Coastal Cult Watch—San Luis Obispo, CA, USA


Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Holy Bible: Its All Importance

By Chris Lawson

The one thing that cults, cult leaders, and cultic doctrine will always do is lessen and twist the Person of Jesus Christ, His Deity, His work, His mission and His Personage.  Even the groups and leaders that place the Bible first, or don't use "other books'", they too somehow seem to manage to get things wrong.  If one takes the Bible as a whole, interpreting Scripture in context and using the basic skills of proper interpretation, one will clearly find the clear teachings of Scripture.  Not doing so always end in mischief.

The following article, originally published in 1824, speaks volumes to the Christian and non-Christian alike.  More than ever in our nation today, and for that matter in all of Christendom, we need to take to heart the importance of the Bible, first to read, then to love it and worship the God who inspired it and gave it to mankind.
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A NATION must be truly blessed, if it were governed by no other laws than those of this blessed book; it is so complete a system, that nothing can be added to it, or taken from it; it contains every thing needful to be known or done; it affords a copy for a king (Deut. xvii. 18), and a rule for a subject; it gives instruction and counsel to a senate; authority and direction for a magistrate: it cautions a witness; requires an impartial verdict of a jury, and furnishes the judge with his sentence; it sets the husband as lord of the household, and the wife as mistress of the table:  tells him how to rule, and her how to manage.

It entails honour to parents, and enjoins obedience to children; it prescribes and limits the sway of the sovereign, the rule of the ruler, and authority of the master; commands the subject to honour, and the servants to obey; and promises the blessing and protection of its Author to all who walk by its rules.

It gives direction for weddings and for burials; it promises food and raiment, and limits the use of both; it points out a faithful and an eternal Guardian to the departing husband and father; tells him with whom to leave his fatherless children, and in whom his widow is to trust (Jer. xlix. 11); and promises a father to the former, and a husband to the latter...

Read full article at Spiritual Research Network:

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A Warning: The Dangers of Cults and Spiritual Abuse

By Chris Lawson

Do you know a loved one, or a neighbor, or a co-worker who is in a cult or an abusive church?  Perhaps you could give them the generic Spiritual Abuse Questionnaire that can be used by anyone to help a loved one, a friend, a nieghbor, a co-worker, and more.  This questionnaire leads individuals to answer basic Yes or No questions so that one can think critically on their own - something that is generally not allowed in abusive systems.

Spiritual Abuse, It's Effects, And How To Help Those Damaged By It

Spiritual Abuse occurs when a leader, church or a belief system, whether well intentioned or not, dominates, manipulates or castigates individuals through fear tactics, mind control, or some other psychological or emotional abuse. Below is a list of articles that help clarify different forms of spiritual abuse, abusive systems, abusive churches, unbiblical authority structures, and of course, cults that are rife with spiritual abuse. Sadly, the mask of spiritual abuse deception can be worn by anyone. If you have been spiritually abused, take heart, the Real Jesus desires to help and heal you as he has helped countless others.

Whether you have experienced spiritual abuse, co-pastor abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, clergy abuse, spouse abuse, anger abuse, control abuse, workplace abuse, etc., we hope and pray that our website and the listed articles may somehow help you find hope and strength and healing in your time of need. Simply reading articles can help to identify problems and clarify issues. Jesus CAN help you as He has helped so many others in your situation. The God of all grace wants to heal your pain...

Authority Abuse

All forms of spiritual abuse inevitably lead back to the one who is the abuser; and most often it is the leader of the spiritual group. Authoritarian abuse can simply be defined as a misuse and over emphasis on authority. Many abusive systems claim they are 'led by God' and therefore justify their 'abusive behavior' by saying they are 'God's leaders', etc. Abusive leaders damage people in countless ways...

Beating the Sheep

Beating the sheep is a process whereby a religious leader or system uses and abuses people to their own ends. This end result of beating the sheep (people) is usually so bad that people never return to any church, no matter how good and Biblical it might be...

Read more and find helpful articles at the Spiritual Research Network website.

Mormonism on the Central Coast of California

By Chris Lawson

The links at the Spiritual Research Network, Psuedo-Christian Cults page will help the reader understand the problematic and extremely cultic teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as Mormonism.

