Welcome back to Basil Evans. Basil presents some updated good information about various Cults and false religions, which I know my readers will find helpful. It seems that in these end times many people have drifted away from the truth as once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). Basil has had an interesting life, his biography is included at the end of this article. I look forward to bringing you more articles from Basil on this subject in the future.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

CULTS & FALSE  RELIGIONS

Number 6    Common Heresies

Not every false cult gets everything wrong but here is a list of common errors

If members of the organisation get the first one right about Jesus’ divinity  they can be Christians, but it is difficult to maintain faith if one is continuously bombarded with false teachings. As we discussed previously Jesus said some seed falls among thorns and it is unfruitful – not dead.

Over the next studies we will cover the following cults.

o          Roman Catholicism and Seventh Day Adventism which are not technically cults. They hold some serious errors in their theology but believe Jesus is the Son of God , died on the cross on Calvary, was resurrected and whose shed blood is the sacrifice for all our sins.   

o          Old cults like Christian Science, Unitarianism, Christadelphianism, British Israel, Freemasonry,

o          21^st century cults like Scientology, Progressive Christianity, Prosperity gospel, New Apostolic Revival,

Ultra Faith (Name it and claim it ) and  Ultra Pentecostalism,

There are two “religions” that are very significant in size but are not Christian and we will examine them separately – Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

But before we examine actual cults we should look at some of the common false beliefs

There are only two eternal futures, heaven and hell and we set our eternal future in one life here on Earth so it is important that we hold the right beliefs –

The following are the most common heretical beliefs

held by cults and many churches.

Please read the Bible references which are self explanatory.

Denial of divinity of Jesus.

Many large Protestant denominations teach Jesus as a good example, anointed by God but not God.

            John 1:1-3, Philippians 2:5-7, Hebrews 1:8, Colossians 1:16-17, Colossians 2:9, ! John 5:20.

Denial of the Trinity of God

The belief is God is a Trinity with Jesus being equally God and man.

The atonement is invalid if Jesus is not God because it would not be a willing sacrifice but something forced by God on a human. All humans have sinned so a human Jesus would not be a perfect sacrifice.

Matthew 3:16-17 This is the best text – Jesus was standing in the water, the Holy Spirit was flying like a dove quite separately and the Father spoke from heaven. The three separate persons of the Trinity are seen at once.

Matthew 28:19, John 1:1 & 14, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:8., 1 Peter 1: 1-2

Denial of Jesus’ actual death and resurrection

These are central to the gospel that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice depicted in the temple sacrifices and the Passover. The sacrificial lamb had to die. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world by His death. Because He lives we will live also has always been believed by the church from Jesus day on,

            1 Corinthians 15:19, John 14:19

There are groups who believe Jesus did not die but revived and married Mary Magdalene. They had children and their genealogies can traced. (rubbish)

Denial that Hell is unending but say it is just a temporary punishment

In the New Testament, eternal punishment refers to the ultimate fate of those who reject God and are not saved. This punishment is described as a place of eternal fire, torment, and separation from God.   Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:46 are often cited, where he says, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” The new Testament uses the same Greek word for eternal life and eternal punishment so if one is unending so is the other.

When we read the Bible we must read all of it and believe what is the consistent meaning.  For hell it is talked about a place of fire and a place of separation from God .The implication here is that some places will be fiery while others just separation which would be horrific anyway.

Unfortunately many get their idea of punishment in hell from Dante’s Inferno which pervaded religious thinking up until today. It is based on wrong theology. In the Inferno all the punishment was physical

However physical punishment requires a physical body which does not happen until  the judgement day resurrection. Also all the descriptions   of the punishment come from Dante imagination with no even hints  of reality from Scripture. In Mark 9:48 Jesus used parabolic speech to teach and He used the valley of Gehenna to emphasise His preaching. This was a valley outside Jerusalem where all the garbage was dumped including dead animals and humans who could not afford proper burial.. More importantly, it was the place for child sacrifices to the pagan god Molech. In ancient times. There would have been a terrible stench and the organic matter would have been full of maggots (or worms) This valley became associated with divine punishment in Jewish eschatology and Jesus could not have selected a better comparison in His teaching. He was not teaching about what hell is like but that offending God was something to be avoided at all costs or the consequences would be horrid and non ending. 2 Thessalonians 1 :9 Jude 13, 

Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:48, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, jude 13.

