Cult Leader Jesus
One of the things that fundamentalist Christians find disturbing about the world is the existence of cults.
Cult leaders are said to be self-centered and egotistical because they require complete obedience and conformity to whatever agenda the leader has in mind. On top of this, cult leaders tend to divide people into two groups, those who are members of the cult and those who aren't. Those who don't accept the agenda and views of the cult leader are often vilified and declared enemies of the group.
Cult leaders also try to separate children from their parents and create a division between them which often results in total isolation and rejection of the parental influence. Cult leaders will also promise great rewards to their followers for their sacrifice to the cult service.
Christians can often be found issuing warnings about the evils of cult environments and the destructive influence they can have on the minds of emotionally and economically stressed people. Cults are said to create an atmosphere of extremely negative attitudes because the cult leader replaces God, parents, and the very mind of an individual with the personal agenda and views of the cult leader.
The cult mentality with all its ramifications is said to spawn horrible fanatical movements and produces petty, self-serving, egotistical, and often power-hungry leaders who wish to manipulate and control others.
All these points and observations about cults ring true in the minds of objective people.
However, what is ignored by Christians is that their Lord and Savior, Jesus, exhibited exactly the same traits that zealous cult leaders do. Christians will close their eyes to the same things they find so disturbing in other cult leaders.
This is understandable to some extent because Christianity is above all else, a religion that promotes itself through aggressive advertising and the unquestioning submission to a superficial God, a God of shine and little substance.
Believers are told to do the "will of God" and serve him totally.
After all, Jesus himself gave Christians their marching orders in the Gospel of Matthew.
Matt 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power(authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
It should be noted that Jesus makes quite a claim here. Jesus claims, like all cult leaders do, that special "all power" has been given to him exclusively.
In other words, whatever the cult leader commands, the follower should do because the highest level of authority resides in the cult leader.
And of course, the follower wants to please his Master and will go out and attempt to coerce others to also obey the commands of their Master. As the cult evolves, Jesus the man becomes Jesus the God and his followers can go out and conquer the world for him knowing that they are doing their duty as good and faithful servants of their Master.
The world is full of sheep and if one falls into a ditch, the rest start jumping in.
In other words, there isn't any need to question these rules because they're found in the Holy Bible and whatever the Bible says must be true.
The disturbing cult leader characteristics of Jesus don't stop with this one example. The New Testament has many other examples which are always ignored by Christians because it spoils the fluffy image of Jesus that they so love to portray to the world. They will only quote the "nice" sayings of Jesus while ignoring the many ugly and self-absorbed things he said.
Let's have a look at some of the other cult leader traits exhibited by Jesus, the alleged "Prince of Peace".
Jesus was a cult leader who wanted to bring division and disharmony.
It was all part of his ego-based new world order.
Luke 12:49-53
I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
And like most cult leaders, Jesus wanted people to leave their families and make him the centerpiece of their existence.
Matt 10:37
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And like most cult leaders, Jesus promised potential recruits to his new cult a great big reward for leaving their current responsibilities behind to serve him alone.
Matt 19:29
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
And like many self-absorbed cult leaders, Jesus deemed anyone who didn't jump on his theological bandwagon to be an enemy.
Matt 12:30He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
And like many cult leaders, Jesus won't tolerate anyone who doesn't want him to rule their lives.
Luke 19:27
But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
As other cult leaders proclaim, simple unbelief will merit punishment.
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And like many cult leaders, Jesus in his glorified Final Solution, will send out his army of drones to cleanse the world of anything that Jesus deems or defines as "wicked".
Naturally, unbelievers will be exterminated along with all the other unworthy human "weeds".
Matt 13:40-42
As therefore the tares(weeds) are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The whole teaching foundation of Christianity is that anyone who doesn't declare and "confess" that Jesus is their Lord and Savior is doomed to eternal damnation.
