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Lewis, chairman of the Department of Religious Studies at the World University of America, spends several paragraphs of the introduction discussing the connotations of the terms cult, sect, and new religion, explaining that they were used in his title because "they represent the most commonly used terms for non-mainstream religious groups." The introduction does not specifically address how the included groups were chosen and why others were left out, except that all are "non-mainstream." Emphasis is on the U.S., although some non-U.S. groups are included, such as Aum Shinrikyo and Wiccan Church of Canada. Starting with the Aaronic Order, an offshoot of the Mormon Church, and ending with Zion's Order, Inc. (also of Mormon derivation), the book covers a very broad range of organizations. Gnostic, Theosophist, Hindu, Moslem, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Native American, New Age, and occult groups are profiled. Examples of entries include channeling movement, Druids, Hare Krishna movement, Hasidism, Heaven's Gate, Salvation Army, Satanism, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and Voodoo.
Each article outlines the history of the group, its founders and leaders, its main teachings, and an approximate number of followers or congregations. The explanations are clearly written, interesting and understandable, without too much scholarly jargon. There are a number of pictures, most provided by the religious groups. There is a table of contents, but no cross-references or index; both would have been useful. There is nothing to direct the reader searching for Nation of Islam to American Muslims (which the entry claims is the current name), or to link names like Jim Jones and Herbert W. Armstrong to the entries for People's Temple and Worldwide Church of God. There is a 64-page bibliography of books, pamphlets, and periodicals. A few entries included Web addresses, but none are in the bibliography.
The similarly titled Sects, "Cults" and Alternative Religions: A World Survey and Sourcebook [RBB Jl 97] covers only 69 groups, but the entries are longer--16 pages for Scientology as opposed to two pages in Lewis. In many ways, the books complement each other. Because of interest in the subject, public and academic libraries will want Lewis' book, though smaller libraries may not have the budget or patronage to justify this particular expense.
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