Perhaps it’s best to begin our study of these cults by defining precisely what we mean when we attach the label of “cult” to a particular organization, so that as we progress into the field we shall not be hampered by the problem of fluctuating terminology.

Today on the mission fields of the world, and indeed on every street corner of the major cities of the six continents, cultism is on the march.

By cultism we mean the adherence to major doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity, yet which claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources. Cultism, in short, is any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith.

A cult, then, is a group of people polarized around someone’s interpretation of the Bible and is characterized by major deviations from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith, particularly the fact that God became man in Jesus Christ.

Thus we see the Mormons polarized around Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, Christian Scientists around Mary Baker Eddy, and the other groups around their respective leaders.

The most prominent among the cults are Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, Christian Science, [and] Unity,… All of these deny both the Biblical doctrines of the Trinity and the Deity of Jesus Christ.

_________________________________________________________________________
End notes:

[1] Walter Martin, The Rise Of The Cults [Santa Ana: Vision House, 1980] , 11, 12, italics his.

See also:

MORMONISM STARTED THIS FIGHT

MORMONISM IS A NON-CHRISTIAN CULT

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS SEEKS COMMON GROUND WITH MORMONISM