Page 5 - Cults and Marginal Groups - Textbook w videos short

A third pressure is that they are warned to stay away from the literature of the “apostates.” Any
literature that challenges the doctrines of the Watchtower Society is forbidden to be read. And by
trying to give them counter literature, you have branded yourself as an “apostate.”

A fourth pressure they deal with is the warning that if they challenge the teachings of the Watchtower
Society, they can be “disfellowshipped” – or kicked out of the organization (through which salvation
comes). They are doomed to annihilation. They are also warned that those that are faithful are
commanded by God to “disassociate” or shun them. That means by challenging the Watchtower
Society, they may be rejected by their family and friends, and even disowned. So, for them to accept
your interpretation of the Bible, they must be willing to change their LIVES and ASSOCIATIONS.

The definition of a Cult

A cult has four principle characteristics:

1. They claim to be the sole Christian religion and sole authority on earth.

2. They elevate the writings of their founders or prophets as equal to the
Word of God. Generally, they interpret the Bible based on these writings which often violate
fundamentally recognized doctrines of Scripture.

3. Those who endorse their faith are not allowed to challenge the doctrines of the faith
nor are they to test or challenge those beliefs. They are to be accepted by blind faith!

4. They aggressively market their doctrines and tightly control the beliefs of their
followers. To leave the faith is to leave the “family” and often results in shunning. Those
who leave the faith are considered pagans.

Jehovah’s Witnesses – Where did they come from?

William Miller was born on February 15, 1782, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He was
educated at home until the age of 9, then attended public school until 18. In 1803, Miller
married Lucy Smith and moved to her nearby hometown of Poultney, where he took up
farming. Shortly after his move to Poultney, Miller rejected his Baptist heritage and became
a Deist. In his biography Miller records his conversion: "I became acquainted with the
principal men in that village [Poultney, Vermont], who were professedly Deists; but they
were good citizens, and of a moral and serious deportment. They put into my hands the works of
Voltaire, [David] Hume, Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen, and other deistical writers."

He fought in the War of 1812 and came to believe that there must be a God involved in the affairs of
men.

He supposedly has a “salvation experience” while preaching in a local Baptist Church in place of his
pastor in 1816. He became convinced that postmillennialism was unbiblical and that the time (year) of
Christ’s Second Coming was revealed in Bible prophecy.

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