Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1991, Page 13
hurting --on the campus, in the community, on the streets. That can be a lesson to the
church. We need to strengthen our campus ministry and penetrate the hurting society, not
expect people to come to us.”61
One of the major differences between mainstream religions and cults is that the mainstream
religions have “self-policing” or “self-regulating” mechanisms whereas cults --authoritarian
self-contained units generally operating out of the public‟s eyes --do not.62 So, mainstream
religious leaders are fine-tuning their own “self-policing” procedures and scrutinizing their
own behavior and practices in order to more clearly distinguish themselves from cults and to
assure themselves and others that they are not guilty of the same manipulation,
exploitation, and abuse of which they accuse cults.
Believing it is the most likely mainstream religious group to be confused with cults because
of its emotional fervor and theologically based zeal for conversion,63 the Evangelical
Protestant community is working hard to distinguish itself from cults and to distinguish its
own proselytizing techniques from those used by cults.
One of the organizations straddling the line between cults and mainstream Evangelical
groups is the Maranatha Campus Ministries, also known as Maranatha Christian Ministries
and Maranatha Christian Church. In November, 1982 an “ad hoc” committee of
distinguished Christian Evangelical theologians met to examine critical enquiries received
about the group and to gather information about it.64 After a two-year study, which
included meetings with the Maranatha leaders, the committee denounced Maranatha‟s
“cultish practices and theology,”65 expressed concerns about its doctrines and “questionable”
practices66, and concluded it “would not recommend this organization (Maranatha) to
anyone.” The concerns of these and other Evangelicals have apparently had an impact.
Leaders of the discipleship movement have in various ways apologized publicly for the
excesses and harms of that movement.67
In response to the cult phenomenon Dr. Gordon Lewis, Professor of Theology and
Philosophy at Denver Seminary, has organized Evangelical Ministries to New Religions in
order to “help people distinguish authentic from unauthentic Christianity and strengthen
Evangelical Christian ministries to new religions and cultists.”68
In 1985 the American Family Foundation, an organization that researches cults and
psychological manipulation, asked the Reverend Dietrich Gruen, then Evangelism Specialist
and Research Assistant for the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, to gather a committee of
leading Evangelicals to formulate an ethical code on proselytizing. Gruen‟s committee of
twelve Evangelical leaders prepared a draft ethical code. Based on the premise of Article
Thirteen in the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights that “Everyone shall have
the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion” and the Catholic Church‟s Second
Vatican Council‟s Declaration on Religious Liberty69, the tentative code seeks to present
ethical witnessing guidelines to new Evangelical ministers, help them focus on problematic
areas, “stimulate professional and public debate of the major ethical quandaries...and
minimize the need for cumbersome and costly intervention and regulations by various
governmental agencies.”70
The authors of the tentative code “disavow any efforts to influence people which
depersonalize or deprive them of their inherent value as persons,” affirm “the inalienable
right of every person to retain his own belief system, and the freedom of every person to
survey other valuable options. ..”disavow “any coercive techniques or manipulative appeals
which bypass a person‟s critical faculties, play on his psychological weaknesses, or
undermine his relationship with family or religious institutions … and seek to “proclaim
Christ openly … with no hidden agendas...”71 “As Christian evangelists,” they continue, “we
accept the obligation to correct one who represents the Christian faith in any manner
incompatible with these ethical guidelines or who violates the legal statutes set forth by our
hurting --on the campus, in the community, on the streets. That can be a lesson to the
church. We need to strengthen our campus ministry and penetrate the hurting society, not
expect people to come to us.”61
One of the major differences between mainstream religions and cults is that the mainstream
religions have “self-policing” or “self-regulating” mechanisms whereas cults --authoritarian
self-contained units generally operating out of the public‟s eyes --do not.62 So, mainstream
religious leaders are fine-tuning their own “self-policing” procedures and scrutinizing their
own behavior and practices in order to more clearly distinguish themselves from cults and to
assure themselves and others that they are not guilty of the same manipulation,
exploitation, and abuse of which they accuse cults.
Believing it is the most likely mainstream religious group to be confused with cults because
of its emotional fervor and theologically based zeal for conversion,63 the Evangelical
Protestant community is working hard to distinguish itself from cults and to distinguish its
own proselytizing techniques from those used by cults.
One of the organizations straddling the line between cults and mainstream Evangelical
groups is the Maranatha Campus Ministries, also known as Maranatha Christian Ministries
and Maranatha Christian Church. In November, 1982 an “ad hoc” committee of
distinguished Christian Evangelical theologians met to examine critical enquiries received
about the group and to gather information about it.64 After a two-year study, which
included meetings with the Maranatha leaders, the committee denounced Maranatha‟s
“cultish practices and theology,”65 expressed concerns about its doctrines and “questionable”
practices66, and concluded it “would not recommend this organization (Maranatha) to
anyone.” The concerns of these and other Evangelicals have apparently had an impact.
Leaders of the discipleship movement have in various ways apologized publicly for the
excesses and harms of that movement.67
In response to the cult phenomenon Dr. Gordon Lewis, Professor of Theology and
Philosophy at Denver Seminary, has organized Evangelical Ministries to New Religions in
order to “help people distinguish authentic from unauthentic Christianity and strengthen
Evangelical Christian ministries to new religions and cultists.”68
In 1985 the American Family Foundation, an organization that researches cults and
psychological manipulation, asked the Reverend Dietrich Gruen, then Evangelism Specialist
and Research Assistant for the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, to gather a committee of
leading Evangelicals to formulate an ethical code on proselytizing. Gruen‟s committee of
twelve Evangelical leaders prepared a draft ethical code. Based on the premise of Article
Thirteen in the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights that “Everyone shall have
the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion” and the Catholic Church‟s Second
Vatican Council‟s Declaration on Religious Liberty69, the tentative code seeks to present
ethical witnessing guidelines to new Evangelical ministers, help them focus on problematic
areas, “stimulate professional and public debate of the major ethical quandaries...and
minimize the need for cumbersome and costly intervention and regulations by various
governmental agencies.”70
The authors of the tentative code “disavow any efforts to influence people which
depersonalize or deprive them of their inherent value as persons,” affirm “the inalienable
right of every person to retain his own belief system, and the freedom of every person to
survey other valuable options. ..”disavow “any coercive techniques or manipulative appeals
which bypass a person‟s critical faculties, play on his psychological weaknesses, or
undermine his relationship with family or religious institutions … and seek to “proclaim
Christ openly … with no hidden agendas...”71 “As Christian evangelists,” they continue, “we
accept the obligation to correct one who represents the Christian faith in any manner
incompatible with these ethical guidelines or who violates the legal statutes set forth by our
