Is Mormonism a Cult?

First Baptist of Dallas Pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress, recently stirred up controversy when he described Mormonism as a cult while speaking to evangelical Christians at the Values Voters Summit.  New York Daily News reporter Kerry Wills opened an October 8 column with the following statement:


"An evangelical pastor cast Mitt Romney  in a spooky light Friday by calling Mormonism a cult and urging good Christians to vote for his rival, Texas Governor Rick Perry."


Other candidates were quick to distance themselves from the comment.  Did Pastor Jeffress, who holds two doctorates, cast Mitt Romney in a "spooky light?"  Actually no.  In the context of evangelical Christianity Pastor Jeffress was not saying the Mormonism was an occult group or a Jim Jones type religious movement.  He was speaking to evangelical Christians and he was saying that we would prefer "a Christian."  By this he meant an "orthodox Christian", someone who holds to the doctrines of historical orthodox Christianity.  Mormonism stands outside of orthodox Christianity.  


Many evangelicals would love to have one of their own in the White House.  This does not mean that they require a candidate to be an evangelical, but that they would prefer an evangelical.  Of course orthodox Christianity includes more than just evangelical Christians.


The problem in this case is a misunderstanding of the  range of meanings for the word "cult."  Many words have multiple meanings.  Speaking to evangelical Christians, Jeffress would assume that they understand what he means by the term cult.  The problem is that many reporters and others may not be familiar with the range of meanings and uses of the term and so they give it a meaning that is different than the one normally used by evangelicals.


Here are some definitions of the word cult:

1. FORMAL a religious system in which people worship a particular god, person, or object.  The cult of the goddess Isis (Macmillan Dictionary online).
   
2. A religious group, often living together, whose beliefs are considered extreme or strange by many people. Their son ran away from home and joined a religious cult (Cambridge Dictionaries online).
3. A religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious (Merriam-Webster Online).

In academic writings on world religions and ancient religions the word cult most often follows definition one above.  In popular culture today, especially in regard to groups like the Branch Davidians or the Peoples Temple (Jim Jones' group) meaning two is understood.  In writings within evangelical Christianity that discuss unorthodox Christian groups and other religions which deny or change fundamental historical Christian doctrines the meaning of cult is the one given in definition three.

One of the most popular books of the late 20th Century that evaluated religious groups in America was Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults.  In this book he described Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Scientology, Unitarian Universalism and even Islam as cults.  These were religions which contradicted the biblical orthodox understanding of Christianity and were new or not well-understood by many of his readers.  His definition of cult matches definition three above--a religion that is unorthodox or spurious in comparison to orthodox Christianity.

Mormonism definitely fits this definition.  Walter Martin goes into great detail to explain why this is the case.  To call it a cult in this manner does not mean that it is a cult as in definition two, but that its teachings contradict orthodox biblical Christianity.  I don't believe that Dr. Jeffress was saying that Mitt Romney's religion disqualified him as a presidential candidate.  I believe that in speaking to fellow evangelicals he was asking them to support Rick Perry in part because Perry was an evangelical and Romney was a part of an unorthodox Christian religion.  That is a self-described Christian religion that is considered to be a false version of Christianity when evaluated by the historical doctrines of biblical orthodox Christianity.


Here is a link to the NY Daily News story: http://tinyurl.com/5rhyhc8

Here is a summary of why Mormonism is considered a cult according to definition number three: http://www.gotquestions.org/Mormons.html.