Exploring New ReligionsBloomsbury Publishing, 1999 M12 1 - 416 pages An objective, well-researched history of contemporary new religions and cults.New religious movements - popularly known as cults - arouse strong public opinion and most books on the subject are polemical, giving hostile reaction rather than informed exploration. Exploring New Religions provides an account of a wide variety of new religions, focusing on their origins, beliefs and practices, which are set out in a dispassionate way, leaving readers to form their own value judgements. George Chryssides provides important analysis of the killer cults-the Jonestown People's Temple, Waco, the Solar Temple and Heaven's Gate-examining the factors that made their followers willing to die for their cause. Older groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses and Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are discussed, and Chryssides traces the development of a variety of strands of spirituality, ranging from New Thought, Spiritualism and Theosophy. Subsequent chapters include the Baha'i, the Family (formerly Children of God), the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON), the Jesus Army, the Rastafarians, the Church of Scientology, Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the Unification Church ('the Moonies'). Lower profile groups are also discussed including: EST (Erhard Seminar Training), the New Kadampa Tradition, Brahma Kumaris, Sai Baba, Subud and the Western Buddhist Order. A study of the New Age phenomenon, and an account of societal responses to new religions at religious, societal and political levels is also included. |
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Page ix
... known , and it has taken the UC decades to persuade the media to use this name in preference to the pejorative label ' Moonies ' ; the new name ' Family Federation for World Peace and Unification ' is at present little known , and is ...
... known , and it has taken the UC decades to persuade the media to use this name in preference to the pejorative label ' Moonies ' ; the new name ' Family Federation for World Peace and Unification ' is at present little known , and is ...
Page 5
... do not live up to the expected standards . ( The Jehovah's Witnesses are well known for their practice of ' disfellowshipping ' wayward members . ) On this analysis , the sect by its very nature 5 1 : METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES.
... do not live up to the expected standards . ( The Jehovah's Witnesses are well known for their practice of ' disfellowshipping ' wayward members . ) On this analysis , the sect by its very nature 5 1 : METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES.
Page 25
... Church were invisible ones , known only to God , who would divide the wheat from the chaff when the Heavenly City was finally complete . World - affirming , world - renouncing and world- accommodating 25 1 : METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES.
... Church were invisible ones , known only to God , who would divide the wheat from the chaff when the Heavenly City was finally complete . World - affirming , world - renouncing and world- accommodating 25 1 : METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES.
Page 26
... known typology of NRMs is Roy Wallis's distinction between ' world- affirming ' , ' world - renouncing ' and ' world - accommodating ' religions . Wallis notes that certain religions share ' the common characteristic of accepting most ...
... known typology of NRMs is Roy Wallis's distinction between ' world- affirming ' , ' world - renouncing ' and ' world - accommodating ' religions . Wallis notes that certain religions share ' the common characteristic of accepting most ...
Page 36
... known as their ' rainbow family ' . In the late 1950s Jones visited Father Divine's Peace Mission in Philadelphia , and borrowed several of Divine's ideas for a ministry to the dispossessed . The practice of Jones ' followers of calling ...
... known as their ' rainbow family ' . In the late 1950s Jones visited Father Divine's Peace Mission in Philadelphia , and borrowed several of Divine's ideas for a ministry to the dispossessed . The practice of Jones ' followers of calling ...
Contents
1 | |
33 | |
77 | |
4 The New Christian movements | 120 |
5 New religions in the Hindu tradition | 164 |
6 New forms of Buddhism | 204 |
7 Independent new religions | 244 |
8 The Human Potential Movement | 278 |
9 New Age witchcraft and Paganism | 315 |
10 The countercult movement | 342 |
Statistical data | 366 |
Compendium | 370 |
Bibliography | 377 |
Index | 392 |
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Common terms and phrases
anti-cult Applewhite avatar Baba Baba's Baha'i Baha'u'llah baptism became become believed Bible body Brahma Kumaris Britain Buddha Buddhism ceremony Christ Chryssides Church of Scientology claim counter-cult cult Dalai Lama death devotees Dianetics disciples divine doctrines Dorje Shugden Erhard evangelical example existence faith Family Findhorn followers founder-leader Glastonbury God's gohonzons groups Hindu Hinduism Holy human important ISKCON Jehovah's Witnesses Jesus Army Jesus Fellowship Church Jones Jonestown Jouret known Krishna latihan Latter-day Saints leader lifestyle living Maharishi mainstream Christianity Mambro mantra marriage means meditation membership messiah mind mission Mormon Nichiren Nichiren Shoshu NRMs offer one's organization original Osho physical powers Prabhupada practice priesthood problems prophet Rajneesh Rastafarians regarded relationship religion religious movements Revelation Sangharakshita sannyasins scripture sect seminars sexual Society Soka Gakkai Solar Temple soul spiritual Subud Subuh taught teachings Tibetan tradition truth Unification Church Wicca worship