As discussed with Mr. Moran, a religion is a group that is legitimate and accepting by society/surroundings, whereas a cult is a rebellious group of people who are obedient a person who believes that their ways and beliefs are the only right way, and a cult is not justified in their actions or tolerated in society. Cults and religions are similar because they both believe in the idea of a controlling power and authority. They both have a sense of community and working together, and they are alike in the sense that the two have followers. Religions and cults take time and effort to develop because they need a ruler, a substantial amount of followers, and a way to keep up and spread their ideas. Cults have a negative title placed with them, because cults are often extremists, or an assembly of people who tend to be blindly obedient towards a ruler who is working for money and fame rather than an effective and moral religion. Cults and religions are different in numerous ways as well. Polytheistic religions believe in many G-d's, and there are various G-d's for certain aspects of life, whereas a cult has one supreme figure. Monotheistic religions were initially seen as a cult because they were not accepted by the Romans. Polytheism dominated the world for a long time, and monotheism was slow and struggling, however that flipped. Monotheism became a thriving and growing religion when it gained followers, the government had been involved, and it was accepted in civilization. Cults don't usually work and are not as successful as religions. Cults are not accepting of others, or open to new ideas, but religions are mostly open and welcoming, such as Polytheism, Christianity, and Judaism. Back when these religions and cults were developing, followers of Jesus were viewed as a cult because they went against most of humanity. In Monotheism, G-d requires you to go out and gain followers while Polytheists are not pressured by
G-d and by their religion to work to gain followers.
Missionaries and Prophets also have similarities and differences. To begin, a missionary is an individual who works profusely to gain followers and believers. Missionaries are often successful because of their work ethics and the fact that they create new ideas, not just obey or represent unimportance. Missionaries are why monotheism grew while polytheism eventually lost power and followers. Missionaries were a threat to the Roman Empire because they did not believe that the empire was the one and only highest ranking. Missionaries were mostly Christian, yet prophets tended to be an essential part of various religions throughout history. Missionaries were greatly assisted by geography and by diffusion, which I will explain more about soon. A prophet is someone who is known to be chosen by G-d as an advocate. Since G-d is a non-human figure, and is someone above and beyond anybody else, a prophet is the human representative on earth for the divine G-d. Prophets convey prophecies and they always do what G-d tells them. Prophets are quite obedient and are more of an average participant or servant, than one who brings new ideas and opportunities. Prophets have a direct link and connection with G-d and their life is revolved around that relationship whereas a missionaries' life is centered around evangelism and convincing others about certain things and sets of beliefs. Some similar things between missionaries and prophets are that they are both dedicated to what they do, and their obligations are obligations pretty much devoted for the rest of their lives. Both prophets and missionaries used diffusion to spread their ideas. The most popular example of a missionary was Paul, who was not a prophet. He considered himself a Jew, and believed that Jesus was not the messiah and was not the first coming of G-d. Paul worked and was concentrated on spreading his new religion and religious beliefs. He was a successful guy, and his ideas radiated and advanced a lot through diffusion. Diffusion is the process in which ideas are spread through human interaction and people moving locations. Jews had spread to different locations around the Mediterranean and around the Roman Empire, which is known as the Diaspora. Rather than ideas quickly spreading in one small area, Paul's viewpoints and concepts were quickly spread all over the place.
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