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 4
... society with which it co - exists . Citizens have an almost automatic right to belong to the ' church ' , gaining membership by birth , rather than by any conscious adult decision to join which stems from conviction . Thus in England ...
... society with which it co - exists . Citizens have an almost automatic right to belong to the ' church ' , gaining membership by birth , rather than by any conscious adult decision to join which stems from conviction . Thus in England ...
Page 5
... society more widely . There is a serious point behind the description of the Church of England as ' the Conservative Party at prayer ' ! The church , then , incorporates a mix of people , some more committed than others ; as Weber wrote ...
... society more widely . There is a serious point behind the description of the Church of England as ' the Conservative Party at prayer ' ! The church , then , incorporates a mix of people , some more committed than others ; as Weber wrote ...
Page 6
... society : Yinger cites the Anabaptists . The ' avoidance sects ' are those who detach themselves from the world , emphasizing other - worldliness , such as the Holiness churches . Bryan Wilson ( 1961 ) defines an alternative typology ...
... society : Yinger cites the Anabaptists . The ' avoidance sects ' are those who detach themselves from the world , emphasizing other - worldliness , such as the Holiness churches . Bryan Wilson ( 1961 ) defines an alternative typology ...
Page 7
... society ' ( Yinger , 1946 / 1961 , p . 154 ; quoted in Hill , 1972 , p . 157 ) . It should be noticed that there is no consistent , agreed sociological definition of ' sect ' and ' cult ' , and there seem to be various criteria by means ...
... society ' ( Yinger , 1946 / 1961 , p . 154 ; quoted in Hill , 1972 , p . 157 ) . It should be noticed that there is no consistent , agreed sociological definition of ' sect ' and ' cult ' , and there seem to be various criteria by means ...
Page 8
... Society for Krishna Consciousness ) and the Church of Scientology , to name but three examples , are very tightly structured , and indeed the anti - cultist criticism that such movements have an authoritarian leadership only has ...
... Society for Krishna Consciousness ) and the Church of Scientology , to name but three examples , are very tightly structured , and indeed the anti - cultist criticism that such movements have an authoritarian leadership only has ...
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