Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements: Edition 2

George D. Chryssides

Nov 2011 · Scarecrow Press

About this ebook

New religious movements—commonly known as cults—are defined as organizations that have arisen within the last 200 years. Most treatments of these movements have typically resorted to sensationalism rather than objectivity, and New religious movements tend to receive negative media publicity. Despite their unfavorable portrayal in popular culture, however, new religious movements are a global phenomenon and much remains to be studied about these movements.

In this newly updated second edition of the Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, George D. Chryssides traces the rise and development of new religious movements throughout the world. An updated introduction summarizes the phenomenon of new religious movements and lays out the changes to the dictionary since the 2001 edition, while the main body of the dictionary consists of close to 600 cross-referenced entries on key figures, ideas, themes, and places related to various new religious movements. An index organizes the information in the dictionary, and a comprehensive bibliography leads the researcher to further sources. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about new religious movements.

About the author

George D. Chryssides is senior lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, England. He has acted as Consultant on New Religious Movements to the United Reformed Church in England and served for several years as Chair of the Board for the Centre for the Study of New Religious Movements at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, England.