Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Back in the 1990s their members used to roam the city inviting people to attend their services. At the time, I had heard that they were a cult.
Does anyone know about them & their beliefs?
A cult is an organization whose membership hides behind walls and does not expose part or all of it's beliefs and rituals to the public. A cult also will cut off any members who leave the group and will never welcome them back. They also try to cut their members off from mainstream society in an effort to keep truth away.
An organization that welcomes new folks, but has total transparency about it's nature and intentions is not a cult.
Whether this organization is a cult or not, refer to the above statements and see how the NYC Church of Christ measures up.
Oh, I know what makes a church a cult, all right: bigotry.
Quote:
Of course
Quote:
no two people will give you the same answer - but why are you going around asking people?
Why not study for yourself?
I'm not going around asking people. I never even bring up the subject, but when I see threads like this one, I am commited to trying to get people to stop and think what it is they're really saying when they throw out the word to describe every religious group that doesn't appear to them personally. That's what I find so offensive about the term. If you don't like what a church teaches, "cult" is the word you use to describe it. Generally speaking, the world has little use outside of religious mudslinging and usually says more about the person using it than it does about the group that it's being applied to. Here's my favorite definition: "If you believe in it, it is a religion or perhaps 'the' religion; if you do not care one way or another about it, it is a sect; but if you hate and fear it, it is a cult."
Don't get me wrong; I believe there are legitimate uses of the word "cult." Jim Jones and his People's Temple would be a good example of a genuine cult. People who joined him were literally held captive. They began by idolizing him and ending up being scared to death to cross him. They were physically and socially isolated from everyone they knew who was not a part of the group and ended up dead because of it. Legitimate religious groups -- no matter how wrong we may personally believe their doctrines and practices to be -- do not deserve to be lumped into the same category as the People's Temple.
The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
The group is preoccupied with making money.
Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.
The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).
The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).
The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt iin order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.
Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.
The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
The group is preoccupied with making money.
Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.
Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.
On one hand, I think this list is reasonably worthwhile. On the other hand, do you realize how many of these criteria could have been used to describe 1st century Christianity? As a group becomes larger and better established, it generally becomes more accepted as less likely to be referred to as a cult. But to the Jews of Christ's day, this small, new group of people who literally worshipped their leader as God would definitely have qualified as a cult.
I sure hope what I wrote shows up. It was rather lengthy. In 1985, I joined this cult and lived through three years of hell. I never fully recovered from the mess those people put me through. My advice to anyone who has been approached by this group is, don't join, and don't allow them tho keep contacting you. A Pentecostal or Baptist church will give you a more rewarding Christian experience, if the anointing power of the Holy Ghost is present.
Cult...the church of Christ? I think you have the wrong church.
Hello,
I know this post was written over three years ago, but I am a member of the church of Christ and we are NOT a cult. I am not forced to live with people only members of the church of Christ. I am not forced to only participate in "church-related" activities. I am not forced to attend every services provided and scheduled. I live a normal life like anyone else, where I attended a top university, pledged a sorority, and hang out "socially" with my friends who are and are NOT members of the church of Christ.
As a member of the church of Christ, we simply believe in providing a bible question with a bible answer. God gave us the opportunity to choose whether we want to believe in his word (scripture) or if we do not want to believe his word. At the end of the day, God will be the ones to judge us. We take the bible very seriously and will look up what words mean in the Greek and Hebrew form to make sure we understand the true origination. Honestly, for the most part, we are very nice people who just want to go to Heaven and we believe that we should speak where the bible speaks and to be silent where the bible is silent.
Well that's all she wrote. Have a blessed day! Peace.
Cult...the church of Christ? I think you have the wrong church.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pastor Al
Not sure if the two are related but I found this. There's a difference between the Church of Christ and the International Church of Christ. [URL="http://carm.org/what-international-church-christ"]What is the International Church of Christ? | Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry[/URL]
[URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aITLu2hvwlo[/URL]
[URL]https://www.nyccoc.net/2012/[/URL]
[URL="http://www.cultwatch.com/icc.html"]CULTWATCH | The International Church of Christ (ICOC)[/URL]
Thanks for your feedback. YES! The church of Christ is DIFFERENT than The International Church of Christ. I'm appalled watching the video myself and I do remember when people were doing research of that organization while I was in school.
So, the International Church of Christ may be a cult? I am not particularly sure nor can I speak on that organization. But, I am hear to say the church of Christ is not a cult and it is different from ICOC, COGIC, UCOC, etc. We are just the church of Christ wanting to do what the Lord asks of us in the bible.
The church of Christ that is around the southeastern US, is definitely a cult.
They believe they are the only ones who are saved. Part of the process is being baptized THERE, in a church of Christ building, and having your name on their membership role.
If this is not done, they say you are not saved.
They teach that they are THE ONLY ONES going to heaven. They claim they "aren't a denomination," but that is exactly what they are; they are not only a denomination, they are a cult. If you belong there, you are forbidden from even visiting another church, say, a Baptist church....they claim you will lose your "salvation."
I has a run in with them. I was already baptized but I was told it was not done right. They also believed that only the ordained can baptize someone. Also believed they are the only ones saved, kinda like a baptist view of jahovahs witnesses, they are all lost it is said.
Back in the 1990s their members used to roam the city inviting people to attend their services. At the time, I had heard that they were a cult.
Does anyone know about them & their beliefs?
All denominations, sects, etc are cults. They exist because some man or more than one, led people to a new "church". Such started right after Pentecost.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Cult...the church of Christ? I think you have the wrong church.
Cult...the church of Christ? I think you have the wrong church.
