#32: Cults on Campus: How to Identify and Avoid Them!

Intro:

My guest in this episode is Dr. Rob Bowman, an expert on cults and heretical Christian sects. He is also a biblical scholar who has, since 1984, written 14 books and dozens of articles defending the truth of Christianity against error.

In this podcast we discuss:

• How Rob got interested in cults while in college
• How his background as a biblical scholar helps him evaluate cults
• Secular and religious cults (or ‘heretical sects’) and some examples
• The warning signs that a group may be a cult
• The importance of distinguishing between sociological and theological definitions of a cult
• Mormonism as a case study theologically (especially how they define “God”) and sociologically 
• The biblical, global, and historic understanding of what constitutes the essentials of the Christian faith
• An example of a cult becoming a legitimate, biblically grounded denomination and vice-versa
• Distinguishing strong leadership/authority from cultic leadership/authority
• How the prophets and Apostles in Scripture model strong but not cultic leadership/authority
• Good questions to ask to determine if a group is a cult (including the one question you should always start with)
• How all cults deviate on the nature of Jesus
• Different things cults mean when they affirm “Jesus is the Son of God”
• What cults mean by “We only go by the teachings of the Bible”–the role other authoritative texts or unique bible translations in cults
• Examples of cultic beliefs and practices from Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, and Christian Scientism
• How most modern-day cults are just repackaged heresies of past centuries
• Why the three large U.S. cults (Christian heretical sects) arose in the same time and region, the dark side of Revivalism in the Second Great Awakening, and the lesson we should learn
• How “Restorationism” (the desire to restore the first-century church) lead to the establishment of many cults in the 19th century
• How “Rationalism” (the desire to only accept what we can fully understand) lead to the establishment of other cults in the 19th century
• If you discover you are in a cult, how do you get out?
• The “win-win” question you should ask if you think you are in a cult
• Websites to help you identify and understand groups that are cults (see websites below)
• The relationship between biblical illiteracy and a train wreck for your faith
• The importance of understanding the proper principles of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics) to identify and avoid the errors of cults

Resources mentioned during our conversation:

• Institute for Religion Research – resources on cults, apologetic issues, and how to study the Bible
• Watchman Fellowship – a comprehensive index of cults
• Bible.org – helpful for resources for studying the Bible