The Future of New Religious Movements
Title | The Future of New Religious Movements PDF eBook |
Author | David G. Bromley |
Publisher | Mercer University Press |
Pages | 292 |
Release | 1987 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 9780865542389 |
A Historical Introduction to the Study of New Religious Movements
Title | A Historical Introduction to the Study of New Religious Movements PDF eBook |
Author | W. Michael Ashcraft |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 426 |
Release | 2018-02-02 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1351670832 |
The American public’s perception of New Religious Movements (NRMs) as fundamentally harmful cults stems from the "anticult" movement of the 1970s, which gave a sometimes hysterical and often distorted image of NRMs to the media. At the same time, academics pioneered a new field, studying these same NRMs from sociological and historical perspectives. They offered an interpretation that ran counter to that of the anticult movement. For these scholars in the new field of NRM studies, NRMs were legitimate religions deserving of those freedoms granted to established religions. Those scholars in NRM studies continued to evolve methods and theories to study NRMs. This book tells their story. Each chapter begins with a biography of a key person involved in studying NRMs. The narrative unfolds chronologically, beginning with late nineteenth- and early-twentieth century perceptions of religions alternative to the mainstream. Then the focus shifts to those early efforts, in the 1960s and 1970s, to comprehend the growing phenomena of cults or NRMs using the tools of academic disciplines. The book’s midpoint is a chapter that looks closely at the scholarship of the anticult movement, and from there moves forward in time to the present, highlighting themes in the study of NRMs like violence, gender, and reflexive ethnography. No other book has used the scholars of NRMs as the focus for a study in this way. The material in this volume is, therefore, a fascinating viewpoint from which to explore the origins of this vibrant academic community, as well as analyse the practice of Religious Studies more generally.
New Religious Movements
Title | New Religious Movements PDF eBook |
Author | Dereck Daschke |
Publisher | NYU Press |
Pages | 352 |
Release | 2005-06-17 |
Genre | Body, Mind & Spirit |
ISBN | 0814707033 |
An original collection of primary documents conveying the wide array of ideas connected to new religious movements New Religious Movements is a highly unique volume, bringing together primary documents conveying the words and ideas of a wide array of new religious movements (NRMs), and offering a first-hand look into their belief systems. Arranged by the editors according to a new typology, the text allows readers to consider NRMS along five interrelated pathways—from those that offer new perceptions of existence or new personal identities, to those that center on relationships within family-like units, to those movements that highlight the need for recasting the social order or anticipate the dawn of a new age. The volume includes original documents from groups such as the Unification Church, Theosophy, Branch Davidians, Wicca, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Santeria, and Seventh Day Adventists, as well as many others. Each section is prefaced by a contextual introduction and concludes with a list of sources for further reading. New Religious Movements offers a rare inside look into the worldviews of alternative religious traditions.
Handbook of East Asian New Religious Movements
Title | Handbook of East Asian New Religious Movements PDF eBook |
Author | Lukas Pokorny |
Publisher | BRILL |
Pages | 634 |
Release | 2018-04-24 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 9004362975 |
* This Handbook has won the ICAS Edited Volume Accolade 2019. Brill warmly congratulates editors Lukas Pokorny and Franz Winter and their authors with this award. * A vibrant cauldron of new religious developments, East Asia (China/Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam) presents a fascinating arena of related research for scholars across disciplines. Edited by Lukas Pokorny and Franz Winter, the Handbook of East Asian New Religious Movements provides the first comprehensive and reliable guide to explore the vast East Asian new religious panorama. Penned by leading scholars in the field, the assembled contributions render the Handbook an invaluable resource for those interested in the crucial new religious actors and trajectories of the region.
The Future of Religion
Title | The Future of Religion PDF eBook |
Author | Rodney Stark |
Publisher | Univ of California Press |
Pages | 579 |
Release | 2023-04-28 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 0520341341 |
Religion is alive and well in the modern world, and the social-scientific study of religion is undergoing a renaissance. For much of this century, respected social theorists predicted the death of religion as inevitable consequence of science, education, and modern economics. But they were wrong. Stark and Bainbridge set out to explain the survival of religion. Using information derived from numerous surveys, censuses, historical case studies, and ethnographic field expeditions, they chart the full sweep of contemporary religion from the traditional denominations to the most fervent cults. This wealth of information is located within a coherent theoretical framework that examines religion as a social response to human needs, both the general needs shared by all and the desires specific to those who are denied the economic rewards or prestige enjoyed by the privileged. By explaining the forms taken by religions today, Stark and Bainbridge allow us to understand its persistence in a secular age and its prospects for the future, This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1985. Religion is alive and well in the modern world, and the social-scientific study of religion is undergoing a renaissance. For much of this century, respected social theorists predicted the death of religion as inevitable consequence of science, education,
Cults in Context
Title | Cults in Context PDF eBook |
Author | Lorne Dawson |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 725 |
Release | 2018-02-06 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 135152464X |
In the face of the increasingly variegated ideological landscape of contemporary America, cults have become the focus of public controversy. The growth of new religions has been matched by the development of an organized and vocal opposition, the anti-cult movement. This in turn has prompted an extensive investigation of new religious movements (NRMs) by sociologists and psychologists of religion, as well as historians and religious studies scholars. The readings collected here contribute to the debate about cults by sampling some of the best and most accessible publications from the academic study of NRMs.The contributors address the questions most commonly asked about cults, such as: What brought about the emergence of new religious movements? What is a cult or new religious movement? Who joins new religious movements and why? Are converts to new religious movements brainwashed? Why did the Jonestown and Waco tragedies happen? Are cults inclined to be violent? What does the emergence of so many new religious movements say about our society? What does it say about the future of religion?Cults in Context surveys the descriptive typologies, theories, and data accumulated by sociologists and psychologists studying new religious movements over the last twenty years. It serves to defuse many popular fears and misconceptions about cults, allowing the reader to develop a more reasonable and tolerant understanding of the people who join new religious movements and the functions of these movements in contemporary society.
New Religious Movements
Title | New Religious Movements PDF eBook |
Author | Elijah Siegler |
Publisher | |
Pages | 132 |
Release | 2007 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN |
Using a historical and cultural approach,New Religious Movmentstakes the approach that new religious movements are neither new nor inherently evil or dangerous. The Introduction colorfully demonstrates the variety of NRMs today and how our first impressions of them may be wrong. Also, this text argues that NRMs are a normal response to cultural and social change, not just something that has "happened" to the Western World since the 1960s. This book's topics include Defining New Religious Movements, Modern Heresy, Esoteric Revival, Asian NRMs, African NRMs, Islamic NRMs, and the Global Future of NRMs. An interesting read for those interested in New Religious Movements.