Dr Paul Allen

THE JESUS OF THE MORMONS IS NOT THE JESUS OF THE BIBLE The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is embarking on a rebranding effort of sorts. THEY THINK THEY ARE A CHURCH BUT ARE A TIDY SQUEAKY CLEAN CULT The church commonly referred to as the Mormons, really wants people to stop using that word. It also wants people to stop using LDS as an abbreviation. From now on, it prefers that people use the church's full name, and when a shortened reference is needed, to just use "the Church" or "Church of Jesus Christ." DECEPTION BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY ARE A REAL CHURCH These preferences are contained in a new style guide that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released Thursday. It states that while "the term 'Mormon Church' has long been publicly applied to the Church as a nickname, it is not an authorized title, and the Church discourages its use." It also asks that the term "Mormons" not be used in ref...

1. Did Seventh-day Adventism arise out of Millerism? Yes. According to the Adventist author Francis D. Nichol: “We admit freely, and without the slightest embarrassment, that we grew out of the soil of Millerism” ( Answers to Objections [reprint, 2014], 266–67). 2. Did early twentieth-century evangelical theologians view Seventh-day Adventism as a cult? Yes. For example, evangelical scholars like Louis Talbot, J. K. van Baalen, Harold Lindsell, and Anthony Hoekema viewed the SDA movement as either a cult or a heretical sect. The first prominent evangelical to argue that the SDA movement was not a cult was Walter Martin (though he was highly critical of certain SDA doctrinal distinctives). 3. Do Seventh-day Adventists teach that Christ is performing a second work of atonement in heaven? In contending that SDA is not a cult, Walter Martin argued that Seventh-day Adventists believe Christ’s atonement was fully completed at the cross, and that His current wo...

When is a church not a church? This question has received various answers throughout history, depending on one's perspective and evaluation of certain groups. There exists no monolithic interpretation of what constitutes a true church.  However, in classic Christian orthodoxy certain standards have emerged that define what we call "catholic," or universal, Christianity. This universal Christianity points to the essential truths that have been set forth historically in the ecumenical creeds of the first millennium and are part of the confession of virtually every Christian denomination historically. However, there are at least two ways in which a religious group fails to meet the standards of being a church. The first is when they lapse into a state of apostasy. Apostasy occurs when a church leaves its historic moorings, abandons its historic confessional position, and degenerates into a state where either essential Christian truths are blatantly denied or the den...