If a new religion is genuinely Christian-based, it's another branch of the Christian Church, not a cult.
A sect has religious views, and can be quite ok, if the inspiration is there and the inspiration from the life and teachings of The Lord Jesus Christ is there.
A cult is a nasty trap, being unworthy on purpose, often while hiding under the clothes of a religion, this is done for money, power and control over others, avoid them please, they hide their real motivations and sometimes use sacrelige (great symbols to lure people, while being against purity and great Religions (an example is the pop group Led Zeppelin).
Examples of cults are: theosophy, scientology, many and varied rock and roll so-called musicians; eckancar, masonic order, and others. At first, it always looks fine, even fun.
It's better to approach a good spirit-filled Pastor of the Pentecostal Faith, or others, such as the Catholic Church or the other Churches: and ask the people in charge about such things, they DO know what they are on about. It's safe there.
Secular is quite a different story, it's non religious and is worldly, nothing to do with Churches and religions. Please memorise the difference.
The cast of Cults and New Religions - 1998 includes: Sun Myung Moon as himself
The Romans were very tolerant of other religions. The toleration and in some cases incorporation of foreign gods and beliefs, was part of the reasons for Rome's success. The only time they were intolerant of a belief was if they considered the religion decadent or treasonous. Then they came down hard of them.
Stan Nussbaum has written: 'New religious movements' -- subject(s): Cults, Missions, Religions, Sects
George D. Chryssides has written: 'Exploring new religions' -- subject(s): Religions, Cults 'Christianity today' -- subject(s): Christianity 'Christians in the twenty-first century' -- subject(s): Christianity 'The Study of Religion'
In a nutshell:"New Religions" emerge from Great World Religions when "revelations" or religious experiences are received via prophets or sages. "New Religions" either enhance an existing tradition by revealing something that was not known previously or break away from an existing tradition if an "error" is revealed and a new, sub-sect is created."New Religions" can be considered a "distant cousin" of a previously established religion.Meta-narratives (traditional stories) keep the community (followers of a particular religion) united and connected."New Age Religions" began to emerge in response to globalization (the ability to access information on most of the religions in the world), and modernity. These "New Age" movements are a result of global religious diversity, technology, and modern science, and they challenge the "purity of tradition."New Age" movements are considered "eclectic" such that people who are "New Age" pick and choose through beliefs, practices, and aesthetic aspects of Great World Religions, "New Religions", primal religions, and have a particular interest in the metaphysical and shamanism."New Age" people seek out the meaning and significance of life and time and their place in it; they are more focused on the self rather than the "truths" established by traditional religions.
John A. Saliba has written: 'Christian Responses to the New Age Movement' 'Religious Cults Today' 'Psychiatry and the cults' -- subject(s): Bibliography, Periodicals, Indexes, Psychiatry and religion, Cults, Sects
Yes. All religions are cults, the only question is how many people are in the cult. If it's fifty people, it's a cult. If it's three hundred million, it's a religion.
A sect is a section, split from the whole (origin), i.e. Catholics are a sect of the Christian religion, Sunni is a sect of Islam. Radha Soami is not a sect, if the living master can give inner light and sound to an initiate. If he can't, then its a new religion, as it did not originate from another religion.
The Baha'i Faith is the youngest (1863) of the world's independent monotheistic religions (ie., not a sect/offshoot under the umbrella of an existing belief system). It is the first entirely new religion having its own written Scriptures since Islam was introduced in the 7th Century.
There were not any new religions in the Roman Empire from which Christian beliefs and customs were rooted. Christianity itself was a new religion. Originally it was a sect of Jews and it was rooted in many of the beliefs and customs of Judaism. Then it strove to differentiate itself from Judaism. Judaism was an old religion, not a new one.
Pharisees
the green one