Believe that after death the soul must be cleansed of unconfessed sins before entering heaven

This is not found in the Bible but the idea foundational to the doctrine of purgatory is that some of a believer’s sin has not yet been paid for. But Scripture teaches that Jesus died to pay the penalty for all our sins (Romans 5:8). The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:5 took our place: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Jesus suffered for our sins so that we could be delivered from suffering. To say that we must also suffer for our sins is to say that Jesus’ suffering was insufficient in some way. To say that we ourselves must atone for our sins is to deny the adequacy of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus (1 John 2:2). The idea that those who are saved by grace through faith have to pay for their sins after death is contrary to everything the Bible says about salvation.

he Roman Catholic Church officially defined the doctrine of Purgatory as a dogma only at the Council Florence in 1439. 

            Romans 5;8  Isaiah 53:5, 1 John 2:2

Denial that the Bible is God’s infallible word.

Many believe that there are many errors and myths in the Bible. However no one has ever been able to find any error apart  from  some numbers where they have no significance to any faith statements. Numbers were often enlarged by addition of dots which were missed by translators. Numerous claims of inaccuracies , especially historical facts, have been shown to be incorrect by archaeology and many prophecies have been shown to be accurate by historical research.

One must add that the claim of infallibility is limited to the original texts. There are numbers of bad translations on the market so it is suggested  to read about any new version carefully. I fear some have been published just to make money or to support false doctrines such as Joseh Smith’s
Inspired version and the JW’s new World translation.

Psalm 119:160

Believe in Baptismal regeneration and infant baptism,

Infant baptism is not mentioned even once in the Bible so many believe it should not be practiced. The first clear mention of it was by Tertullian around 200 AD, who questioned the practice, but it was already widespread. By the mid-3rd century, infant baptism was considered a standard practice 

Infant baptism is considered wrong by many Christians primarily because they believe it is not biblically supported and contradicts the concept of faith-based salvation. Infants lack the capacity for repentance and faith, which are seen as prerequisites for baptism in many Christian denominations. Furthermore, some argue that baptism is a public declaration of faith, and infants cannot make such a declaration. 

            The concept of baptism “saving” people is foreign to the New Testament.

“By grace are you saved by faith.” The core belief that salvation is by grace through faith challenges the practice of infant baptism because baptism, in this perspective, is an outward expression of an inward faith, not a mechanism for receiving salvation and Infants who cannot have faith.

The most common Biblical quote is that Jesus told the thief on the cross he would be in paradise with Jesus without being baptised. What about those who accept salvation on their deathbeds? They can’t be baptised but surely are saved by belief in Jesus.

As the church conquered the pagan world we see infant baptism as arising as a universal practice. In part this appears to be based upon the fact that even in the ancient church there was the concept that baptism was the initiation rite into the community of faith, and infants are born into that community so are baptised.

In reviewing the patristic doctrine of baptism which was sanctioned by the Greek and Roman, and, with some important modifications, also by the Lutheran and Anglican churches, we should remember that during the first three centuries and even in the age of Constantine, adult baptism was the rule. The actual conversion of the candidate and baptism was required as a condition before administering the sacrament (as is still the case on missionary ground). But when the same high view is applied without qualification to infant baptism, we are confronted at once with the difficulty that infants cannot comply with this condition.

As a baby ( 8 days old according to Judaism) Jesus was circumcised which is a confirmation of God’s covenant with Abraham.. Many Christians have their babies circumcised to follow Jesus’ example. Many others merely hold Dedication ceremony promising to bring the child to follow Jesus.

Belief in Evolution 

We only need two text references. Genesis 1:26 – God said He made man in His own image and Genesis 2:7. God created mam as a separate act. He did not create an amoeba and say to it “gradually change into a man.”

One cannot be a Christian and accept Evolution.

o  Firstly science cannot create life in any form.

o  The Bible says in Genesis 1 and 2  that in the beginning God made man in His image. He created life . Man had a sense of right and wrong. Man deliberately disobeyed God and his spiritual life died. The rest of the Bible is how God restores that spiritual life and brings him back to paradise as in the beginning.

o  In Evolution life was the result of some chance non repeatable event and Man was the end result of chance DNA changes until he became the creature he is now. No animal is a copy of God as the Bible says. No animal has a sense of personhood or right and wrong so could not deliberately disobey a moral command.

Evolution is a non-Christian attempts to explain something where the only logical explanation, which they refuse to accept, .is that the world was created by something outside of it and is greater than it, which we understand as God.

There is a group of scientists who want to believe God and Evolution. They say that God created everything by placing in nature a blueprint for the development or evolution of nature including mankind. This is called Theistic Evolution but it cannot fit mankind having souls awareness of right and wrong or self awareness into their ideas.

            Genesis 1:26 & 2:7

Belief other faiths who have faith in a god can enter heaven.

