PURPOSE

The purpose of this brief document is to question the validity of the allegations that the Opus Dei is a sect and/or a cult. To avoid falling into the trap of mindless name calling we thought it appropriate to let two impartial sources decide - (a) an on-line dictionary, Dictionary.com and (b) a dictionary in book form, Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

Following, the reader will find the definitions of the words "sect" and "cult" with our brief commentaries in brackets " [ ] ".


DETAILS


Definitions From: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cult

1.  a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies.


2.  an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.


3.  the object of such devotion.


4. a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.


5.  (in the sociology of religion) a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.

6.  a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader.


7.  the members of such a religion or sect.


8. any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific.


Origin: 1610–20; "cultus" habitation, tilling, refinement, worship, equivalent to "cul-", worship + "-tus" suffix of v. action


Other Definitions From: Concise Oxford English Dictionary (book form)

1. a system of religious devotion directed towards a particular figure or object


2. relatively small religious group regarded by others as strange or as imposing excessive control over members


3. [as modifier] a thing that is popular or fashionable among a particular group: a cult film


Origin: C17, from French "culte" or Latin "cultus", "worship"




Definitions From: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sect

1.  a body of persons adhering to a particular religious faith; a religious denomination.

2.  a group regarded as heretical or as deviating from a generally accepted religious tradition.


3.  (in the sociology of religion) a Christian denomination characterized by insistence on strict qualifications for membership, as distinguished from the more inclusive groups called churches.


4.  any group, party, or faction united by a specific doctrine or under a doctrinal leader.


Origin: 1300–50; "secte", "secta" something to follow, pathway, course of conduct, school of thought.


Definitions From: Concise Oxford English Dictionary (book form)

1.a religious group or faction regarded as heretical or as deviating from orthodox tradition


2. [as a derogatory term]: a group that has separated from an established Church; a nonconformist Church


3. a group with extreme or dangerous philosophical or political ideas


Origin: Middle English, from Old French secte, or Latin secta, "following," hence "faction, party" from the stem of sequi, "follow"


CONCLUSION

It is obvious that, regardless of the denials of the Opus Dei Administration and followers, by definition, their activities and methods can only be classified as those of a Cult with heavy Sectarian overtones.






Published on October 25, 2008