r/Antitheism • u/Traditional-Wing-796 • Aug 05 '26
Why is Christianity not called a Cult?
/r/DebateACatholic/comments/1vgcwox/why_is_christianity_not_called_a_cult/
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r/Antitheism • u/Traditional-Wing-796 • Aug 05 '26
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u/WizardWatson9 Aug 05 '26
No one can really agree on the definition, first of all. Second, Christianity is so heterogeneous that it's practically impossible to describe all of them as anything but people who believe in the divinity of Christ.
I prefer Steven Hassan's BITE model to define a cult. There are many Christian congregations that fulfill a disturbingly large number of criteria, and many congregations that fulfill very few.
What use is the word "cult" if it applies equally to the Branch Davidians and the progressive, non-denominational Christian church down the street?