Congregational question: Are Mormons and 7th Day Adventist cults?

The term cult congers up all sorts of images that remind me of Halloween. When I think of a cult, I think of Jim Jones, Tom Cruise and his Scientology or groups with flowing robes selling flowers. I therefore do not think of either Mormons or 7th Day Adventists as cults. I will also point out however that some very notable and respectable theologians disagree with me on this issue. For a very well thought out view of Mormonism as a cult I would recommend the book “Kingdom of the Cults” by Walter Martin.
Let me deal first with Mormonism. Whereas I do not feel Mormonism is a cult, I also do not believe it fits within the generally defined parameters of what is known as Orthodox Christianity. Even though in the last several years the “Latter Day Saints” have attempted to become more and more mainstream and use the name of Jesus Christ associated with their name more often, their view of Jesus is not the same as the rest of Christianity. Jesus is viewed as “a” son of God, not “the” son of God. Jesus is also someone who is believed to have been birthed from his God father and God mother. There is also the view that should a male Mormon live a wonderful life, he too, along with his female companion, become gods in another world. My reading of the story in Genesis of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is that the very essence of sin is the human desire, in all its various forms, to be like God (Genesis 3:4-5). Combine with this the belief in pre-existent spirits, baptism for the dead, secrete knowledge passed on in the temple and the belief that they are right and everyone else is wrong, and you have a definition that could better be described as 20th century Christian Gnosticism. In church history, the reaction to early Christian Gnosticism resulted in the establishment of the collection of books we now call the Bible. This process of establishing the cannon or canonical text of the Bible was a process of rejection of the Gnostic texts in the early church and clearly stating that they and their teachings are not part of the Christian Scripture.
Having said that let me also state that I have had the privilege to get to know many Mormons who I would consider wonderful Christians. Whether or not that makes them bad Mormons I couldn’t answer. History tells us that God can and does work though all sorts of human foibles. Indeed, the whole history of humanity could be defined as such, and I believe that God can and does work through all sorts of belief systems that, upon close examination, seem a little off. As a Lutheran I will admit that there are times when we have been a bit off, and I will also admit that don’t know everything and don’t have all the truth. No one does. What bothers me is when people or religions think they do. Remember that any church that has all the answers doesn’t allow all the questions. God is not looking for perfection or anything that claims to be perfect. What God is after is faith, caring and love, and lots of individuals in and out of the Mormon Church and in and out of other faith communities, including the Lutheran church, can and do live in that way.
The 7th day Adventists faith, though different from most of Orthodox Christianity in the day of worship, is also not a cult. They take a strict interpretation of “remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy” as the 7th day of the week and hence insist strongly on Saturday as the day of worshp. Most of Christianity considers Sunday, the first day of the week and the day of the resurrection to be the time of worship. However as society grows more and more diverse and many jobs require weekend work, and many people are doing other things on Sunday, many main line Christian churches offer worship at times other than Sunday.
There is a heavy focus on the Old Testament laws and the need to follow them, but the main idea for which they are known is the emphasis placed on the Second Coming of Christ. This is seen as the premier event in the Adventists theology and their ideas, gleaned from obscure interpretations of parts of Revelation, have found it’s way into popular books like the “Left Behind” series. They also have that disappointing view that they are the only ones who are correct and every one else is wrong.
The 7th Day Adventists are not a cult, but as with the Mormons, I would recommend that any religion that feels it has the correct interpretation of the revelation of God and that everyone else is wrong is a religious expression you should stay away from.