It certainly is a cult.

The Old Apostolic Church:

1.Gains power over its members through the pretence of interpreting dreams.

Members will often not do anything unless it’s confirmed in a dream. The obvious examples are Joseph’s dreams and the example in Job 33 where it says that God speaks in dreams. Imagine the authority held over these members, since only their shepherd (priest,elder, officers can interpret their dreams.

However, the OAC are unaware that the bible demonstrates that not all dreams are from God.

Jeremiah 23:27

who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal.

Jeremiah 29:8

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are in your midst deceive you, nor listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed.

Ecclesiastes 5:7

For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God.

Dreams are very real to the dreamer. If an organisation tells you that your real experience means you should do x/y/z then you would do it, since the belief is that God sent you a direct message (only to be interpreted by your responsible officer).

2. The OAC is demonstrably a cult because its devout members are paralysed without the blessing of their shepherd. The more devoted the member, the less they are able to rely on their own decision making abilities. This is confused for being humble because you are asking what “God’s” will is when you consult your priest. More often than not, the blessing will be regarding finances: job seeking, house sales, investment opportunities, job difficulties etc.

These situations are hit and miss however. If the situation works out, then the Priest’s “word” that was spoken is said to be “God” and very powerful. In the cases where a blessing goes the opposite direction, the response will often be “it’s God’s will” or “ there’s a reason for everything”. The powerful testimony is a response from the successful blessings causing members to openly discuss their experience, encouraging others to do the same, while the the members with unsuccessful blessings are less likely to openly discuss their demise.

The fear that OAC members have of living “outside” of the blessing or not being blessed is enough to keep many of them tithing and attending. There are of course those who are faithful out of sincerity, just as in any organisation/cult/religion.

3. The OAC acts as a technical cult by viewing themselves as a collective Jesus Christ, being the mediator between all mankind and God (which is often said to live only in them).

4. The OAC has a culture which increasingly causes members to only associate with people within the organisation. Additionally, the overwhelming underlying reason for many of their outside friendships, is to introduce people on the outside to the organisation.

5. Teaches that the Old Apostolic Church alone is the doorway to salvation for mankind because the old apostolic church is understood to be Jesus Christ today.

6. Members gain a strong sense of identity, understanding that they are sent to “save” all souls. They are the Jesus of today, so they are motivated to be the walking, talking, saving Jesus. (The original Jesus is often described as being long gone.)

7. Requires/encourages its members to attend daily activities, even at the cost of family stability. The activities (Choir, Testimony, bread break, play practice, tithing etc) are viewed as the works that lead to salvation. At other times the activities are described as the outworking of being saved. If others are to be saved, the will not only need to join the organisation, but also faithfully participate in the activities of the OAC.

8. Redefine words in the Bible to assume new meanings which can only be taught and understood within the cult itself.

9. Has an oral teaching which suggests that people are only made in God’s image when they receive the understanding endowed upon them by incumbent members. In other words, all non apostolics are as “beasts of the field” (Jude 10) until they have been created in God’s image by the words received from an old apostolic.

10. The Old Apostolic Church places financial pressure on their members for tithes. It is not uncommon to encounter situations where officers help households to budget in order to extricate a portion for tithes.

11. Teaches that the old apostolic members have the power to bear witness to or testify dead people who are lost until they encounter the Old Apostolic Church. Stories will often be shared of how an officer spend an entire night testifying to dead people.

12. Members are taught that they have a mark on their forehead that the dead can see in order to follow them. Church attendance is encouraged to allow the dead souls to make their way to church. If a member fails to go to church, they are responsible for the demise of all the souls which are following them, waiting to for the member to attend to church which would lead to their own opportunity for salvation.

13. The Old Apostolic church largely considers Jesus the man to be dead and gone and that they themselves as a collective group are the Jesus of today.

14. The priest or overplaced officer IS god in the life of an old apostolic and the word from their mouths is god.

15. Teaches that the “Word” of God in John 1 is the actual word from an old apostolic’s mouth , failing to recognise that the Word (Logos, Son of God) refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as per Apostle Johns’s letters and gospel.

16. The OAC actively discourages its members from seeking information outside of the organisation. Members are told that the “world” does not understand spiritual things and that Jesus chooses simple fishermen , not professors or academics. (This hides the fact that those same disciple fisherman were well versed in the tradition of the Torah and Israelite history.) Due to the lack of research, it would be rare for members or officers to know the very basics of bible and Christian history. Additionally, without knowledge of the context in which the scripture and faith is established, OAC are free to interpret scriptures as they wish. The organisation depends on uneducated officers and members to remain uneducated. In this way the authority of the organisation will not be challenged. Unwittingly, a shrewd cult practice.

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Pray for these people. They need the true Jesus because their organisation has lost their way over the last few generations. Their founder firmly believed in the physical, actual Lord Jesus and His return. Today the Old Apostolics largely reject this view as being “natural”.

They are an organisation of endless and unrestrained allegory which leads to ultimate rejection of the original Christian Faith.

Treat them with love as God’s creation, but avoid their Arianist, Docetist, Gnostic doctrine.

Did I miss something? Let me know.

Peace.

Christian Kaiser.

You can read more about the Old Apostolic Church at:

www.oldapostolic.church

Footnotes