A DIFFERENT JESUS?

Someone once said, “...because cultic groups deviate from the written Word of God (the Bible), they do not accept the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the completely unique Son of God”. This statement is, as we said before, the crux of the whole matter! All cults will in some way deny that Jesus Christ was God in human form. The most important question to have answered then, in dealing with a member of a cult is - "Who really was Jesus of Nazareth?". The Apostle Paul warned about those who would preach "...another Jesus than the one we preached" (2 Cor. 11:4). Paul made it clear that the preaching of "another Jesus" was inspired by a different spirit than God's Holy Spirit, and therefore constituted a "different gospel" from the one that was "...once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3).

The following are a few representative quotations from groups that the writer considers to be cultic and therefore dangerous. The quotations clearly reveal that the "Jesus of the cults" is clearly not the Jesus of the Bible!

The Latter Day Saint’s ‘Jesus’
The ‘Jesus’ of Mormonism is claimed to be a pre-existent spirit who was the brother of the devil (‘Pearl of Great Price’ and ‘Book of Moses 4:1-4') who was married to both Mary and Martha. This, it is claimed, was so that he could "see his seed" before his crucifixion. The ‘Mormon Jesus’ is one whose blood shed on Calvary is not the all-sufficient basis for the forgiveness of man's sins. One has no option to conclude that the Mormon ‘Jesus’ is an inadequate saviour!

The Jehovah's Witness Jesus
The "Jesus" of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is said to be the first of created beings but was not the eternally pre-existent member of the Godhead, or Trinity (in which they don’t believe).
“Our redeemer existed as a spirit before he was made flesh and dwelt amongst men. At that time, as well as subsequently, he was properly known as 'a god' - a mighty One (Studies in Scripture, vol. 5, p55).
"...The true Scriptures speak of God's Son, the Word, as 'a god'. He is a 'mighty god', but not 'the Almighty God', who is Jehovah (Isaiah 9:6)" ("The Truth Shall Make You Free", p47). We must therefore have to conclude also that the ‘Jesus’ of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is not the Jesus of the Bible!

The Jesus of Christian Science
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science (which is not Christian and is definitely not ‘scientific’) not only rejected the Trinity as a "heathen belief" (Science and Health, p12) but presented a Jesus typical of Judaism, or Unitarianism:- "The Christian who believes in the first commandment is a monotheist. Thus he virtually unites with the Jews' belief in one God and recognizes that Jesus Christ is not God as Jesus Himself declared, but is the Son of God" (Science and Health, p361). Again, not the Jesus of the Bible!

The Jesus of 'The Way' International
Victor Paul Wierwille's (the founder) teaching about Jesus is succinctly summed up by the title of his book on the subject, ‘JESUS CHRIST IS NOT GOD’!
"Jesus Christ was not with God in the beginning ... The Son of God is not co-eternal (with God) ... If Jesus Christ is God and not the Son of God, we have not yet been redeemed". Like Christian Science’s Mary Baker Eddy, Wierwille says this doctrine of the deity of Christ and the Trinity is a hold-over from paganism and not a biblical truth! Wrong ‘Jesus’ again!

Sun Myung Moon's Jesus
This "Korean Messiah", who was goaled in the United States for tax fraud, also attacks the uniqueness of Jesus, to strengthen his own position:-
"Jesus, on earth was a man no different from us except for the fact that he was without original sin ... He can by no means be God Himself" (Divine Principles, pp211, 212). Wrong again!

The Jesus of Transcendental Meditation (TM)
The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi shows that he does not understand t at all the Jesus of the Bible, by his following statement:- “I don't think Christ ever suffered or Christ could suffer ... The message of Christ has been the message of bliss" (Meditations of Maharishi, pp123, 124). Still wrong!

The Hare Krishna Jesus
They teach that the "Lord Jesus is the Son of the Supreme Absolute Truth. And Krishna is the Father. He is the Source. Krishna says, I am the source of everything. From me the entire creation flows. Knowing this, the wise worship me with all their hearts. So Krishna is the Supreme Father, and every other living entity is his part and parcel, or his son" (The Strange World of the Hare Krishnas, p102). Also incorrect!

The Jesus of Guru Maharaj Ji
The now not so young guru, also sees Jesus as "one of the many manifestations of the Godhead", but not the unique manifestation of God as the Bible declares:-
"So Jesus is living, right! Jesus is living, Ram is living now, Krishna is living now, Buddha is living now, but they have all been united into one very powerful power. And when this power spreads its hand ... all the things that are going on wrong in this world are going to be abolished" (Divine Light Magazine, 1972). Another that is incorrect!

~Copyright Mandate Ministries 1997~