Product Description

From Christian Science and the Jehovah's Witnesses to Soka Gakkai, Wicca, and Falun Gong, the last century and a half has seen an unprecedented growth of new religious movements, sects, and alternative spiritualities. New Religions offers an authoritative and lavishly illustrated guide to more than two hundred of these wildly varied groups and movements. The volume is organized according to an entirely new method of classification, which associates movements, sects, and spiritualities with the religious traditions from which they arose. Rastafarianism, for example, is shown to have its roots in Christianity, while Bahai is an offshoot of Islam. Included are both long-established groups like the Seventh-Day Adventists and the Hutterites and more recent movements like Santeria, the Unification Church, and ISKCON (the 'Hare Krishnas'). In addition to Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Indian Religions, and the Religions of East Asia, sections are devoted to movements and groups inspired by Indigenous and Pagan Traditions, and by Western Esoteric and New Age Traditions. Particularly fascinating is the discussion of the religious offspring of Modern Western Culture, including Scientology, UFO-based groups (such as the Raelians), and even the worship of celebrities like Elvis and Princess Diana. Each entry clearly and concisely explains the history, beliefs and practices, and status in the world today of the movement or group in question. Special entries highlight broad topics such as New Religions in China as well as intriguing subjects such as Cargo Cults, Martial Arts, Astrology, and Feng Shui. Written by specialists, New Religions is a fascinating and colorful guide to the bewildering array of religious and spiritual options available to the modern seeker.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #340775 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Partridge, Senior Lecturer in theology and contemporary religion at Chester College, England, has compiled an encyclopedic work covering more than 200 religious movements. He defines a "new religion" as "a religion, sect or alternative spirituality that emerged or rose to prominence during the 20th century," which allows the inclusion of groups like Freemasonry and the Baha'i Faith, with roots in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sixty-three scholars, each with impressive academic credentials, contribute to the book, which organizes groups by the major religious tradition in which the movement is founded. Included are studies of Christian groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Science, Muslim groups such as the Nation of Islam and the Sufi Community and various controversial bodies—Heaven's Gate, the Branch Davidians and others. Partridge deliberately selected contributors whose work centers in religion and philosophy but who have no personal connection to the group under consideration. Treatment of each movement is characterized by both brevity and fairness. The various writers provide brief historical and doctrinal sketches, avoiding value judgments and criticism. Larger articles called "features" treat broader themes (e.g. "Celtic Christian Spirituality" or "Chinese New Religions"), providing helpful background for the shorter entries and helping the reader to understand each sect within a larger historical context. Dozens of illustrations, many of them in color, and a thorough index add to the book's usability. Intended for a general audience, this volume is a welcome addition to the available literature.
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Review

"Partridge, Senior Lecturer in theology and contemporary religion at Chester College, England, has compiled an encyclopedic work covering more than 200 religious movements...Treatment of each movement is characterized by both brevity and fairness. The various writers provide brief historical and doctrinal sketches, avoiding value judgments and criticism. Larger articles called "features" treat broader themes...providing helpful background for the shorter entries and helping the reader to understand each sect within a larger historical context. Dozens of illustrations, many of them in color, and a thorough index add to the book's usability. Intended for a general audience, this volume is a welcome addition to the available literature."--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Christopher Partridge is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Contemporary Religion at Chester College, England. His research and writing focus on new religions and alternative spiritualities in the West. He has published research in the areas of both contemporary Christian theology and Western alternative spiritualities.

Customer Reviews

NRMs Who's Who with Personable Contexts
New Religions: A Guide : New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities edited by Christopher Partridge (Oxford University Press) Well conceived and handsomely executed these descriptions of new religions provide a personal touch with each entry attempting to note some of the unique features these various groups have and to whom they appeal. The book also ahs great design features and is fun to read and browse, providing authoritative, personable cultural contexts, a "cliff-notes" to who's who in the NRMs.

Great for general reference
Use this like you would an encyclopedia, not a book to sit down and read. The huge number of religions is great; just about everything imaginable is in there. Each group is explained in a summary in one column to three pages in length, using easy to understand language, hitting the highlights and main points in a factual, non-judgmental way. The only drawback are the pictures as they are a little dated.

I had to buy it as a textbook for a college class but I'll be keeping it around when the class is done because of the user-friendly format.

Very innaccurate book
As with any kind of encyclopedia you will find a brief amount of info on a particular topic, and one hopes that the info there is both truthful and objective since your usually using a book like this for a report on something or maybe just for some advice. Since I worked for two years in a library I can say from direct experience that encyclopedias are like the internet. They are often just recycled information taken from other books or articles containing half truths. Reading this book gave me the impression of just this and that the researchers had done little if any actual reading of the sacred texts of any of these groups. And so While a lot of it may be true a small percentage is very innacurrate due to the authors inability to grasp the psychological depth of each system. In fact, because I read a lot of sacred texts, alot of the so called research of this book appears more like newspaper reporting. Like, Think I'll call the local Hare Krisha center up and ask em to give me brief description of what thier all about. You could just do that yourself without the personal filters of these authors and probably get a clearer picture. As a teacher of religious anthropology my impression of this book as a useful source of information is that it was written by people who's only real concern was to have thier names published in a book in order to help give them more credability so as to be considered authorities on religion. I would never reccomend this book to any students or teachers because it contains both an incredible amount of misinformation and also very little insight into the psychological aspects of many of these groups and systems, which to me is very disrepectful. To wrap it up, If like you McDonalds you'll love this book.
This is the McGuide to new religions. As long as you don't mind that thier may be just a little filler in your meat, and that your just eating fast food you'll be ok.