Cult Churches

Why cult churches are multiplying

Most Christians have a well-developed armour towards the more obvious sins of this world, such as murder, rape, porn, theft, and are therefore on their guard against them.

However, cult churches tend to attack from behind, from an angle where many Christians have very little armour to protect them.

They prey on those who want something stable and pious, and offer them false forms of man-made religion to try and meet what is often a right desire in real Christians, ensnaring them with “self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body” (Colossians 2:23 ESV).

An increasingly tolerant mainstream church scene, where foundational Christian truths held for centuries are now being sacrificed rapidly to try and appeal to secular society, has created a fertile ground for cult churches.

False prophets and wolves in sheep’s clothing are racing into the gap created by declining and fragmenting mainstream Christian denominations, eager to stop rightly exercised Christian individuals from finding the true Gospel.

Even in Paul’s day, this was starting to happen, as can be seen in his letter to the Galatians:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. – Galatians 1:6-10 ESV

Why the term Cult Church is contested and controversial

It is nearly always the opponents of a particular church or group who will say “they are a cult”. Even the most broad minded and mainstream churches may at times get labelled as a cult, by those who are anti-religion, while members of those same mainstream churches may in turn brand other more conservative churches as cults, and those in the conservative churches may brand rival conservative churches as cults while claim their own church is the one true church.

The biggest problem with the label ‘cult church’ is that it is typically applied by an outsider who opposes the church, and sees the cult label as a simple (and effective) way to demonise it’s doctrines, leadership, and members. Reality, however, is much more complex and nuanced – many members of mainstream Christian Churches value the control that following the teachings of Jesus brings, and find that their lives are much happier when they submit to His authority, preferring that lifestyle to the lifestyle of those who insist on religiously acting on every desire that they feel, regardless of the impact on other people, and regardless of the commands of the God who created them.

Without some kind of control, based on some kind of law structure, we do not have culture or society, instead we have jungle law at the best. History has proved time and time again that cultures without a strong structure based on the standards of right and wrong set out in the Bible quickly descend into violence, oppression, greed, poverty, and all kinds of problems.

However, extreme cult-like groups such as the following, clearly demonstrate that high levels of control can be dangerous and damaging:

• Peoples Temple (Jonestown): Led by Jim Jones, this group moved to Guyana to build a “socialist utopia”. In 1978, over 900 members died in a mass murder-suicide via cyanide-laced punch.
• Scientology: Founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, this group teaches that humans are immortal spiritual beings (“thetans”) trapped in physical bodies. One of it’s alarming practices is a detox program involving high doses of vitamins and long hours in a sauna, which critics consider a medically dangerous.
• Branch Davidians: A Seventh-day Adventist splinter group led by David Koresh in Waco, Texas. Believing Koresh was a final prophet, members stockpiled weapons for an apocalypse, leading to a deadly 51-day siege with federal agents in 1993.

With all of this in mind, it is probably fair to say that there are many types of churches and groups that sometimes rightly or wrongly get labelled as cults:

1. Healthy churches: these have accountable leadership that is not regarded as infallible or superior, and is open to being challenged, can still sometimes get wrongly labelled as cults by people with guilty consciences that are pushing to make society free from any kind of control or regulation. These churches are healthy because they regard God and His word in the Bible, rather than their leaders, as the ultimate authority and source of instruction, therefore their leaders only have authority for as long as they live up to the standards set out in the Bible.
2. Christian churches with revered charismatic leaders: these are often still basically Christian, and contain many sincere Christian members who are living in line with their Bible-based beliefs and their consciences. However, when there is no accountability at the top leadership level, and whatever the leader says is regarded as authoritative, this sets the scene for descent into increasingly toxic cult-like structure over time, due to being led by an imperfect human, rather than being led by a perfect God. Thousands of years of human history demonstrates that it is not a question of whether this will happen, but when this will happen. The presence of a charismatic leader doesn’t automatically make a church a cult, but the moment that leader is elevated to the point where they are no longer regarded as fallible humans, it becomes a cult in the making.
3. Churches with unusual interpretations of scripture: this category encompasses a broad range of churches, most of which claim to be Christian. Some arguably are Christian, if their unusual interpretations are few, and don’t impact core Christian doctrines such as who Jesus is. However, some arguably are not, if their interpretations conflict with the absolutes at the core of mainstream Christian faith. Any church who regards their leader as the ultimate authority on how to understand scripture, will tend to gravitate in this direction over time.
4. Non-Christian Cults: cults that are built entirely around manmade ideas, without any basis on scripture. These may still be regarded as religions – for example, Scientology is formally recognised as a religion for tax-purposes in the USA, and is now recognised as a religion for marriage purposes in the UK following this supreme court ruling which acknowledged the religious nature of Scientology in spite of there being no “reverence or veneration of God or of a Supreme Being”. These kind of cults by default tend to be damaging from their inception, as they are based on man’s ideas, not God’s.

