Controversial New Religions

. Ed(s): Lewis, Professor James R.; Petersen, Dr Jesper Aagaard

ISBN 10: 0199315310 / ISBN 13: 9780199315314

Published by Oxford University Press Inc, 2014

About this Item

Written by established scholars as well as younger experts in their field, this updated and revised second edition of Controversial New Religions offers a scholarly, dispassionate look at the new religious groups that have generated the most attention in the media and general public. Editor(s): Lewis, Professor James R.; Petersen, Dr Jesper Aagaard. Num Pages: 496 pages, black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: HRA; HRQA. Category: (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly. Dimension: 238 x 172 x 32. Weight in Grams: 650. . 2014. 2nd Edition. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780199315314

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Controversial New Religions
• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199315310
• ISBN 13: 9780199315314
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In terms of public opinion, new religious movements are considered controversial for a variety of reasons. Their social organization often runs counter to popular expectations by experimenting with communal living, alternative leadership roles, unusual economic dispositions, and new political and ethical values. As a result the general public views new religions with a mixture of curiosity, amusement, and anxiety, sustained by lavish media emphasis on oddness and tragedy rather than familiarity and lived experience.

This updated and revised second edition of Controversial New Religions offers a scholarly, dispassionate look at those groups that have generated the most attention, including some very well-known classical groups like The Family, Unification Church, Scientology, and Jim Jones's People's Temple; some relative newcomers such as the Kabbalah Centre, the Order of the Solar Temple, Branch Davidians, Heaven's Gate, and the Falun Gong; and some interesting cases like contemporary Satanism, the Raelians, Black nationalism, and various Pagan groups. Each essay combines an overview of the history and beliefs of each organization or movement with original and insightful analysis. By presenting decades of scholarly work on new religious movements written in an accessible form by established scholars as well as younger experts in the field, this book will be an invaluable resource for all those who seek a view of new religions that is deeper than what can be found in sensationalistic media stories.

About the Author

James R. Lewis is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. He co-edits three book series and is the general editor for the Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review and the Journal of Religion and Violence.

Jesper Aa. Petersen is Associate Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, specializing in Religious Education and Religious Studies. He is the editor of several anthologies, most recently The Devil's Party: Satanism in Modernity, with Per Faxneld.