  • Mormonism (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
  • Extensive Overview and articles - CARM
  • Utah Lighthouse Ministry - Website
  • Challenge of the Cults - Various Articles
  • Mormonism - Handbook of Today's Religions
  • Which god do Mormons worship? - Let Us Reason Ministries
  • Why The LDS/Mormon Church Will NEVER Be Part Of The Body Of Christ - S. Simpson
  • Mormonism - The Cult of Polytheism
  • Mormonism - Evangelical / Mormon Dialogue
  • Greg Johnson and Robert Millet - Research Page
  • Evangelical/Mormon Dialogue? - Research Page

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Exposing 'Pseudo-Christian' Cults

By Chris Lawson

Do some of these titles ring a bell with you?

Another Jesus
Armstrongism
Children of God/The Family
Christadelpians
Christian Science
Church of Religious Science
Church of Christ (Cambellites)
Jehovah's Witnesses & WBTS
Mind Sciences
Mormonism - The Latter-day Saints
Oneness Pentacostals
Seventh-day Adventists
Snake Handlers
Spiritualist Churches
The Way International
Unification Church (Moonies)
Unitarian - Universalist Assoc.
Unity School of Christianity
Word Faith / Prosperity

Visit the Spiritual Research Network online to read more about the dangers and Pseudo-Christian Cults and more.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Psuedo-Christian Cults (Sects) in San Luis Obispo County

Pseudo-Christian Cults (Sects) in San Luis Obispo County

Armstrongism (Herbert W. Armstrong)
Branhamism (William Marion Branham)
Branhamism (Bible Believers Christian Fellowship, Atascadero)
Branhamism (The Believers, San Luis Obispo)
Center For Creative Thought (Science of Mind)
Christadelphians
Christian Family Fellowship (Active in San Pedro, California)
Christian Science (Churches of Christ, Reading Rooms, Mary Baker Eddy)
Church of Christ (Cambellites)
Church of Religious Science (Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism)
Gold Coast Center for Spiritual Living (Science of Mind® Philosophy)
International Church of Christ (ICC)
Jehovah's Witnesses (Kingdom Hall, Watchtower Bible, and Tract Society)
Oneness Pentecostalism (Oneness)
Religious Science Center of San Luis Obispo
Science of Mind (Church of Religious Science, Ernest Holmes)
Scientology (The Cult of L.Ron Hubbard)
Seventh-day Adventism (Depends on congregation)
Spiritualism (Spiritualist Churches, Spiritism)
The Way International (Victor Paul Wierwille)
Unification Church (Sun Myung Moon, Moonies)
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Luis Obispo County
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Cambria, California
Unitarian Universalism (UUism)
Unity School of Christianity (Unity; Unity Church; Unity School)
William Marrion Branham (Branhamism)
Word-Faith (Prosperity, Health and Wealth Gospel, Name it and Claim it, Positive Confession)

Visit our Spiritual Research Network, Pseudo-Christian (false-Christian) cults page that exposes many of these groups.


Sunday, January 3, 2010

A Cult Is A Cult

A Cult Is A Cult 
by Dave Hunt  (May 31, 1991, The Berean Call)
Source: http://www.thebereancall.org/node/5895

The evangelical church today is being seduced as never in its history. It faces a danger so grave that, although we have discussed this problem before, it must be addressed again with new insight and vigor. If evangelicals succumb to the seduction, as they increasingly are doing, then their gospel witness will be submerged in confusion and could eventually be lost—a tragic and new dimension to the apostasy from which the church and the world will never recover. Most astonishing and alarming is the fact that (with few exceptions) evangelical leaders and even the major cult watchers refuse to acknowledge this threat. We are therefore compelled to address the subject once again with renewed concern.

For decades evangelicals have diligently and faithfully attempted to identify, analyze and warn the church against cults. Included in the standard list are Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Unity School of Christianity, Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, etc. Yet the most seductive, dangerous and largest cult (many times larger than all of the rest combined) is not included in the list! Most cult experts refuse to identify this horrendous cult as such! Instead, they accept it as "Christian."

Worst of all, this cult (which preaches a false gospel that is sending hundreds of millions into a Christless eternity) is now embraced as a partner in "evangelizing the world" by many groups which preach the biblical gospel. Major denominations, such as the Anglican and the Episcopalian church, are involved in merger talks with this cult. The Assemblies of God hierarchy has been engaged in "fruitful dialogue" with this cult, whose members are now widely perceived as born-again Christians. As a consequence, the evangelical church faces an unprecedented crisis that threatens its very survival.