The definition of cult churches used in this article, are the groups that fall into categories 2 and 3 on the list above. Simply calling a church a cult doesn’t make it one, so we do not regard the groups described in category 1 above as cult churches. And a group that does not worship God can hardly be described as a church, so while those in category 4 may be fairly described as cults, they cannot be labelled as cult churches, assuming you are using the traditional definition of the word church, which is decidedly Christian in origin.

Beware of adding to Scripture, or taking away

For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book – Revelation 22:18-19

While the difference may be small, cult churches normally deviate from mainstream doctrine in some way, usually by adding something to the existing widely held truths in scripture. These additions, however small, can negate the crucial truths of the Bible. For example, if a cult church claims that confession to a human priest is needed in order to obtain forgiveness of sins from God, the implication is that confession to God alone, and trust in the work of Jesus alone, is not sufficient to save you, they are saying that you have to add a work (in this case confession to a human priest), in order to obtain salvation. This is very subtle because in this way, the church can negate the truths of the bible, without directly contradicting them.

Cult churches may also use “skip a verse theology” by negating or leaving out verses that don’t fit their non-mainstream beliefs. They may do this by having their own bible translation that alters or leaves out verses, or they may have doctrines such as “this verse can’t be taken literally, it has to be read in the light of this other verse” – basically claiming that one verse negates another, whereas the Bible itself says: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness – 2 Timothy 3:16, NKJV.

You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you – Deuteronomy 4:2 NKJV

How to tell if your church is a cult

Critical thinking about church doctrine and leadership is strongly discouraged by cult churches, and they will be uncomfortable with passages such as Acts 17:11 – they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so – NKJV. This creates an environment where members are often unable to think critically about their beliefs and practices.

Regular brainwashing creates a “them and us” mindset along with delusional levels of fear about the outside world, creating a culture in which information control seems healthy as a protection mechanism from unwanted outside influences, and cult members don’t realise that some of this outside information is key to finding the real truth of the Gospel, and the liberty that is offered to us in Christ Jesus – So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed – John 8:36 NIV.

The beliefs espoused by cult churches can vary widely, yet they often revolve around the infallibility of their leader, who is frequently seen as a divine or prophetic figure. These leaders claim exclusive access to truth or divine wisdom, and this claim is used to justify a range of behaviours and teachings that would be deemed unacceptable in broader society. It is also powerful tool for recruitment and retention, as it appeals to individuals seeking certainty in a complex and often chaotic world. The allure of being part of a chosen group that holds the key to spiritual fulfilment can be incredibly compelling, drawing individuals into the cult’s orbit and making it difficult for them to leave.

Cult churches often promote an “us versus them” mentality, fostering a sense of isolation from the external world. This separation strengthens the group’s cohesion but also makes members more dependent on the community for emotional and social support.

Other psychological tactics used to maintain control over their members can include techniques such as love bombing, where new recruits are overwhelmed with affection and attention, creating a sense of belonging and loyalty. Over time, this positive reinforcement can be replaced with fear and guilt, as members are made to believe that leaving the group would result in spiritual or personal ruin. These manipulative strategies are designed to create a deep psychological dependence on the cult and its leaders, making it challenging for members to break free from the group’s influence, in spite of few apparent physical barriers to them leaving.

Doctrinal commonalities

While every cult church has their own distinctive doctrine and beliefs, there are certain doctrinal themes that unhealthy cult churches typically share, that healthy mainstream churches do not:

They promise an easier way if you submit to the church

Cult churches will tend to present you with a choice between submitting to the church leaders in every detail of your life and finding that things work out well for you, or they will warn you of difficulties (in this life, but sometimes also eternal damnation as well) if you do not submit.

They may even encourage you to submit to mid-levels of church leadership when they are wrong, based on the principle of submission alone, maybe quoting scriptures about the younger submitting to the elder to justify this. Of course, they will usually claim that the leader at the top of the hierarchy is infallible (see our post Are religious leaders ever perfect and worthy of blind trust). However, it often suits the purposes of the top leadership if those below them are less than perfect, but those at the bottom of the hierarchy have to respect and obey them regardless.

The concepts of being led by Jesus, having the Bible as the ultimate source of truth, and recognising genuine God-given leadership gifts and authority rather than man-appointed authority, will all be subverted in a cult church, generally by self-proclaiming God-given authority and then insisting on submission, rather than letting the body of believers in the church recognise true leadership.

The Bible does not tell you to submit to self-promoting pastors or elders who tell you that in their opinion you should respect them, but it does tell you to submit to those who are genuinely good leaders “who rule well” (through the grace of God), as shown in this verse:

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching – 1 Timothy 5:17 ESV

Confession to a human priest is emphasised

While there are scriptures that do speak about confessing your sins to other people, e.g. “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” James 5:16 ESV; most scriptures on confession talk about speaking directly to God; and nowhere in scripture does it state that forgiveness from God is obtained by speaking to a human priest.

