New Religious Movements in Global Perspective

Description

New Religions in Global Perspective is the first truly worldwide account of the new religious movements that are currently the fastest-growing faith phenomenon in many parts of the globe. Ranging from North America and Europe to Japan, Latin America, South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, the book provides students with a complete introduction to groups such as Falun Gong, Soka Gakkai, the Brahma Kumaris, the Nation of Islam, Messianic Judaism, Rastafarianism, the Peyote cult, and Brazilian Candomble. Peter Clarke explores the dramatic rise of these enormously varied movements, charting their cultural significance and global impact, and discussing their place in a modern world of constant religious change. He also considers the many important ways in which their status as new religions is defined and understood, from genuinely unprecedented faiths with strictly modern roots to others that manifest themselves as new forms of Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Paganism. Questions addressed include: * Are new forms of Eastern spirituality replacing old religions from the West? * Does the 'new age' exist as more than a media creation? * Are new religious movements sacred or secular? * Do new religions brainwash recruits and incite violence? * Why is the public response to new religious movements so hostile? Looking also at the appeal and member profiles of new religious movements, their successes and failures, and their possible futures, this is the most accessible and wide-ranging guide to new religions today.

King's College, University of London and University of Oxford, UK

'Peter Clarke provides us with an excellent contemporary theoretical account of the field and a comprehensive source of information on a plethora of religious groups... I strongly recommend it.' - Adam Possamai, University of Western Sydney, Australia 'New Religions in Global Perspective is one of the best books on New Religious Movements (NRMs) since the beginning of the 21st century...Peter Clarke provides us with an excellent contemporary theoretical account of the field and a comprehensive source of information on a plethora of religious groups, and for this reason, I strongly recommend it. This book would be excellent as a textbook on NRMs for undergraduate and postgraduate students. For experts in the field, it offers a clear light on the most current debates in the field and covers so much across the globe, that any scholar wukk certainly find room to learn more.' -Adam Possamai, University of Western Sydney 'Creemos que la presente obra, enciclopedica en su formato, con buena bibliografia anglosajona, puede ser de ayuda para destinarios muy diversos; estudiosos de las religiones actuales, politicos, pastores y sociologos; util, por su sistemizacion y contenido, para estudiantes universitarios que buscan conocer el momento actual del espectro religioso-espiritual del mundo.' Bibliographia Missionaria