The above is a severe, solemn and devastating charge to make—a charge we have documented in the past and in support of which additional evidence will now be given. I challenge any church leader to public debate who declares that this assertion is false. If proven wrong, I will publicly repent. But if this accusation is true, then a major shake-up in the evangelical church is required, including repentance
by many of its most highly regarded leaders. I solicit your help in providing church leaders with the facts they need to identify this cult—facts of which I myself was ignorant years ago when I, too, failed to identify the Roman Catholic Church as the cult it is.

What is a "cult?" In his book, Rise of the Cults, Walter Martin defined cultism as "...any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith." Though unmentioned by Martin, Roman Catholicism is undeniably a "major deviation from orthodox Christianity" on many "cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith," and thus, by his own definition, a cult. Recognition of this fact ignited the Reformation! To deny that Roman Catholicism is a cult is to repudiate the Reformation and mock the millions of martyrs who died at Rome's hands, as though they gave their lives in vain.

But, says someone, since the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Roman Catholic Church no longer teaches and practices what it did at the time of the Reformation. That popular idea is false. To counter the Reformation, Rome's foremost theologians met from 1545-63 in the Council of Trent. Its Canons and Decrees, which rejected every Reformation doctrine, remain the standard authoritative statement of Roman Catholicism, and adherence thereto is required by Catholic catechisms. Opening Vatican II, Pope John XXIII declared, "I do accept entirely all that has been decided and declared at the Council of Trent." Vatican II went on to reaffirm Trent's Canons and Decrees. No, Rome has not changed since the Reformation—except superficially.

Were Luther, Calvin and the other Reformers alive today, they would denounce Roman Catholicism as the largest and most dangerous cult on earth! Yet the Christian Research Institute (and other countercult groups) refuse to classify it as a cult. In the above book Martin emphasized that the five major cults at that time had "a following exceeding 8.5 million persons...." Yet he overlooked Roman Catholicism's hundreds of millions!

Answers to Cultists at Your Door presents another example. Its authors, Bob and Gretchen Passantino, are described as "experts in cult research [who] have spent years in countercult ministry" (outside back cover of Witch Hunt). They include such marks of a cult as the claim that it "is the only organization on earth that is following God's will" and that its leader is "uniquely chosen by God to lead God's people" and that it alone "offer[s] the Bible's `true' interpretation on all matters."Again, the Roman Catholic Church fully fits all of the criteria. It claims to be the only true church; that its pope is uniquely chosen to lead all of God's people; and that only its hierarchy can interpret scripture. Yet the Passantinos, like most other "cult experts," fail to include Roman Catholicism as a cult, though it meets all their own tests!

Mormons must blindly obey Joseph Smith and his successors; JWs dare not question The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society; other cultists must submit to their leaders. Such authoritarianism is the primary mark of a cult. The same blind submission is required of all Catholics. Canon 212 of Catholicism's Code of Canon Law requires that Catholics must give absolute obedience to their "sacred pastors." Vatican II states repeatedly that only Catholicism's hierarchy can interpret the Bible and that papal pronouncements must be obeyed without question. Canon 333 (Sec. 3) declares, "There is neither appeal nor recourse against a decision or decree of the Roman Pontiff." Vatican watchdog Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's recent 7,500-word "Instruction" declares that dissent about church teachings cannot be "justified as a matter of following one's conscience." No cult demands surrender of mind and conscience more fully or arrogantly than Roman Catholicism.

Roman Catholicism is not only left out of the list of cults by the experts, but it is explicitly approved. For example, in Scripture Twisting, James W. Sire, longtime editor-in-chief of InterVarsity Press, defines a cult as having "doctrines and/or practices that contradict those of the Scriptures as interpreted by traditional Christianity as represented by the major Catholic and Protestant denominations...." (emphasis his) Sire makes Catholicism a standard of orthodoxy against which cults are to be judged! Yet he accuses the cults of twisting Scripture, a technique of which Rome is surely the ultimate master! Sire indicts Mormonism as a cult for adding other revelations to the Bible—but Rome has added far more new revelations to the Bible than the Mormon Church! Sire declares, "There is no guru class in biblical Christianity, no illuminati, no people through whom all proper interpretation must come"—yet that is exactly the situation in the Roman Catholic Church! How, then, does he make it the standard of orthodoxy?!

