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Cults, World Religions, and You: Strange Religions, New and Old, Seek Converts in Your Community, Know What They Teach and How to Deal with Their Adherents
Strange religions, new and old, seek converts in your community. Know what they teach and how to deal with their adherents.
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
About the author
Kenneth D. Boa
104 books53 followersKenneth Boa is an author, a speaker, and the president of Reflections Ministries. He is the author of over fifty books, including Conformed to His Image, Faith Has Its Reasons, Face to Face, and Rewriting Your Broken Story. He is a contributing editor to the Open Bible, the Promise Keepers Men's Study Bible, and the Leadership Bible, and is the consulting editor of the Zondervan NASB Study Bible.
Boa earned a BS from Case Institute of Technology, a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary, a PhD from New York University, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford. He teaches a weekly Bible and Faith study at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he resides with his wife.
Boa earned a BS from Case Institute of Technology, a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary, a PhD from New York University, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford. He teaches a weekly Bible and Faith study at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he resides with his wife.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 24, 2020
I had to read this for a class. It is decent for what it is. Informational.
November 26, 2014
This is a handy reference for anyone who needs a quick response to the myriad of cultic and occultic movements today. It is persuasively argued, well-written, and very concise.
Eastern Religions
Boa gives a basic summary of the major Eastern religions, including historical overviews and their internal contradictions. It's rather short but that's probably the purpose. The reader will be aware of the basic tenets but should supplement his reading with more substantial works. Of interest, however, and Boa only hints this in passing, is that Eastern religion really can't make sense of the dialectic between monism and dualism.
Pseudo-Christian Groups
The meat of the book, seen in substantially longer chapters, deals with pseudo-Christian groups (Mormons, JWs, Seventh Dayers, etc). The reason is obvious: you are more likely to run across a Mormon than a Shinto or Jainist. And these chapters are outstanding. One problem in Boa's approach, though: he claims that one cannot divide the moral law from the ceremonial law (121), but says Christians are under the law of Christ (which includes 9 out of 10 commandments). I understand why he is saying this in response to SDA, but it is a dangerous, if not faulty approach.
It is interesting to note that many of these bizarre groups got off the ground in the mid 19th century to early 20th century. Uniting them seems to be a bastardized, primitive version of Hegelianism mixed with revival fervor. Think of Absolute Idealism as imagined by a high school sophomore.
Criticism
The most brilliant part of the book was its dealing with the occult. It was far more substantial in terms of argumentation than the other sections. My problem is that Boa did not connect the dots between the various occultic systems. They are not accidentally related. The larger connection or network is hermeticism. Boa alludes to hermeticism quite frequently, but he seems to see it as a generic synonym for any one teaching.
Hermeticism, by contrast, is very consistent and specific where it matters (granted, much New Agey occultism practiced by Hollywood is generic nonsense, but that's another story). Hermeticism has roots in ancient Egypt and Babylon. It is built on specific numerologies, which often manifest themselves in the aforementioned systems.
In fact, we can take the argument a step further. The godly emperor Justinian the Great smashed hermeticism in the mouth when he shut down several neo-platonic and Pythagorean Academies. It is no great supposition to believe that these hermetic movements went underground. We can see their manifesting in the Knights Templars, given that the Templars arose--however externally in Palestine--fully formed and their own hermetic doctrines did not have to evolve. After they were eradicated we can see (or suppose) hermeticism to have gone underground again only to arise with either the Freemasons or the Illuminati (I speak of the Bavarian Illuminati established by Adam Weisshaupt and not the Sex Cult of Hollywood Rappers Today).
I am not ready to say who was the primary influence--Freemasons or Illuminati. I suppose it really doesn't matter for practical purposes. What we can say of these two movements (and I leave aside guys like the MI-6 agent Alastair Crowley for the moment) is that they gave Hermeticism a quasi-institutional vehicle in which to move forward.
Of course, I really didn't expect Boa to go into all of that when each chapter is only a few pages long.
Other criticisms
The section on Madame Blavatsky probably should have been placed in the Occult section instead of the Pseudo-Christian cults. Blavatsky claimed to have received messages from "Serapis," (no doubt she did, though Serapis is likely a demon). Further, Boa just gave surface-level responses when Blavatsky's Gnosticism is easy prey to a full-orbed Patristic attack.
Eastern Religions
Boa gives a basic summary of the major Eastern religions, including historical overviews and their internal contradictions. It's rather short but that's probably the purpose. The reader will be aware of the basic tenets but should supplement his reading with more substantial works. Of interest, however, and Boa only hints this in passing, is that Eastern religion really can't make sense of the dialectic between monism and dualism.
Pseudo-Christian Groups
The meat of the book, seen in substantially longer chapters, deals with pseudo-Christian groups (Mormons, JWs, Seventh Dayers, etc). The reason is obvious: you are more likely to run across a Mormon than a Shinto or Jainist. And these chapters are outstanding. One problem in Boa's approach, though: he claims that one cannot divide the moral law from the ceremonial law (121), but says Christians are under the law of Christ (which includes 9 out of 10 commandments). I understand why he is saying this in response to SDA, but it is a dangerous, if not faulty approach.
It is interesting to note that many of these bizarre groups got off the ground in the mid 19th century to early 20th century. Uniting them seems to be a bastardized, primitive version of Hegelianism mixed with revival fervor. Think of Absolute Idealism as imagined by a high school sophomore.
