Tuesday, February 23, 2016

CULTS & WORLD RELIGIONS: Resources for Study

The following are resources for researching cults and world religions:

GENERAL
VIDEOS
*"An Introduction to Cults" (7 minute video) from Seven Minute Seminary

BOOKS
*Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin and Ravi Zacharias. This classic book on cults was updated in 2003. Available in Hardcover, paperback, Audible, and Audio CD.
*So What's the Difference?: A Look at 20 Worldviews, Faiths and Religions and How They Compare to Christianity by Fritz Ridenour. Another modern classic. Updated and expanded in 2001. 
*Christianity, Cults & ReligionsA Rose Publishing pamphlet. Also available in Kindle or as a Multimedia CD. ",,,,compares the beliefs of 21 world religions, sects, cults, and new religious groups side by side from a Christian point of view...for Bible Studies, Sunday school classes, and homeschool curriculum. 14 panels, fits inside most Bibles, 8.5 x 5.5 inches, unfolds to 38 inches long."
*Barriers & Bridges (28 page ebooklet) "forgoes detailed history and beliefs of the 12 religions and sects it covers and jumps straight to the key practical considerations. From the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. FREE! pdf
*Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day by Garrry R. Morgan. Currently only $1.99.


WEBSITES

*ApologeticsIndex: "The Apologetics Index 'family of web sites' provides 47,830+ pages of research resources on religious cults, sects, new religious movements, and alternative religions.
*Institute for Religious Research (established in 1986) is currently directed by my friend Rob Bowman, an excellent New Testament scholar and foremost expert on the Biblical defense of Christ's deity. He is also a leading expert on cults, such as Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses.
*Justin Peters Ministries deals specifically with members of the Word of Faith movement--health & wealth/prosperity preachers, "such as Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Andrew Wommack, John Hagee, T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Rod Parsley, Creflo Dollar, Joseph Prince, Bill Johnson, etc." Justin Peters has a seminar that deals with this called "Clouds Without Water" (formerly called "A Call to Discernment"), which is available on DVD.
*Christian Answers for the New Age is the ministry of my friend Marcia Montenegro, a former new ager and professional astrologer. She also has links to other websites here.
*Martin Walter's Religious InfoNet is the website that archives the work of one of the leading apologists and cult experts of the 20th Century.
*Christian Research Institute was founded by Walter Martin in 1960 and is currently led by Hank Hanegraaff. Lots of articles hosted here by topic. This link will take you to their Countercult archive. Look to the right to find many other topics, including Buddhism, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.
*Spiritual Counterfeits Project"Since 1973, the SCP has been a frontline ministry confronting the occult, the cults, and the New Age movement and explaining why they are making an impact on our society."
*4Truth.net: World Religions page. New Religions and Cults page. 
*The John Ankerberg Show. Also here and here.
*Internet Sacred Text Archives: A very useful site for researching world religions. Archives texts from a vast array of the world's religions. 
*L'Abri ideas library has several lectures on world religions and cults.



Online Resources for
MAJOR CULTS & WORLD RELIGIONS


JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

*HOW TO WITNESS TO "JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES": An Article & Resource List


ISLAM
*"Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?" (1-minute video) by Lutheran Satire
*"Getting to Know Islam" (10 minute vidoe) by Seven Minute Seminary
*"Understanding Ramadan" (11 minute video) by Seven Minute Seminary
*Answering Islam: A massive site full of resources. Their Facebook group.
*Answering Muslims: The Islamablog of Acts 17 Apologetics (David Wood, Marie Wood, Paul Rezkalla). Their Facebook group.
*Advanced Apologetics: The ministry of Jonathan McLatchie. The Advanced Apologetics Facebook group.
*Another Slow News Day: A very long list of links on Islam
*"Islam Bookshelf"An extensive list of FREE! books on Islam topically arranged at Project Gutenberg.
*"Introduction to Islam" (16 hours 20 minutes) by Timothy Tennant. A FREE! online course
*Groothuis, Douglas. "Lectures 38 & 39" from Groothuis' 44-lecture course on apologetics.
*L'Abri ideas library has several lectures on Islam.


