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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 42
Page 1
... gained momentum , but little attention was paid to the minor ones . Initially the academic interest in NRMs came from sociologists , principally in the context of the sociology of deviance . The new religions were interesting , not ...
... gained momentum , but little attention was paid to the minor ones . Initially the academic interest in NRMs came from sociologists , principally in the context of the sociology of deviance . The new religions were interesting , not ...
Page 4
... gaining momentum from the 1970s onwards . ( There were earlier precedents : William C. Irvine's Timely Warnings , published as early as 1917 , used the term ' cult ' , as did Gaius Glenn Atkins in his Modern Cults and Religious ...
... gaining momentum from the 1970s onwards . ( There were earlier precedents : William C. Irvine's Timely Warnings , published as early as 1917 , used the term ' cult ' , as did Gaius Glenn Atkins in his Modern Cults and Religious ...
Page 10
... gained by continuing to use the concept of the NRM as a category for academic study . Instead of organizing student courses on new religious movements , perhaps one could less contentiously devise programmes on ' minority religions ...
... gained by continuing to use the concept of the NRM as a category for academic study . Instead of organizing student courses on new religious movements , perhaps one could less contentiously devise programmes on ' minority religions ...
Page 20
... gained by heredity , and indeed it would not be possible for the western convert , who embraces ISKCON's beliefs and practice , to find a niche in a caste system which belongs to a different society and has operated in a very rigid ...
... gained by heredity , and indeed it would not be possible for the western convert , who embraces ISKCON's beliefs and practice , to find a niche in a caste system which belongs to a different society and has operated in a very rigid ...
Page 27
... Gaining finances and support can become a problem ; and members become older and themselves sometimes want to settle into more conventional family life . Accordingly , it has become possible to join ISKCON and the Unification Church ...
... Gaining finances and support can become a problem ; and members become older and themselves sometimes want to settle into more conventional family life . Accordingly , it has become possible to join ISKCON and the Unification Church ...
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