Consider also The Agony of Deceit published by Moody. Each chapter is written by a leading evangelical about a specific false teaching within today's church. While Agony mostly repeats much that was found in Seduction of Christianity five years earlier, it is another voice issuing many of the same warnings, for which we are thankful. Yet it, too, whitewashes Roman Catholicism. On page 65 it states, "Traditional Roman Catholicism...hold[s] to biblical inerrancy." In fact, Catholicism explicitly denies iblical inerrancy! The next sentence does acknowledge that the "messages [of Protestantism and Catholicism] are poles apart," but moves right on without identifying the vital differences.

Page 111 declares, "The Catholic church resisted the mounting heresies with regard to the Person of Christ, and...Protestants would continue to affirm Catholic Christology." Again, terribly false! Catholicism's Christology is heretical. It denies Christ's exclusive role as mediator between God and man, making Mary "co-mediatrix"; it denies the exclusivity of His redemptive work, making Mary "co-redemptrix" (Vatican II credits Mary with a perpetual "salvific role; she continues to obtain by her constant intercession the graces we need for eternal salvation"); and it denies the sufficiency of His redemptive work, declaring that the redeemed must, in addition to Christ's suffering for them upon the cross, suffer for their own sins here and/or in purgatory, etc. A great deal more heresy is involved in Catholic Christology, such as presenting Him as perpetually an infant or child subject to His mother, perpetually on the cross, but lack of space prevents further detail. The "Christ" of Roman Catholicism is just as false as its "Mary"—as much "another Jesus" as that of Mormonism or any other cult. Let's admit it!

Several times in Agony it is stated that Protestants and Catholics embrace the same apostolic creeds. This is a partially true but seriously misleading statement. The implication is that the creeds are an all-encompassing statement of biblical Christianity, which they are not. Furthermore, there is a vast difference between the meaning Catholics and Protestants attach to what the creeds say. For example, while affirming that Christ "suffered under Pontius Pilate," Catholicism teaches that His suffering was insufficient. In addition to Christ's suffering, we must each suffer for our sins in order to be saved. We can even suffer for the salvation of others. (The Apostolic Constitution of Jan. 1, 1967, Indulgentarium Doctrina, #1687, urges Catholics to carry "each one his own cross in expiation of their sins and of the sins of others...assist[ing] their brothers to obtain salvation from God"). This is rank heresy to Protestants. Yet Agony implies that Catholics mean the same thing as Protestants by the creeds—an inexcusable and deadly error in a book by eminent Christian scholars written to point out errors within the church! Though this and the other books cited above contain much that commends them, their approval of Catholicism is tragically misleading.

The false portrait of Roman Catholicism persists in Agony. On page 244, after correctly condemning the sale of indulgences which led Martin Luther to nail his 95 theses to the chapel door at Wittenberg's castle, the editor/compiler of Agony, Michael Horton, writes, "It would not be fair, of course, to interpret the entire history and character of Roman Catholicism by this tragic fund-raising scheme...." The implication is that Rome has changed for the better, which is false. Though not sold as blatantly now, indulgences are still an important part of Catholicism's salvation.

The deviation by Catholicism from biblical Christianity goes to the heart of the faith, to salvation itself, and thus affects the eternal destiny of those who are deceived thereby. Roman Catholicism rejects salvation by faith and preaches a false gospel of works that cannot save. Salvation is not in Christ but in the Church through submission to its edicts and sacraments. The Basic Catechism of Christian Doctrine calls the sacraments "the chief means of our salvation."

The first of the seven sacraments is baptism, which is performed upon 98 percent of Catholics as infants. It is declared in Canon 849 to be the means "by which men and women are freed from their sins, are reborn as children of God...." The Basic Catechism declares that baptism "is necessary for salvation ...cleanses us from original sin, makes us Christians...." Another sacrament is the Mass, which the Catechism declares to be "one and the same Sacrifice with that of the Cross, inasmuch as Christ...continues to offer himself...on the altar, through the ministry of his priests." Canon 904 states that "the work of redemption is continually accomplished in the mystery of the Eucharistic Sacrifice," thus denying Christ's triumphant "It is finished!"

Let me remind you of Hugh Latimer's last words, spoken through the flames to his companion who was bound to the same stake "Be of good courage, master Ridley...for we shall by God's grace this day light such a `candle' in England as I pray shall never go out!" Tragically, the "candle" lit by hundreds of thousands of faithful martyrs burned at the stake, if not already out, is barely flickering and in danger of being snuffed completely. Paul Crouch, head of the largest Christian TV worldwide network, demeans the martyrs by calling the issues they died for mere semantics; and he makes a mockery of the Reformers by declaring orthodox the heresies that sparked the Reformation.

Those who believe Rome's lies and follow her gospel of works for salvation are lost. Failing to recognize this fact, many evangelical leaders and cult experts have themselves been deceived by Rome and need to be confronted and informed. How tragic to assume that Catholics are Christians who merely have some peripheral beliefs and practices which seem peculiar to Protestants but which will not prevent them from being saved. A false gospel is a false gospel, and it damns those who believe it, whether preached by Mormonism or Catholicism. A cult is a cult. Roman Catholics, like the members of other cults, need to be treated with compassion, warned of cultic lies, and presented with the true gospel which alone can save them.

If you are concerned about the growing cooperation between Catholic organizations and major evangelical ministries such as InterVarsity, Campus Crusade For Christ, Youth With A Mission, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship, Paul Crouch's TBN, Pat Robertson's CBN, etc., please write to them and ask where they stand on this critical issue.

The questions could be 1) What is your organization's position regarding Catholic doctrines? 2) What is your position regarding organizational participation with Catholics in matters of world evangelization? 3) Are you presently either officially or unofficially involved with any Catholic lay or clerical groups or organizations? If so, on what basis...and to what end?

Read full article at The Berean Call:
http://www.thebereancall.org/node/5895

or at  Reaching Catholics For Christ:
http://www.reachingcatholics.org/cult-cult.html

Saturday, January 2, 2010

20 Ways Cults Misread The Bible

Many people end up involved in cults and abusive churches simply because their leaders have misinterpreted the Bible.

The quoted material below comes from the appendix of James Sire's Scripture Twisting Methods of the Cults.

1. INACCURATE QUOTATION: A biblical text is referred to but is either not quoted in the way the text appears in any standard translation or is wrongly attributed. Example: The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi says, "Christ said, 'Be still and know that I am God.'" Whereas this text is found ONLY in Psalms.

2. TWISTED TRANSLATION: The biblical text is retranslated, not in accordance with sound Greek scholarship, to fit a preconceived teaching of a cult. Example: the Jehovah's Witnesses translate John 1:1 as "In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the word was a god."

3. BIBLICAL HOOK: A text of Scripture is quoted primarily as a device to grasp the attention of readers or listeners and then followed by a teaching which is so nonbiblical that it would appear far more dubious to most people had it not been preceded by a reference to Scripture. Example: Mormon missionaries quote James 1:5 which promises God's wisdom to those who ask him and, then, follow this by explaining that when Joseph Smith did this he was given a revelation from which he concluded that God the Father has a body.

4. IGNORING THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT: A text of Scripture is quoted but removed from the surrounding verses which form the immediate framework for its meaning. Example: Alan Watts quotes the first half of John 5:39 ("You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life"), claiming that Jesus was challenging His listeners' over emphasis of the Old Testament, but the remainder of the immediate context reads, "and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (verses 39-40), which shows that Jesus was upholding the value of the Old Testament as a testimony to Himself.

5. COLLAPSING CONTEXTS: Two or more verses which have little or nothing to do with each other are put together as if one were a commentary of the other(s). Example: The Mormons associate Jeremiah 1:5 with John 1:2,14 and thus imply that both verses talk about the premortal existence of all human beings; Jeremiah 1:5, however, speaks of God's foreknowledge of Jeremiah (Not his premortal existence) and JOhn 1:2 refers to the pre-existence of God the Son and not to human beings in general.

6. OVERSPECIFICATION: A more detailed or specific conclusion than is legitimate is drawn from a biblical text. Example: The Mormon missionary manual quotes the parable of the virgins from Matthew 25:1-13 to document the concept that "mortality is a probationary period during which we prepare to meet God." But the parable of the virgins could, and most probably does, mean something far less specific, for example, that human beings should be prepared at any time to meet God or to witness the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

7. WORD PLAY: A word or phrase from a biblical translation is examined and interpreted as if the revelation had been given in that language. Example: mary Bake Eddy says the name Adam consist of two syllables, A DAM, which means an obstruction, in which case, Adam signifies "the obstacle which the serpent, sin, would impose between man and his Creator."

8. THE FIGURATIVE FALLACY: Either (1) mistaking literal language for figurative language or (2)mistaking figurative language for literal language. Example of (1): Mary Baker Eddy interprets EVENING as "mistiness of mortal thought; weariness of mortal mind; obscured views; peace and rest." Example of (2): The Mormon theologian james Talmage interprets the prophesy that "thou shalt be brought down and speak out of the ground" to mean that God's Word would come to people from the Book of Mormon which was taken out of the ground at the hill of Cumorah.

