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Discuss the Differences Between Churches, Sects and Cults

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Discuss the differences between churches, sects and cults.

A church: is a religious group that accepts the social environment in which it exists. In more plain language, a church is widely accepted by the host culture in which it resides. In America, Protestantism would be a church. It is generally accepted by the whole and is consistent with the culture's values (maybe not traditional Protestantism, but what forms we have of it today). Church may have denominations which are small changes made in the church that are still accepted by the host culture.

A sect: is a religious group the rejects the social environment in which it exists. Now, it's not as extreme as that definition makes it seem. A sect doesn't necessarily share the same values as the host culture. This causes some friction between the religious group and the host culture, but we accept the group as a society because we're more tolerant to differing religions in this day and age. Many churches started as sects. One well-known example was the Nazarenes. This was an reform movement within Judaism formed by Jesus' apostles after the execution of Jesus circa 30 CE They were largely dispersed or killed some four decades later when the Romans attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.
Again the most obvious North American example of a sect that evolved into a denomination is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), the Mormons. Their founder, Joseph Smith, had a revelation from God that the ministry of Jesus Christ continued after his crucifixion, as described in what is now called the Book of Mormon. The Mormon sect has since evolved into the Mormon denomination of Christianity with the passage of time and the gathering of increasing numbers of followers. Within a few decades, it is expected to become the dominant faith group in the American west. When statehood was being

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