This is a pioneer study of contemporary Nigeria's most controversial new religious movement known as Brotherhood of the Cross and Star (BCS). After discussing the biography of the charismatic and enigmatic founder and leader of the movement, the book examines its beliefs and practices and the social and religious impact they have had on its thousands of adherents who come from all social strata in Africa, the Americas, Europe, India, and the West Indies, many of them drawn from mainline Christian churches. Attention is paid to the way the founder of BCS reinterprets familiar Christian doctrines. The book ends with a chapter in which the author applies to BCS certain theories from the Sociology of Religion.

Comprehensive, informative and authoritative, The Penguin Handbook of the World's Living Religions is compiled by a team of leading international scholars, and is the definitive guide to the religious belief systems and practices of the world today. This in-depth survey of active religions has now been fully updated to include modern developments and the most recent scholarship. It explains the sources and history of the world's religions, includes material on the phenomenon of Black African and Asian diaspora religions around the world and explores the role of gender in modern religion.

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems– both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series.