MORMONISM
*Jesus' Resurrection and Joseph's Visions: Examining the Foundations of Christianity and Mormonism by Rob Bowman. "....compares the evidence for Jesus' resurrection with the evidence for Joseph's visions, showing how the historical data confirm the truth of Jesus' resurrection, and that the accounts of Joseph Smith's visions are historically unreliable. For Mormons who have doubts about their religion, this study will help them find a more reliable basis for faith in Christ...."
*"Mormon Doctrine on God, Christ and Humanity" (7 minute video) by Seven Minute Seminary
*Mormons in Transition at Institute for Religious Research
*The Book of Mormon Page at IRR'S Mormons in Transition: "Is the Book of Mormon ancient or modern? Is it scripture genuinely inspired by God? How does it compare to the Bible? We offer here a growing collection of resources for studying the Book of Mormon’s origins, claims, and teachings."
*"Resources to Help You Respond to Mormonism" compiled by J. Warner Wallace at Cold-Case Chrisitianity
*ApologeticsIndex has a large, nicely organized list of resources for researching Mormonism.
*MormonInfo.org/JosephLied.com Facebook Group
*Another Slow News Day: A very long list of links on Mormonism
*"Latter Day Saints Bookshelf" (Mormonism)An extensive list of FREE books on Mormonism topically arranged at Project Gutenberg.


(SCROLL DOWN FOR MUCH MORE BELOW VIDEO)



"Donall and Conall Meet The Mormon Missionaries"
by Lutheran Satire
*Also see....



NEW AGE
*Christian Answers for the New Age is the ministry of my friend Marcia Montenegro, a former new ager and professional astrologer. She also has links to other websites here.
*ApologeticsIndex has a nicely organized list of resources for researching the New Age.
*Groothuis, Douglas. "Lectures 33 to 36" from Groothuis' 44-lecture course on apologetics.
*L'Abri ideas library has several lectures on New Age.


BUDDHISM
*"Introduction to Buddhism(16 hours) by Timothy Tennant. A FREE! online course.
*L'Abri ideas library has several lectures on Buddhism.
*ApologeticsIndex has a nicely organized list of resources for researching the New Age
*"Buddhism Bookshelf"An extensive list of FREE! books on Buddhism topically arranged at Project Gutenberg.



HINDUISM
*"Introduction to Hinduism(16 hours) by Timothy Tennant. A FREE! online course.
*L'Abri ideas library has several lectures on Hinduism.
*"Hinduism Bookshelf"An extensive list of FREE! books on Hinduism topically arranged at Project Gutenberg.



MISC. MODERN FALSE TEACHING
*"Assessing the Prosperity Gospel" (7 minute video) by Seven Minute Seminary
*"The Word of Faith Movement" (7 minute video) by Seven Minute Seminary
*The Word of Faith Movement: Justin Peters Ministries deals specifically with members of the Word of Faith movement--health & wealth/prosperity preachers, "such as Benny Hinn, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Andrew Wommack, John Hagee, T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, Rod Parsley, Creflo Dollar, Joseph Prince, Bill Johnson, etc." Justin Peters has a seminar that deals with this called "Clouds Without Water" (formerly called "A Call to Discernment"), which is available on DVD.
*"Martyrs Read Joel Osteen Tweets" (2-minute video) by Lutheran Satre
*Joel Osteen (Resources at ApologeticsIndex)
*Bill Johnson and Bethel Church (Resources at ApologeticsIndex)
*The New Apostolic Reformation (Resources at ApologeticsIndex)
*Word of Faith Movement (Resources at ApologeticsIndex)
*The Prosperity "Gospel" (Resources at ApologeticsIndex)
*God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life: The Myth of the Modern Message by Ray Comfort. An important book confronting a popular but false gospel. Available in English, Spanish and French. FREE!
*Beyond the Bounds: Open Theism and the Undermining of Biblical Christianity by John Piper, Justin Taylor. FREE!
*"The Openness of God Controversy": An issue of the Western Reformed Seminary Journal. FREE!
*ApologeticsIndex is an excellent site for researching any of the myriad of false teachers.



MISC. WORLD RELIGIONS
*"Bahai Faith Bookshelf"An extensive list of FREE books on the Bahai Faith topically arranged at Project Gutenberg.
*"Paganism Bookshelf"An extensive list of FREE books on the paganism topically arranged at Project Gutenberg.



No comments:

Post a Comment