We do not need many texts here. The Scriptures are quite clear that there is only one way to enter heaven. Jesus said I am the way – others are thieves and robbers,. John 10:8

I heard a very well known preacher with one of the largest churches being interviewed on TV being asked will Moslems get to heaven? His answer was “Only God knows but they worship the same god” This is wrong – there is only one God and He is not Allah. What about other religions who have faith like Hindus? Doesn’t the Bible say the just will live by faith and they have faith?
Once again he ignored Scripture. His answer was “Only God knows.” You must have faith in the right thing – and that is Jesus sacrifice. 

Many preachers want to be nice and loving  but that is not the right way. Wrong or evil does not go away or change because you want everyone to whom you  preach to love you. There is truth even if it seems unpleasant to modern thinking.

John 14:6, John 10:7-8, Acts 4 :12,

There is an oddball religion that does not fit any of the categories and that is the Mormon church.  They consider themselves to be Christian (not only Christian but a church that has been reformed to eliminate false beliefs that caused it to be backslidden. Their god is a glorified man who had parents and has a physical body ( He is not a spirit being) As such they are not Christian regardless of how much they use Christian language. Their Jesus is the Son of God in their theology but of a different God so fall into the same category as Hindus etc and therefore cannot enter heaven.. (see a full appraisal of that church in following segments of this study.)

Believe we can command God

In Mark 11:22 and John 14: 14 Jesus seems to promise that whatever we ask He will do.

Prayer has a broad scope. The term “whatever” suggests that there are no limits to what can be brought before God in prayer. Jesus emphasizes a personal and direct approach to God.

These two passages are taken by some to mean that if we ask for ANYTHING in Jesus’ name He has to give it to us,

Some church groups have built their central doctrine about these texts without looking at why Jesus said them.

We only need two  texts to refute this idea,

1  James 4:3 says that we will not receive if we ask amiss such as wanting something for our own pleasure and

2  The key Bible verse about asking according to God’s will is 1 John 5:14: “And this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
“ It means that if we don’t ask according to His will He doesn’t even hear us much less give us what we ask.

No doctrine can be based on one or twoi verses but must include all the Scriptures say on the subject.

Mark 11:22, John 14:14 balanced by James 4:3 and 1 John 5:14

Believe we can create things by our spoken words.

Jesus said that those who believe on Him will do greater things than He did. There are two commonly believed meanings of this.

1. Jesus only ministered for 3 ½ years and it appears that He spent most of His time

preaching the Kingdom of God – not performing miracles. So the church has performed millions of times more miracles than He did – greater things..

• While on earth Jesus ended up with only a handful of followers. The greater things could be spreading the kingdom.

Jesus healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, restored the lame, healed the dumb, walked on water, calmed storms, He raised the dead, calmed storms, fed the hungry, told the future and preached how men and women could join God’s family and have their sins forgiven.  I have wracked my brains and cannot think of any part of life Jesus didn’t affect. So the greater things could not mean in scope but the church has ministered Jesus’ life to billions – greater things.

Some cults preach that we can do things that Jesus could not do. They forget that Jesus is God and by just Him speaking everything was made and is sustained. Can you think of anything greater?

Jesus can and does still perform miracles through us – it is not our power but Hisa.

The major error is to believe we are greater than God and that we personally are greater than Jesus and can do things He couldn’t. They say Jesus spoke the word so all we have to do is speak the word of faith to raise the dead, change the weather or meet financial needs.

Some groups say the church world wide was so backslidden God had to start again with a new church. Then there is no salvation outside of their new revelation. The largest of these is Mormonism.

BASIL EVANS BIOGRAPHY

Basil De Lacy Evans has had a rich and successful life. Born in Sydney, Australia in 1933. He attended Canterbury Boys High School, Scots College and Sydney University, where he graduated with a degree in Pharmacy. He obtained further qualifications in International Business and management from the USA and Australia.

Basil’s commercial career included time as Assistant Chief Pharmacist at Royal Alexandra Hospital Sydney in 1958 to being Planning Manager for the international division of a major multinational pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey USA. There were many highly responsible appointments in between including running a marketing division employing 120 staff in Sydney.  Locations included Australia,  Indonesia,  New Zealand and Hong Kong.

He retired from the multination group in 1988 to start his own Medical Regulatory Affairs consultancy which is now still operating owned and  managed by one of his daughters.

Basil’s Christian walk has included serving as Deacon, Youth Leader and adult Bible teacher in Sydney Petersham AOG from 1956 – 1967. Attending Livingstone NJ  AOG USA from 1967-1970. Founder and Pastor of Dural Christian Assembly, 1990-2004