Healthy bible-based churches will emphasise that confession of sin to God is the way to find forgiveness and healing, and confession of sins to a fellow Christian is so that they can join with you in prayer to God that you might be healed from your sinful path, but the act of telling a fellow human doesn’t actually obtain forgiveness, although it does bring a sense of relief once you are no longer trying to hide what you have done.

Cult churches will emphasise the need of speaking to a human priest, often in private, and will take advantage of your natural and right feelings of guilt to bring you to the point of confession to them, promising you peace and relief and sometimes even forgiveness when you confess everything you have done to them.

A commonly misinterpreted scripture that cult churches love to use is “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Romans 10:9-10 ESV. If you read this scripture carefully you can see that it is instructing you to “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord”, and so when it says in the next verse “with the mouth one confesses and is saved” that is referring to your confession with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and is not referring to confession of sins, which is how cult churches love to interpret this scripture.

Cult churches like you to confess with your mouth that the cult leader the lord in your life, and they like you to confess your sins to them in private, not openly. You are more likely to confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord if you are also admitting openly that you are a sinner that has been saved by Him. In contrast, if you feel your sins have been covered in private through confession to a cult church elder, you are likely to confess with your mouth that the cult leaders are your Lord, and you are likely to encourage others to do the same as you (confess in private to the cult leaders). In Acts you can see that the early apostles disclosed their sinful actions publicly:

And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totalled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed – Acts 19:18-20

The problems with confessing your sins to the leader or elder of a high-control church are many, including:

1. If confession to a human priest is added as an additional requirement before forgiveness can be obtained from God, then not only is the church doctrine emphasising a doctrine of salvation by works rather than faith, they are implying that repentance from sin and belief in Jesus is not enough, without saying so directly.
2. Knowing the sins of the congregation gives cult leaders power and control over them.
3. The congregation tend to credit the relief that always comes after bringing your sins to the cult leaders they have spoken to, not realising that they would have felt the same sense of relief in speaking to anyone about their sins, in particular, speaking to anyone who has been negatively affected by their actions and anyone who truly loves them and can pray fervently for them.
4. After speaking to a human mediator, the person confessing their sins may neglect to speak directly to the Lord Jesus to obtain forgiveness if that person doesn’t point them to Christ. If you speak to a bible-following Christian about your sins they will encourage you to speak to Jesus to obtain forgiveness, and they will tell you not to give up until you get a real sense of peace. In contrast, if you speak to a high-control church leader about your sins, they will re-assure you that now you have spoken to them, you are now relieved of your burden; and you are not likely to go deep in repentance after being told this, and it probably won’t be long before you fail again (and feel the need to confess again to the cult-church elders, giving them even more control over you).

Thomas Watson, a Bible-grounded Christian from England who lived in the 1600s, spoke of how confession to God glorifies God: “We glorify God by an ingenuous [frank*] confession of sin“, “A confession is ingenuous when it is free, not forced“, and “Confession glorifies God, because it clears him; it acknowledges that he is holy and righteous, whatever he does” – these quotes are from Thomas Watson: Body of Divinity. *In the 1600s the word ‘ingenuous’ was used to mean ‘frank/candid/sincere’.

Submission to church leadership is over-emphasised

Cult churches tend to over-emphasise scriptures that speak about submission to authority and leadership, and apply these to the leaders of the cult. They will say your life will be easy if you submit to them, and that everything will then work out well for you, both on earth and in heaven; then they say that if you do not submit to them, our life on earth will be full of difficulty and you are risking your eternal salvation. Through this messaging, they reduce or eliminate desire of cult church members to get guidance directly from God, and they come between God and man as God’s mouthpiece and guide to mankind, effectively usurping the place that Jesus and the Holy Spirit should have in every believer as their guide:

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus – 1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

There is a focus on outward appearance

In this modern day and age, if your church insists on a strict dress code, that can be a red flag indicator of a cultish church. Healthy churches will tend to have generalised rules around ‘decent deportment’ that are scripture based, and then leave their congregation to interpret what that means for them. High-control church communities, in contrast, will have very specific rules about dress and outward appearance that are not found in scripture, for example:

• Rules regarding facial hair or banning facial hair
• Insistence on specific modern clothing items such as suit and tie (bear in mind that in Bible times these garments would not have even existed!)
• Banning of specific colours of clothing, and/or the promotion of other colours of clothing

For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart – 1 Samuel 16:7 ESV

Using the BITE Model to analyse cult churches

How to deprogram from cult influence

Rick Alan Ross is an American deprogrammer, cult specialist, and founder and executive director of the non-profit Cult Education Institute, and author of the book “Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out”. Here we watch him answer many questions around all kinds of cults, including how to help friends and loved ones escape, and how to deprogram after coming under the influence of a cult:

