If World Mission Society Church of God is a cult, then Christianity is a cult?

The World Mission Society Church of God doesn't seem to mind terribly much being called a cult.  Here's why they do ...

A new or potential member is told by the WMSCOG something to this effect:
"When you tell your family and friends about your new church they are going to get upset and tell you that the World Mission Society is a cult.  They won't understand because they have not received the truth of the WMSCOG.  They will accuse the WMSCOG of being a cult and try everything they can do to take you away from the truth you have found."

What happens then?  When the new or potential member talks to their family about this new church, sure enough, their loved ones get extremely concerned that they have joined a cult.  It happens just as the WMSCOG told them it would.  It happened that way with my sister.  It happened that way with many others I have talked to.

Unfortunately, this often reinforces the WMSCOG claim to have the 'truth' since, after all, what they said would happen did come about.  So calling this group a 'cult' supposedly proves to them that it is not a cult?  How does that sound to you?  The WMSCOG likes to use persecution and unbelief as proof that they are the true church.

WMSCOG members will then go on to say that if the World Mission Society Church of God is a cult, then Christianity itself is a cult, like this website here (be forewarned, it is a pro-WMSCOG website).  This is not a new thought.  I've heard atheists (and others) say that all religions are cults.  But there are various definitions of "cult," as you can see in this online dictionary.  We need to make a distinction between the definition of "a specific system of religious worship" and the definition of a group "using devious psychological techniques to gain and control adherents."

This article, "When Does a Religion Become a Cult?" from the Wall Street Journal puts it very well.  The author, Mitch Horowitz, writes:

"Yet every coercive religious group harbors one telltale trait: untoward secrecy. As opposed to a cult, a religious culture ought to be as simple to enter or exit, for members or observers, as any free nation. Members should experience no impediment to relationships, ideas or travel, and the group's finances should be reasonably transparent. Its doctrine need not be conventional—but it should be knowable to outsiders."

When I read that, I ask myself about the WMSCOG:

• Is it "as simple to enter or exit, for members or observers, as any free nation"?
• Do members "experience no impediment to relationships, ideas or travel"?
• Are the church's finances "reasonably transparent"?
• Do they want their doctrine "knowable to outsiders"?

The answers to all these questions regarding the WMSCOG, from the experiences of myself and many others, are each a resounding NO.
When I ask myself the same questions regarding all the Christian churches I'm familiar with, the answers are each YES.
The WMSCOG's assertion that "If the WMSCOG is a cult, then Christianity itself is a cult" is FALSE.

One more thing for today about the workings of a cult.  Please check out this article, "How the WMSCOG Indoctrinates and Changes a Person's Life."  It was written by an ex-member of the WMSCOG who shares how their personal experiences match up to the "Twenty Steps of Indoctrination in Destructive Cults" (from Douglas Rushkoff's book Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say).  I hope you'll read through the entire article.

The name of Jesus

When I previously wrote about Ahn Sahng-Hong stating that Jesus is the only name for salvation, a reader expressed trouble in finding that reference.  Well, here is it so you can see for yourself.  This is from the book The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life, page 181 (Chapter 12).


He says, "salvation is found in no other name than Jesus, not only at His first coming but even in the last days."

Compare this to what the WMSCOG teaches: "Today, salvation is only given through the name of Christ Ahnsahnghong...."  (from The Savior of Each Age and the New Name) 

I've heard World Mission Society members defend this by saying that since (they believe) Ahnsahnghong and Jesus are the same person, there is no contradiction here.  But it's the name that is important.

They claim that the name of Jesus has expired in this "new age," and the name of Ahnsahnghong is the only one through which salvation is found in these last days.

That is in direct contradiction to their own founder who said that even in the last days, salvation is given only in the name of Jesus.

What does the Bible say?
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."  (Acts 4:12)

Moral vs. Ceremonial Law

I've written before about the list of requirements for salvation, according to the World Mission Society Church of God.  But the more I learn about the WMSCOG, the more I see how inconsistent they are with their teaching and practice.

The WMSCOG says that ALL God's commands must be obeyed in order to gain salvation.

• "Even though this regulation [the veil] seems minor, it cannot be neglected. None of God's commands were instituted meaninglessly. All of the regulations were given to God's people because they are necessary for our salvation and allow us to enter the kingdom of God." (from Fundamental Truths: Veil)
• "There are numerous people in the world who claim to believe in God. However, only those who fully obey God's word can be said to truly believe in God. We often see many people say they believe in God but deny Him by their actions." (from A Hesitating Faith and an Entrusting Faith)
• "Christians must always live according to the word of God. God told us not to add or take away from the words of the Bible because He put all the means for salvation together in the Bible....  Salvation is based on obedience."  (from According to Your Word)

Yet the experiences of myself and my friends show that in practice, they do NOT follow ALL God's commands.  I'm not talking about the ones they say changed with the New Testament, but regular commands for our way of living.  For example, here are a few that we've seen...

• They accept, and even encourage, members pursuing marriage with unbelieving non-members.  However, the Bible says, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers..." (2 Cor. 6:14).
• They accept a member's divorcing an unbelieving spouse, even though the unbeliever does not wish to divorce.  However, the Bible says, "...if any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her...." (1 Cor. 7:12-13)
• They (at least in the congregations we know) do not preach to certain kinds of people, such as the elderly in nursing homes, the very poor, the mentally handicapped, and those in prison.  However, the Bible says we have a God who is "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9).

I've often wondered why the WMSCOG puts so much emphasis on what we would call the ceremonial law--keeping of days (Sabbath, Passover and Feasts), rituals (footwashing, veil), and traditions (women and men separated during church, timing and order of services), etc.

But the moral law doesn't seem to matter--life choices (like marriage and divorce), behaviors and attitudes (like disdain for certain classes of people).

That's opposite of the mainstream Christian churches who consider the moral law priority, and the ceremonial law unimportant.  No wonder we have such a hard time talking to each other about obedience!  We have radically different ideas of what to obey!  Why is that?

In reading Ahn Sahng-Hong's book, The Mystery of God and the Spring of the Water of Life, I finally realized why.  Here it is, are you ready?....

Ahn Sahng-Hong said that keeping the moral law is not necessary for salvation!  That means he believed you must keep the ceremonial law (such as the Sabbath and the Passover) to be saved.  BUT if you did not keep the moral law (laws against such things as stealing, lying, adultery), even though you'd get in trouble with society, you would still have your salvation.  Those types of sins don't really matter in regards to salvation.  Here's exactly what he said on pages 431-433 (chapter 32),

"As long as we do not break the new covenant, we are set apart from sin.  What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  Not at all.  Although a sin is not taken into account under the new covenant, it may be counted under the law in human society.  In order not to be condemned or punished by society, we ought to observe the old law or the law of the world.  Moreover, we ought to do what the people of the world regard as good, for the sake of the gospel....  

"Moral law is not directly related to salvation.  However, if there were no moral law, the church would be in disorder and the light of the gospel would be hindered from shining in the world.  It is not by keeping the moral law that those who preach the gospel in this world can become God's children and be saved.  Even though they keep all the law, it cannot lead them to the kingdom of heaven but just helps them keep their present status while they live in this world."

Does the World Mission Society Church of God really mean what they preach--that ALL God's commands must be obeyed for salvation?  No.  In this case, they seem to agree in practice with their founder Ahn Sahng-Hong who taught that obedience to the moral law was not required.  In doctrine, though, they disagree with Ahn Sahng-Hong when they teach that all God's word must be fully obeyed.