Week 7 What is a Cult?

5 Worst CULTS to Ever Exist




 Published on Jun 19, 2016

5 Worst Cults to Ever Exist

A cult is defined as a group of people with religious beliefs and practices deemed as sinister or strange. 
Whenever we hear about them, we automatically think they are evil, their members nothing more than gullible people. Regardless of what we feel, their existence is a reality. 
The following 5 cults made headlines not just because of their strange beliefs but because they shocked and caused grief and death to thousands of people. These are five of the worst cults to ever exist. 

5. Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God


4. Grail Movement Cult
Originally started in the late 40s, the Grail Movement was established by the followers of Oskar Ernst Bernhardt, also known as Abd-ru-shin. Their core belief follows the principles of his book "In the Light: The Grail Message", and currently, there are over 10,000 members. 


3. Children of God


2. Heavens Gate
IN 1997 acting on an anonymous tip, police entered a hilltop mansion in California and found 39 dead people inside. This was the case that shaped people's notion of modern day doomsday cults – The Heaven's Gate.


1. Jonestown/ The Peoples Temple
It was a promised Utopia for members of The People's Temple of the Disciples of Christ or commonly, the People's Temple. But instead, their commune in Jonestown became a living hell for its many members and would leave the world shocked.

INTRODUCTION TO UPANISHADS

INTRODUCTION TO UPANISHADS
Dr Sumit Kesarkar

John Green on the Koran

Islam, the Quran, and the Five Pillars All Without a Flamewar: Crash Course World History #13
(Green's description of the Koran is from about the 2 min. mark through the 7 minute mark)


 Published on Apr 19, 2012

In which John Green teaches you the history of Islam, including the revelation of the Qu'ran to Muhammad, the five pillars of Islam, how the Islamic empire got its start, the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and more. Learn about hadiths, Abu Bakr, and whether the Umma has anything to do with Uma Thurman (spoiler alert: it doesn't). Also, learn a little about the split between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and how to tell if this year's Ramadan is going to be difficult for your Muslim friends. Let's try to keep the flame wars out of this reasoned discussion.

New Testament Canon

How the Canon of the Bible Was Formed




 Published on Mar 31, 2016 The canon of Scripture refers to a standard or rule used to determine which books belong in the biblical corpus. In this short lecture Dr. Licona provides answers to the questions we've all thought at some time or another: Did Constantine decide which books belong in the Bible? Why is it that Matthew, Mark, Luke & John's gospels make it but not Thomas's, Peter's, or Mary's?

Sacred Scripture Part 1- the Hebrew Torah

The Origins Of The Torah - The Documentary Hypothesis

Published on May 23, 2016

The Bible is the best-selling book ever. But who wrote it? According to the Documentary Hypothesis, the first five books (the Torah or Pentateuch) are actually a combination of four or more sources created by different authors over many centuries.

Here is an example of the Sufi dance ritual .... To see it on YouTube, click here: https://youtu.be/yEdCXRGJuM8 There are also examples of sacred dance rituals or forms of worship in Judaism and Christianity HASIDIC Jews Sing & Dance ~ (Get HAPPY NOW!) Native Americans: This video is amazing and breathtaking Christians "Dancing in the Spirit": Tree of Life and Holy Spirit Ministry, Dancing in the Anointing Santeria Dance in Cuba 2012

Altar of Fire

Published on Apr 9, 2016

This film records a 12 day ritual performed by Mambudiri Brahmins in Kerala, southwest India, in April 1975. This event was possibly the last performance of the Agnicayana, a Vedic ritual of sacrifice dating back 3,000 years and probably the oldest surviving human ritual. Long considered extinct and never witnessed by outsiders, the ceremonies require the participation of seventeen priests, involve libations of Soma juice and oblations of other substances, all preceded by several months of preparation and rehearsals. They include the construction, from a thousand bricks, of a fire altar in the shape of a bird. Around 1500 B.C., nomads who spoke an Indo-European language entered India and evolved a complex ritual involving the cults of fire and Soma, a hallucinogenic plant that grew in the Western Himalayas. Their Vedic language developed into Sanskrit, the classical language of Indian civilization.