The context is quite clear. It's an ultimatum designed to coerce and manipulate others into compliance with a religious agenda that seeks to dominate others to enhance its power and influence.
Oddly enough, the Hebrew scriptures, which Christians label as the "Old Testament", doesn't support Jesus and his attempt to usurp authority from Yahweh.
Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament, said quite clearly that he is not a man(Num 23:19) and will not
give his glory to another(Isa 42:8).
There is nothing in the Old Testament which states that people should worship a man, a Son of Man, or a Messiah as God and such a thing is abomination in the eyes of Yahweh.
All of these Old Testament scriptural facts are ignored by Christians however. Christians are far too entranced with their worship of a "God" who appeals to their need to feel "chosen" and "elect" by a God.
Christians will only recognize as the "Word of God", those parts of the Bible that they like the sound of and any parts which don't appeal to them they'll ignore or rationalize away as not pertaining to them.
Jesus demonstrated exactly the same traits that other cult leaders exhibit. Of course, since it was Jesus the disturbing similarities are deemed "holy" and the"will of God".
But let there be no mistake, the character called Jesus, as defined by the New Testament has the same egotistical, power hungry message that any other zealous cult leader or dictator has.
That message is…Obey me in all things or you will be punished.
Addendum:
Over the centuries and continuing today, Christianity has conducted a very successful advertising campaign that promotes "Jesus" as a paragon of love, higher wisdom, and selfless service to others. This version of Jesus can be found everywhere, from Christian enclaves to mainstream media programs, and is also commonly found in "new age" teachings.
The Bible itself undermines the fantasy image of Jesus that Christianity has worked so hard to create.
However, a popular cotton candy version of Jesus has been so systematically entrenched in the minds of people, that they will do just about anything to prop up and perpetuate this fantasy.
Christian position:
In Luke 19:27, where Jesus is telling a story in the form of a parable, he speaks of a ruler that demands the death of those that don't want to recognize him as king.
Luke 19:27This is only a story, it doesn't mean that Jesus would ever approve of such actions.
But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
Commentary:
Jesus showed signs of not only approving of such actions, he had plans to carry them out.
It's remarkable that Christians, who often tell unbelievers that the Hebrew scriptures foreshadowed, or indirectly pointed to Jesus, will deny an example of it when it's right in front of their face, from their own New Testament.
The story Jesus told in Luke 19:27 was just prior to his entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey and portraying himself as king, even though he planned on being an absent king, one who planned on ruling when he returned in his glorious second coming.
The story conveys the message that those people that work for the interests of the ruler, even in his absence, are given great rewards and find favor with the king when he returns. Those who offend the king, such as those that have no interest in having him rule over them, were to be brought before the king and killed.
Jesus told his disciples that any city that did not accept the gospel, in which Jesus becomes the their Lord, would be punished to an even greater extent than Sodom and Gomorrha were punished.
That implies a great deal of killing would take place(Gen 19:24-25).
Matt 10:14-15
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.
Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
Jesus stated that simple unbelief was enough to offend him. Unbelievers are damned by Jesus.
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Jesus stated quite clearly that he would conduct a great scourge of the earth when he returned to set up his kingdom.
Included in the list of people to be killed are those that offend him.
Matt 13:41-42
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The theme of burning or killing off those that don't comply with what Jesus wants is repeated here:
John 15:6
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
The killing spree that Jesus will conduct is also spelled out clearly in the Book of Revelation, where Jesus gives his
testimony of things that where to occur in the near future.
There's going to be a lot of killing going on when the aspiring king returns.
Rev 19:15
And out of his(Jesus) mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Note that Jesus will treat the nations of the earth this way, he shall "rule them with a rod of iron".
That certainly doesn't bode well for any that don't want Jesus to be king over them.
Paul, who claimed that he was directly instructed by Jesus in Gal 1:12, echoed the message of mass killing that would take place when the wrathful Lord Jesus comes to rule the world.
Those that fail to obey Jesus will be punished with "everlasting destruction".
2 Thess 1:7-9
And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Attempting to dismiss Luke 19:27 as only a story that Jesus told, but would not approve of or actually do himself, is
a faith based adventure in self-delusion.
The doctrine is ugly, intolerant, and displays the leadership style of petty dictators or violent minded cult leaders, but there it is, right in the Holy Bible.
If that's too much reality for a believer to digest, then that's their problem.
Christian position:
Jesus is not a cult leader of a small cult because Jesus is God and because Christianity is a doctrine, not a cult.
Christianity is a world religion with millions of followers.
It is an ancient religion and will be around long after you and I are gone.
Christianity is a DOCTRINE. Not a cult.
Commentary:
According to the New Testament, around the time Jesus left earth, just prior to the Pentecost, the cult numbered about 120 believers. Jesus was the leader of a small cult, despite what this believer wants to think.
Acts 1:15
And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples,and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
The fact that it's now a long-running popular cult, with millions of followers, is immaterial to the discussion.
Some definitions of the word CULT:
- a system of religious beliefs and ritual
- great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work
Christianity has many doctrines just as cults do, and is centered around one figure, just as many cults are.
In this case the figure is a god-man that claimed all power and authority had been given to him.
Many egotistical cult figures share the same claim, along with claiming that they have superior "truth".
Jesus claimed to not only have superior truth, he claimed to be the only conduit to God.
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Jesus, like many cult leaders, wasn't shy about proclaiming that he had been given ultimate authority, and in this case Jesus boasted to have power over the entire universe.
Matt 28:18-20
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Christian assertion:
You used these words to describe what Jesus said:
"Obey me in all things or you will be punished."
Jesus never said that nor did any of his phrases indicate that.
Commentary:
The evidence supporting an intolerant, demanding, and wrathful Jesus is rather clear, but it's often so unpleasant for some believers to digest that they deny it exists. The myth of an ever humble Jesus is heavily promoted in Christianity.
However, the Prince of Peace is only peaceful once he has killed off anything that offends his self proclaimed majesty.
Jesus indicated that there is very little middle ground with him, you're either for him or against him.
Matt 12:30
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
The New Testament exhibits the same dogmatic attitude in the following:
John 3:36
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Jesus told his disciples to teach the world that they were to obey all the commands of Jesus.
Matt 28:19-20
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Simple unbelief is offensive to Lord Jesus, as pointed out in Mark 16:16 and Matt 13:41-42.
The penalty for disobedience is punishment. It doesn't get much clearer than this.
2 Thess 1:8-9
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
Since this believer thinks Jesus is God, Jesus said that he should be feared because he had the power to not only kill people but to cast them into hell after they were dead.
Luke 12:5
But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Some people that received a mark on themselves will be cruelly tortured in the presence of Jesus, the King of Kings.
This is the message from Jesus in that regard:
Rev 14:10-11
The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
This belief system, which this apologist can't bring themselves to recognize as a form of cult, asserts that its followers are special because they're covered by the blood of a human sacrifice.
This cult leader also urged his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood so they could live forever(John 6:53-55).
Then, according to cult teachings, these followers, who consider themselves to be vice-regents of God, will reign with the cult leader Jesus when he flies back to earth from his current perch in heaven.
These believers often say that they want to spend eternity in a place called "heaven" where they'll constantly be singing praises and giving glory to the cult leader.
Concerning the earlier claim that Jesus is God:
This must be real news to Jesus, who said that he has a God. Jesus said it no less than four times in one verse.
Rev 3:12
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
The Jesus that said this wasn't the one that was speaking on earth, it was the glorified Jesus that was resurrected and had ascended to heaven.
Jesus clearly stated four times in one verse that he has a God, but that doesn't impede believers from peddling the "Jesus is God" myth as if it was some sort of universal fact.
An absurd Jesus fetish permeates society, where people are sold a bill of goods rooted in delusion and propaganda.
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