Is Evangelicalism a Cult?

Ask any Bible-believing, church-attending evangelical Christian that question, and most likely they’ll respond to it with horror, shock, outrage and be utterly offended: “Evangelicalism is NOT a cult, by any stretch of the imagination! Other groups are cults — like Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Moonies, Scientologists — but we are absolutely not a cult. No way. Not possible, since we represent the one true God, and the Truth — as found in the inspired and inerrant Word of God.”

But of course, they would say that, wouldn’t they? Ask any member of the other religions mentioned above if their belief system is a cult. They’d say basically the same thing — “We’re absolutely not a cult!” Obviously, for many followers of that particular religion or belief system, while they’re in it, and plugged in to the group and its message, they’ll have a hard time thinking critically and objectively about what they’re actually getting involved in. Operating within “the bubble” of the group, people have a very difficult time viewing it objectively for what it may, in fact, be.

Comparing Evangelicalism & Cults

On the face of it, evangelicalism cannot be considered a “cult” in the classic definition of the word, as understood by psychiatrists, sociologists of cults, or cult experts. Virtually every cult has a single leader or governing body…