no different in authority than Paul, Peter, John..so on..
Because of this, they can give extra biblical revelation given to them directly from God, and this word is within the level of authority as the Bible,
What they say is as if God was talking directly to people.
These people also believe that they are called to go out and plant Churches, which would usually be a good sense of the word Apostle, but they also come bringing their own revelations, setting up new Apostles for those churches and establishing a ministry which demonstrates the worst of Apastolic succession.
It is sad.
My Aposle did these things, every one is different.
My Apostle personally believed that everyone had to be baptized again in the Spirit to be saved
He believed that everyone had to speak in tongues of fire, otherwise their faith wasn't demonstrated
He believed that the mark of the one and only true church are giftings, Prophesy being the most desirable
He taught that in order to be saved you have to be sinless in Character
He taught that in order for Jesus to come back, we had to be Sinless, and "bring heaven down to earth" (kingdom domininism? I think)
He believed that It was on the Church to cleanse the world of evil, to make a perfect world down here on earth
He taught that everyone has demonic influences that need to be casted out
He taught that mental illness is only spiritual, but when cornered he would change the story.
He believed that we had to grow into our giftings and that the more giftings you could display, the more relationship you had with God
He had scripture he used for all of this.
The issue is nobody doubted these things but me, and I tried to tell others that scripture contradicted his teachings. People thought I was demonic and evil hearted, but really I wanted to see them freed from a different Gosple than the one God taught through his true Apostles.
I ended up leaving after awhile, people gosspied about me for awhile and many think I am not saved to this day. They believe only they, the true church are saved. Im worried they may not even have the gosple understood enough to repent and be saved..
Im going to see if I can help them change their minds. But I have a lot more learning I have to do beforehand.
Critical thinking is a big one; it's probably the number one skill missing in those who end up in cults.
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Sorry for messing up your username in my previous post. I have a word replacer extension and if I'm not careful it can foul things up. It wasn't intentional.
Brother, I understand the concern — but we should be careful not to equate disagreement with a lack of critical thinking. Scripture warns us that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14 KJV). That’s not a matter of intellect, but of illumination.
The Bereans were commended not for academic skill, but because “they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11 KJV). True discernment comes from that same humility before the Word, not from human reasoning alone.
So while logic and study matter, only the Spirit opens eyes to truth. Without Him, even the wisest scholar can miss it completely
(1 Corinthians 1:19-20 KJV).
Napoleon Bonaparte, said:
“The Bible is no mere book, but a living creature with a power that conquers all whom oppose it.”
Grace and peace.Cults started in the first century.
The church in Corinth is a perfect example of factions starting over baptism.
Today, we can see a multitude of divisions within Christianity just by observing Christian chat forums.
Nothing new under the sun.