Knowledge of solid Biblical doctrine will not protect or shield a person from spiritual deception. Many Evangelical Christians, including those who participate in Christian apologetics (defending the truth of the Christian faith with the Bible as the standard) believe that they are insulated from deception and spiritual abuse. Note what Dr. Harold Bussell has to say about how vulnerable just such a belief can render a person highly vulnerable.
Believing that one is impervious to spiritual deception actually puts a person at high risk for deception.
Note: Because cults and spiritually abusive systems use identical techniques of manipulation, those involved in exit counseling often use the words "cult" and "spiritual abuse" or "aberrant teaching" or "cultic" interchangibly. A group may profess sound basic Biblical Christian doctrine, yet employ these manipulation techniques, therefore certain groups use these terms interchangably. From a standpoint of social interraction and psychology, a group is defined as a "cult" not because of doctrine but in terms of manipulation and exploitation of followers.
Many evangelicals who are drawn to cults are not drawn because of beliefs or doctrine but because of similarities to Christianity which we value as marks of spirituality. the members of the People’s Temple never expected to end up in Jonestown, as Mel White so clearly illustrates in the movie Deceived. It is easy for us, as churches and as individuals, to write off these groups and try to remove by remote control our responsibility to face our own vulnerability to cultic deception. If you think you or your church is not vulnerable to these dynamics, you are most vulnerable.
Read the entire article HERE on the ICSA website.