In case you don’t have time to watch the above video, here are some key takeaways:

How to help someone leave a cult (preparation stage):

1. Don’t be critical
2. Don’t have arguments with them
3. Don’t say “oh you’re in a cult” (the cult will have programmed them to cut off communication if you do that)
4. Be a good listener
5. Keep your lines of communication going
6. Let them know how you care about them
7. Find out more about the group, its leader, and what is actually going on

How cult deprogramming works (once you have finished the preparation stage above):

1. Deprogramming starts with a surprise, for a example a surprise visit from family and friends. The cult victim may be upset at the lack of advance notice, but without surprise, they will talk to other people in the group first and you will lose your opportunity to help.
2. You will need to find a way for them to totally unplug from the group for a period of time, including both in-person contact and electronic communication.
3. Have the following 4 blocks of conversation:
   • Define what is a destructive cult, using historical examples of other cults and terrible tragedies within them. Ask what do all of these groups have in common, and see if there are any parallels with the group that your friend is in.
   • What is thought reform, how does it work, and how do those steps parallel with the group you’re currently in?
   • What has the group hidden from you? Share well-researched evidence about the group, it’s history, finances, law-suits, etc, that the group hides from it’s members.
   • At the end of the process, which should take a few days, maybe a couple of weeks, the person is given the choice to leave the cult, or take a break from it, or re-join. After this deprogramming process, Rick Ross finds around 70% choose to take a break or leave.

Further cult deprogramming resources

• Getting help (Cult Education Institute)
• Intervention (Cult Education Institute)
• Freedom of Mind Resource Centre (Steve Hassan)
• Help a Loved One (Steve Hassan)

For cult deprogramming with a Christian focus, explore the resources on this website, in particular:

• Make sure you join something better when you leave – beware of this false dichotomy.
• Worried your church is a cult, should you leave?

Cult Church List

Aided by information from the Cult Education Institute website (who have assembled one of the largest archives of information about controversial groups, cults, and related information on the Web), we have come up with the following list:

Tier 1: High-Control & Dangerous Groups

These are widely recognized (academically, legally, or historically) as coercive, abusive, or violent.

Violent / Terror-Linked / Extremist

• Al-Qaeda
• ISIS / Islamic State
• Boko Haram
• Ku Klux Klan
• Aryan Brotherhood
• Aryan Nations
• Lord’s Resistance Army
• Mungiki
• People’s Mujahedeen
• Symbionese Liberation Army
• Heaven’s Gate
• Solar Temple
• Aum Sect (Aum Shinrikyo)
• Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
• Jonestown / Peoples Temple

High-Control Religious / Psychological Abuse (widely documented)

• NXIVM
• Scientology
• Children of God / The Family
• Twelve Tribes
• Twin Flames Universe
• Love Has Won
• Church of Almighty God
• Shinchonji Church
• International Church of Christ
• The Family (Australia – Anne Hamilton-Byrne group)
• Synanon
• Rajneesh Movement (Osho)
• Unification Church

Isolated / Closed Communities with Abuse Allegations

• Gloriavale
• Lev Tahor
• Colonia Dignidad
• House of Yahweh
• Word of Faith Fellowship
• Westboro Baptist Church
• Jesus Army

Tier 2: High-Control (Non-violent but coercive traits)

These groups are frequently flagged in academic literature for strong psychological control, though not necessarily violent.

• Landmark Education
• Lifespring
• Sahaja Yoga
• Soka Gakkai
• Kabbalah Centre
• Opus Dei
• International House of Prayer
• Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Mormon Church
• Iglesia ni Cristo
• Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
• Shincheonji (overlaps Tier 1 depending on source)

Tier 3: Contested / Mixed Classification

These are sometimes labeled cults, but not consistently supported by academic consensus.

• Amish
• Exclusive Brethren (now Plymouth Brethren Christian Church or PBCC)
• Hutterites
• ISKCON (Hare Krishna movement)
• Transcendental Meditation
• Falun Gong
• Hillsong Church
• Chabad Lubavitch
• Art of Living Foundation

These may be better described as:

• New religious movements
• High-demand religions
• Or simply controversial organizations

Some of these groups, especially those in tier 3, may contain many peaceful and loving Christians, who happen to be in a group who’s leadership has been infiltrated by the “grievous wolves” that the apostle Paul warns about in Acts 20:29 (KJV), so it is important to approach the individual members of these groups respectfully and with an open mind, and not tar them all with the same brush.

Here are 2 good examples of how to approach the members of cults in a loving and respectful manner:

This list of cults is far from comprehensive (there are 1000s!); but it does hopefully the majority of the large, or controversial, or well-known cults.