Kingdom of the Cults

Martin Walter

Description

In an era of rapid growth of false religions worldwide, Christians need information they can trust. This comprehensive new edition of the leading book on cults will equip you--no matter your background--to understand and use biblical truth to counter false religions, including many that masquerade as mainstream Christianity. Reflecting the developments in cults and world religions in recent years, this edition, updated by expert Jill Martin Rische (daughter of Walter Martin), gives you the authoritative information you need to know. As our culture becomes less and less outwardly Christian, awareness of the belief systems of those around us has never been more vital. Readable and reliable for everyone, whether you're a teacher, a pastor, or a regular church attender, The Kingdom of the Cults remains the go-to reference book on this crucial topic.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 21 mai 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493417346
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Half Title Page
Other Books by Walter Martin
The Kingdom of the Cults Handbook
The Kingdom of the Cults Study Guide
The Kingdom of the Occult
Through the Windows of Heaven: 100 Powerful Stories and Teachings from Walter Martin, the Original Bible Answer Man
The Christian and the Cults
Christian Science
Essential Christianity
Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God
Jehovah of the Watchtower
Jehovah’s Witnesses
The Maze of Mormonism
Mormonism
New Age Cults
The New Cults
The Riddle of Reincarnation
The Rise of the Cults
Screwtape Writes Again
Walter Martin Speaks Out on the Cults
Walter Martin’s Cults Reference Bible
Title Page
Copyright Page
Copyright © 1965, 1977, 1985, 1997, 2003, 2019 by The Estate of Walter Martin
Sixth Edition, 2019
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-1734-6
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations identified NASB are from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org
Scripture quotations identified NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Scripture quotations identified NKJV are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Cover design by LOOK Design Studio
Dedication
In Memory of Peter de Visser
My friend and brother in the common faith. His help and encouragement made this volume possible. If you seek his monument, consult the libraries of the informed.
Contents
Cover 1
Half Title Page 2
Other Books by Walter Martin 3
Title Page 4
Copyright Page 5
Dedication 6
Acknowledgments 9
Managing Editors’ Preface 11
1. The Kingdom of the Cults 13
2. Scaling the Language Barrier 22
3. The Psychological Structure of Cultism 31
4. Jehovah’s Witnesses 47
5. Christian Science 166
6. Mormonism—The Latter-day Saints 217
7. Spiritism—The Cult of Antiquity 303
8. The Theosophical Society 326
9. Buddhism—Classical and Zen 345
10. The Bahá’í Faith 365
11. The Unity School of Christianity 378
12. Armstrongism, The Worldwide Church of God, and Grace Communion International 408
13. The Unification Church 443
14. Scientology 471
15. Eastern Religions 497
16. Islam—The Message of Muhammad 516
17. The Cults on the World Mission Field 536
18. The Jesus of the Cults 547
19. Cult Evangelism—Mission Field on Your Doorstep 558
20. The Road to Recovery 575
Appendix Section
Appendix A: The Puzzle of Seventh-day Adventists 586
Appendix B: Unitarianism 700
Appendix C: Rosicr ucianism 716
Appendix D: Sweden borgianism 724
Bibliography 741
Scripture Index 774
Subject Index 783
Back Cover 800
Acknowledgments
S pecial thanks are due Dr. Martin’s widow, Darlene Martin, for her faithfulness in preserving her husband’s classical text on American cults and to researcher-author Kurt Van Gorden for his invaluable help on all aspects of this edition.
Managing Editors’ Preface
I n his 1956 book The Christian and the Cults, a 28-year-old Walter Martin wrote, “The Christian Church in this atomic age is faced with the highly ‘fissionable’ problem of accelerated cult activities both in the continental United States and on every major mission field throughout the world. Today, as never before, the danger of a ‘Cult-Bomb’ detonating in the Christian world grows ominously closer as the Church delays unified action against the looming specter of insidious cultism. It is the author’s earnest desire to attract attention to this mounting danger and to awaken the Christian public to a spirited defense of the historic faith of the Church of Jesus Christ. This defense can only be effected by informed pastors, teachers, evangelists and laymen who recognize the growing threat of the cults and educate themselves and the Church at large to both the deviations of cult theology and the massive refutation of them which is inherent in the teaching of sound doctrinal theology.” 1
The year 1965 brought the release of The Kingdom of the Cults , which has stood for almost 55 years as a sentinel in the field of Christian Apologetics. Our intent in editing this volume is to offer new and valuable information, provide updates on the ever-changing world of the cults, and ensure that the voice of Dr. Walter Martin continues to be heard in the same strong, clear way.
In order to preserve the clarity and accuracy of his voice, the tilde symbol (~) was used to indicate new material. In some cases, quotes from other Martin resources such as audios, books, interviews, or articles, were used for continuity and development purposes. Several chapters removed from previous editions were updated and included in this new edition, their facts both accurate and relevant. Both the order of the book and its subject matter are organized with the 1985 edition in mind—the last Kingdom of the Cults edition reviewed and approved by Walter Martin.
Walter Martin’s voice is unique, and the legacy he left is one of biblical truth and a deep love for God and for people. It is our hope that this new edition will speak to the hearts of those reading it and bring many more out of the Kingdom of the Cults.
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).
Kevin Rische Jill Martin Rische May 14, 2018



1 . Walter Martin, The Christian and the Cults (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1956), 5–6.
1 The Kingdom of the Cults
I t has been said of the United States that it is “the great melting pot” for the people of the world. And the contents of that pot would not be complete unless it also included the religions of those masses that now make up the populace of America. This writer has spent over forty years of his life in research and fieldwork among the religions of America, and this volume, limited as it is by the vastness and complexity of the problem itself, constitutes his evaluation of that vibrant brand of religion that has come to be recognized by many as the “Kingdom of the Cults.”
In his study of modern American cults and minority religious movements as found in his text These Also Believe , Dr. Charles Braden, emeritus professor at Northwestern University and coauthor, John C. Schaffer, lecturer and visiting professor at Scripps College, made a number of observations with which this writer agrees. In regard to the term “cult,” for instance, Dr. Braden states:
By the term cult I mean nothing derogatory to any group so classified. A cult, as I define it, is any religious group which differs significantly in one or more respects as to belief or practice from those religious groups which are regarded as the normative expressions of religion in our total culture. 1
I may add to this that a cult might also be defined as a group of people gathered about a specific person or person’s misinterpretation of the Bible. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses are, for the most part, followers of the interpretations of Charles T. Russell and J. F. Rutherford. The Christian Scientist of today is a disciple of Mary Baker Eddy and her interpretations of Scripture. The Mormons, by their own admission, adhere to those interpretations found in the writings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. It would be possible to go on citing many others, such as the Unity School of Christianity, which follows the theology of Charles and Myrtle Fillmore. From a theological viewpoint, the cults contain many major deviations from historical Christianity. Yet, paradoxically, they continue to insist that they are entitled to be classified as Christians.
It is my conviction that the reader is entitled to know the theological position from which this volume is written so that there will be no misconceptions as to the ground for my evaluation. I am a Baptist minister, an evangelical holding to the inerrancy of Scripture, and teach in the fields of Biblical Theology, Comparative Religion, and Apologetics.
It is impossible for me to agree with Dr. Braden, “an unrepentant liberal,” or to agree that I “hold no brief for any particular cult, nor am violently opposed to any.” 2 While I am in agreement that “in general the cults represent the earnest attempt of millions of people to find the fulfillment of deep and legitimate needs of the human spirit, which most of them seem not to have found in the established churches,” 3 I feel there is still much more to be said. It has been wisely observed by someone that “a man who will not stand for something is quite likely to fall for almost a