New Religious Movements

 The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions edited by James R. Lewis (Prometheus) Surpassing the scope and the thoroughness of the first edition, this new edition of The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions is the most wide‑ranging and accessible resource on the historically significant and more obscure, sinister, and bizarre religious groups, from the early days of alternative spirituality to the currently practicing sects. Including many entries by scholarly specialists, this volume explains more than 1,000 diverse groups and movements, from such well‑known sects as the Branch Davidians, Aum Shinrikyo, and Heaven's Gate, to obscure groups like Witches International and the Nudist Christian Church of the Blessed Virgin Jesus. In addition to an exhaustive index ‑r and handy cross‑references, the second edition includes over 100 new topical entries on subjects relevant to understanding sectarian movements, from snake‑handling and satanic ritual abuse to brainwashing and exorcism.

This book, a must for all libraries and schools, will endure as the first and only point of reference for researchers, scholars, students, and anyone interested in fringe religious groups.

 This reference provides a useful snapshot of a wide variety of new religions, mostly in the USA. There are approximately 1,000 religious groups represented in this volume, ranging from small churches with less than a hundred members like Kailas Shugendo and the Chishti Order of America to organizations such as the Assemblies of God and the Mormans that number in the millions. Most entries are relatively short. The more controversial religions, as well as religious groups that have had a high profile lately, receive more lengthy treatments. Also included are entries on broader religious movements such as the New Age and the Charismatic Movement. Some of the longer entries are signed, although no affiliations or credentials are supplied for the authors. For the second edition many of the entries have been updated but many of the smaller groups that no longer exist, information is carried forward without adequate revision. Given the volatility of small new religions there is no surprise here. Foe example the entry for Kailas Shugendo, a small group (never more than 35 members and associates that thrived in the San Francisco circa 1967-1980) became disassociated from Buddhism, and the founder, who probably wrote the entry himself, declared himself a Russian Orthodox Bishop some 6 to 7 years before his death. The group still exists but as a private collective involved in cottage industry. I am in sympathy with the editor who tried to track down these groups using the phone book and public mail. The introduction offers a balanced enough account discussing the connotations of the terms cult, sect, and new religion, elucidating 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.

New Age Religion Soviet Style

What happens when an atheist sees an angel? Or dreams about something which then happens in reality? Many people brought up as `atheists' in the former USSR and Mongolia report such experiences but do not know how to interpret then. Now they are also asking questions of a `spiritual' nature about the meaning of life and whether or not there is a life after death. In trying to answer these questions, people are beginning to turn either to traditional religions such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or `paganism', or else to various `new' religions and `New Age' groups and ideas. To some extent the search for a religious identity can also be an attempt to find their `roots' by rediscovering some of the lost elements of their cultures.

Tausha: The Life and Teaching of a Russian Mystic by Ilia Beliaev, Foreword by Stephen Larson shows how this turn began during the decline of the Soviet Union in now St. Petersburg. Tausha is the factual account of the brief life and mystical teachings of a Russian mystic and healer, channeler during the 1980s, told by a disciple now living in the USA. Presenting fascinating and original spiritual teachings, is suspenseful and intriguing story about a small group of spiritual seekers during the last decade of the Soviet Union. It offers insight into the famous "psychic discoveries behind the iron curtain" and the KGB's nefarious involvement with paranormal phenomena. Its strange tale unfolds during the final decade of the Soviet regime, evoking the struggles of people seeking esoteric knowledge. Beliaev’s weaves the teachings of the charismatic Tausha with his own understanding of the mystical challenges facing our world today. This document should be especially important for those attempting to grasp the massive spiritual revival that is taking place in former Soviet Union states.

UNDERSTANDING NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS by John A. Saliba ($18,00, paper, 240 pages, notes, index, Eerdmans, ISBN: 0-8028-4226-7)

New religious movements—or "cults," as they are often and pejoratively called—are constantly in the news. Few books from a Christian background are anything but hostile to the vast expansion of these new ways of expressing religious sentiment. But UNDERSTANDING NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS is different. John A. Saliba, who has been writing on new religious movements since 1976, here offers a dispassionate, balanced analysis of new religions.

After opening with a broad overview of the new religious movements in contemporary Western culture and critically examining the various definitions and generalized features commonly applied to such movements, Saliba surveys a few select religious movements that have appeared throughout the history of the West— Gnosticism, the Cathars, the Flagellants, the Ranters, the Shabbatean Movement, and Mormonism. In the main body of the book Saliba examines new religious movements from a variety of perspectives—sociological, psychological, legal, and theological. Readers encounter such groups as the Hare Krishna movement, Transcendental Meditation, Scientology, and the Unification Church. Finally, Saliba offers principles and practical suggestions to psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors who may be called on to advise cult and ex-cult members and their families.

This volume is a serious study of interest to anyone who has contact with new religious movements or who seeks to understand the underlying motivations that may lead people to join them.

JOHN A. SALIBA, S.J., is professor of religious studies at the University of Detroit Mercy. He recently took part in a three-year study of new religious movements conducted for the Vatican by the International Federation of Catholic Universities, and he has written Two major bibliographies on the new religious movements, Psychiatry and the Cults and Social Science and the Cults.

CHANTING DOWN BABYLON: The Rastafari Reader edited by Nathaniel Samuel Murrell, William David Spencer, and Adrian Anthony McFarlane (457 pp. Temple University, $69.95 cloth Press ISBN 1566395836; $29.95 PAPER ISBN 1566395844) An Afro Caribbean religious and cultural movement that sprang from the streets of Kingston, Jamaica in the 1930s, today Rastafari has dose to one million adherents. The basic message of Rastafarithe dismantling of all oppressive institutions and the liberation of humankind even has strong appeal to nonbelievers who are captivated by reggae music, the lyrics, and the "immortal spirit" of its enormously popular practitioner, Bob Marley. Probing into Rastafari’s still evolving belief system, political goals, and cultural expression, the contributors to this volume emphasize the importance of African history and the Caribbean context. "Long before the term ‘Afrocentricity’ came into popular use in the United States, Jamaican Rastafarians had embraced the concept as the most important recipe for naming their reality and reclaiming their black heritage in the African diaspora."