Criticism
The most brilliant part of the book was its dealing with the occult. It was far more substantial in terms of argumentation than the other sections. My problem is that Boa did not connect the dots between the various occultic systems. They are not accidentally related. The larger connection or network is hermeticism. Boa alludes to hermeticism quite frequently, but he seems to see it as a generic synonym for any one teaching.
Hermeticism, by contrast, is very consistent and specific where it matters (granted, much New Agey occultism practiced by Hollywood is generic nonsense, but that's another story). Hermeticism has roots in ancient Egypt and Babylon. It is built on specific numerologies, which often manifest themselves in the aforementioned systems.
In fact, we can take the argument a step further. The godly emperor Justinian the Great smashed hermeticism in the mouth when he shut down several neo-platonic and Pythagorean Academies. It is no great supposition to believe that these hermetic movements went underground. We can see their manifesting in the Knights Templars, given that the Templars arose--however externally in Palestine--fully formed and their own hermetic doctrines did not have to evolve. After they were eradicated we can see (or suppose) hermeticism to have gone underground again only to arise with either the Freemasons or the Illuminati (I speak of the Bavarian Illuminati established by Adam Weisshaupt and not the Sex Cult of Hollywood Rappers Today).
I am not ready to say who was the primary influence--Freemasons or Illuminati. I suppose it really doesn't matter for practical purposes. What we can say of these two movements (and I leave aside guys like the MI-6 agent Alastair Crowley for the moment) is that they gave Hermeticism a quasi-institutional vehicle in which to move forward.
Of course, I really didn't expect Boa to go into all of that when each chapter is only a few pages long.
Other criticisms
The section on Madame Blavatsky probably should have been placed in the Occult section instead of the Pseudo-Christian cults. Blavatsky claimed to have received messages from "Serapis," (no doubt she did, though Serapis is likely a demon). Further, Boa just gave surface-level responses when Blavatsky's Gnosticism is easy prey to a full-orbed Patristic attack.
August 16, 2018
It's a great introduction to the different major religions, pseudo-Christian cults, and occult systems and their relation to Christianity and the Bible. It was quite surprising to me that the Seventh-Day Adventists are actually considered a Christian denomination, and not a cult. Though it has significant differences from the main sects of Protestantism, its major beliefs are Biblical in nature.
That said, I think I need to read about P. P. Quimby. He seems to be the forefather of the "New Age" religious cults such as Christian Science, and New Thought.
That said, I think I need to read about P. P. Quimby. He seems to be the forefather of the "New Age" religious cults such as Christian Science, and New Thought.
January 16, 2015
A useful general reference to cults and world religions, I enjoyed the useful concise introduction going over 1 Peter 3:15. The author's apologetic methodology is ambiguous and eclectic, but there is still some good concise content for references The author has a useful section at the end of each chapter contrasting the world religion/cult with Christianity and what essentials of orthodox doctrine that it denies.
July 25, 2024
Helpful overview and explanations with suggestions on how to approach conversations from a Christian worldview. Would recommend as a tool to gain a basic understanding of other religions and cults, including their origins, development over time, and key beliefs/values.
October 8, 2008
This is an alright book if you know what you're getting in to ahead of time. For one thing, this book never claims to be neutral in it's approach, but instead is written from the prospective of a Christian who is trying to inform other Christians reading the book why certain world religions and cults are "wrong" in their beliefs, and what approach the reader could use to convert practitioners of these religions to Christianity. So if you're looking for a neutral analysis of world religions this book will not be for you. However, if you can get past the Christian slant this book does have a lot of detailed information about various religions, major and minor, current and archaic, and in an indirect way is also informative about Christianity itself, since the same reasons for why different religions are lacking are repeated over and over (e.g. ONLY Christianity offering a solution to sin is brought up all the time). It's also interesting to read about how a lot of the recent new Christian and world religions (religions started in or since the 19th Century) were founded by very shady characters as elaborate scams, and how the current versions of these relgions try to downplay their religions origins as possible. I generally don't like to tell people their religious beliefs are right or wrong, but it is difficult to take a lot of newer religions seriously when looking at their founders.
So, while I would have prefered a book with a more neutral tone that was willing to exam and be as critical of traditional Christianity as it is of other religions, this book is still a worthwhile read. It has a lot of interesting information in it, and it is an interesting look at how a lot of Christians view other religions as compared to their own.
So, while I would have prefered a book with a more neutral tone that was willing to exam and be as critical of traditional Christianity as it is of other religions, this book is still a worthwhile read. It has a lot of interesting information in it, and it is an interesting look at how a lot of Christians view other religions as compared to their own.
January 12, 2023
The information of these new religious movements, spiritual groups, and “cults”, is surface level at best. The text would have been better had it not been for the little blurb at the end of each chapter basically saying how such-n-such tradition is either not “truly” Christianity or how such-n-such tradition goes against Christ.
The TLDR of it is that this book is basically a pamphlet for the author’s particular Christian sect and how each other examined traditions are bunk.
The TLDR of it is that this book is basically a pamphlet for the author’s particular Christian sect and how each other examined traditions are bunk.
September 11, 2008
excellent resource on religions
December 21, 2014
It's a great resources that gives an overview of many world religions and cults and compares them to Christianity.
Want to Read
December 21, 2020On my shelf to be read!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews