Cults

In a recent conversation, I was explaining how I started down this conversion process. There were three early seeds.

The first was a visit I made to Mepkin Abbey over a year ago. While sitting in the little chapel, I observed a stream of people entering in. It was very easy to distinguish between the Protestants and the Catholics. The latter seemed much more reverent, by their posture, actions, and demeanor.

Secondly, a comment that my dad made really stuck with me. He stated: "The posture of fundamentalism is this: [a pointed finger], whereas the Anglo-Catholic is this: [open arms]". This is generally true. The difference is not a shallow one. The various postures are physical manifestations of very core differences in the two world views.

Finally, there were two events which, like a one-two punch sent me reeling towards the Church. The first was a visit from some Jehovah's witnesses. They sat down with me for a good, lengthy discussion. Of course, I thought I won the debate, and I went on my way without thinking too much of it. A couple of months later, I ran into a guy in my apartment complex who had moved into town to start a Bible study. I thought that was a strange reason to move into a town and was immediately intrigued. Besides, I was looking to get into a local fellowship group. Well, it turned out the study was the outcropping of a cult group... And that's when something clicked in my mind. Both the Jehovah's witnesses and this cult claimed to be Bible-believing Christian organizations. Both claimed to have the Holy Spirit. The cult even spoke in tongues!

Who was I to say that their interpretation of the Scriptures was incorrect? What I told myself was this: "Well, their interpretation is pretty distant from that of the majority of Christendom... Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans..." But then I realized I wasn't appealing to Scripture itself, as that hadn't proved sufficient in our debates. I was appealing to the Body of Christ, and the traditional beliefs held by it. But if this was my appeal, then I was in a very sticky situation, for the same argument could be made by Catholics against my Protestant point of view...

And that was pretty much that.