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 ii
... courses and for professionals involved in inter - faith dialogue . Also available in this series : Dan Cohn - Sherbok , Understanding the Holocaust : An Introduction Christopher Lamb and M. Darrol Bryant ( eds ) , Religious Conversion ...
... courses and for professionals involved in inter - faith dialogue . Also available in this series : Dan Cohn - Sherbok , Understanding the Holocaust : An Introduction Christopher Lamb and M. Darrol Bryant ( eds ) , Religious Conversion ...
Page 2
... course , Lofland was not to know the extent to which the UC would gain such wide media attention , and his work remains a highly important early study . From the 1970s onwards the sociologists have tended to corner the market of ...
... course , Lofland was not to know the extent to which the UC would gain such wide media attention , and his work remains a highly important early study . From the 1970s onwards the sociologists have tended to corner the market of ...
Page 6
... course , because of the fact that they lived within a culture where Christianity was the dominant religion . Their analysis , however , need not merely apply to Christian - dominated cultures , since similar contrasts could be drawn ...
... course , because of the fact that they lived within a culture where Christianity was the dominant religion . Their analysis , however , need not merely apply to Christian - dominated cultures , since similar contrasts could be drawn ...
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... course , stands in sharp contrast to the impression of the NRM which is perpetuated by the counter - cult movement , which claims that ' the cults ' are tightly controlled by an authoritarian leader , with very strict rules about ...
... course , stands in sharp contrast to the impression of the NRM which is perpetuated by the counter - cult movement , which claims that ' the cults ' are tightly controlled by an authoritarian leader , with very strict rules about ...
Page 10
... courses on new religious movements , perhaps one could less contentiously devise programmes on ' minority religions ... course on minority religions include one , but not the other ? If so , on what grounds ? Minority religions are ...
... courses on new religious movements , perhaps one could less contentiously devise programmes on ' minority religions ... course on minority religions include one , but not the other ? If so , on what grounds ? Minority religions are ...
Contents
1 | |
33 | |
3 The old new religions | 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