Just What Do You Mean - A CULT? - Herbert W Armstrong - August 1980

Herbert W Armstrong

The Worldwide Church of God is not a "cult"! It is the present generation continuing the Church of God founded A.D. 31 by Jesus Christ. Here are the facts. A prominent Baptist minister recently said, "If the Worldwide Church of God is a cult, then we Baptists were a cult during the early years of our growth." Actually, the word cult is not an insulting epithet, but today it is often used insultingly. The word comes from the word culture, which ordinarily is used as a very complimentary term. Webster defines "cult" as, "1) formal religious veneration, worship; 2) a system of religious belief and ritual, also adherents to; 3) a religion rejected as unorthodox or spurious." It is this third usage that was widely used in the sensational Jonestown mass-suicide incident. Since that event occupied front-page banner headlines for several days, some who do not know the facts have been labeling any or all small churches, small in membership, as " cults." SMALL CHURCHES ARE NOT "CULTS." - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library