9. SPECULATIVE READINGS OF PREDICTIVE PROPHESY:
A predictive prophesy is too readily explained by the occurance of specific events, despite the fact that equally committed biblical scholars consider the interpretation highly dubious. Example: The stick of Judah and the Stick of Joseph in Ezekiel 37:15- 23 are interpreted by the Mormons to mean the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

10. SAYING BUT NOT CITING: A writer says that the Bible says such and such but does not cite the specific text (which often indicates that there may be no such text at all). Example: A common phrase "God helps those who help themselves" is not found in the Bible.

11. SELECTIVE CITING: To substantiate a given argument, only a limited number of text is quoted: the total teaching of Scripture on that subject would lead to a conclusion different from that of the writer. Example: The Jehovah's Witnesses critique the traditional Christian notion of the Trinity without considering the full text which scholars use to substantiate the concept.

12. INADEQUATE EVIDENCE:
A hasty generalization is drawn from too little evidence. Example: The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that blood transfusion is nonbiblical, but the biblical data that they cite fails either to speak directly to the issue or to adequately substantiate their teaching.

13. CONFUSED DEFINITION: A biblical term is misunderstood in such a way that an essential biblical doctrine is distorted or rejected. Example: one of Edgar Cayce's followers confuses the eastern doctrine of reincarnation with the biblical doctrine of being born again.

14. IGNORING ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS:
A specific interpretation given to a biblical text or set of text which could well be, and often have been, interpreted in quite a different fashion, but these alternatives are not considered. Example: Erich von Daniken asks why in Genesis 1:26 God speaks in the plural ("us"), suggesting that this is an oblique reference to God's being one of many astronauts and failing to consider alternative explanations that either God was speaking as "Heaven's king accompanied by His heavenly host" or that the plural prefigures the doctrine of the Trinity expressed more explicitly in the New Testament.

15. THE OBVIOUS FALLACY:
Words like OBVIOUSLY, UNDOUBTEDLY, CERTAINLY, ALL REASONABLE PEOPLE HOLD THAT and so forth are substituted for logical reasons. Example: Erich von daniken says, "Undoubtedly the Ark [of the Covenent] was electrically charged!"

16. VIRTUE BY ASSOCIATION:
Either (1) a cult writer associates his or her teaching with those of figures accepted as authoritative by traditional Christians; (2) cult writings are likened to the Bible; or (3) cult literature imitates the form of the Bible writing such that it sounds like the Bible. Example of (1): Rick Chapman list 21 gurus, including Jesus Christ, St. Francis and St. Theresa, that "you can't go wrong with." Example of (2): Juan Mascaro in his introduction to the Upanishads cites the New Testament, the Gospels, Ecclesiastes and the Psalms, from which he quotes passages supposedly paralleling the Upanishads. Example of (3): The Mormon DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS interweaves phrases from the Gospel of John and maintains a superficial similarity to the Gospel such that it seems to be like the Bible.

17. ESOTERIC INTERPRETATION:
Under the assumption that the Bible contains hidden, esoteric, meaning which is open only to those who are initiated into its secrets, the interpreter declares the significance of biblical passages without giving much, if any, explanation for his or her interpretation. Example: Mary Baker Eddy gives the meaning of the first phrase in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven," as "Our Father-Mother God, all harmonious."

18. SUPPLEMENTING BIBLICAL AUTHORITY:
New revelation from post biblical prophets either replaces or is added to the Bible as authority. Example: The Mormons supplement the Bible with the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.

19. REJECTING BIBLICAL AUTHORITY: Either the Bible as a whole or texts from the Bible are examined and rejected because they do not square with other authorities - such as reason or revelation = do not appear to agree with them. Example:Archie Matson holds that the Bible contains contradictions and that Jesus himself rejected the authority of the Old Testament when he contrasted His own views with it on the Sermon on the Mount.

20. WORLD-VIEW CONFUSION:
Scriptural statements, stories, commands or symbols which have a particular meaning or set of meanings when taken within the intellectual and broadly cultural framework of the Bible itself are lifted out of that context, placed within the frame of reference of another system and thus given a meaning that markedly differs from their intended meaning. Example: The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi interprets "Be still, and know that I am God" as meaning that each person should meditate and come to the realization that he is essentially Godhood itself.