Study Of New Religious Movements Research Articles

The Thomas Robbins Award for Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements

The Thomas Robbins Award for Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements

Social Identity, Boundary Breaking, and Ritual: Saul's Recruitment on the Road to Damascus

Within the context of collectivist cultures, moving from one group to another, or changing identities, is an arduous and sometimes violent task. Saul's move from zealous Judean to follower of Jesus is depicted as a violent time of separation and aggregation. In this study, I use the anthropology of Ritual and Social Identity to construct a model of Social Identity and Boundary Breaking Ritual so that modern interpreters can better understand what is happening to Saul on the road to Damascus. Furthermore, utilizing terminology from the study of New Religious Movements, I argue that “recruitment” be used as a more accurate term than “conversion” in this context. I also compare the passage to other similar passages found in the literature of the Greco-Roman world. The models and comparisons provide a methodological framework to help modern interpreters better avoid anachronistic readings of Acts 9:1-19a.

Introduction: Queering the Study of New Religious Movements

Introduction: Queering the Study of New Religious Movements

The Thomas Robbins Award For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements

Research Article| February 01 2008 The Thomas Robbins Award For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements Nova Religio (2008) 11 (3): 3. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2008.11.3.3 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation The Thomas Robbins Award For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements. Nova Religio 1 February 2008; 11 (3): 3. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2008.11.3.3 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentNova Religio Search This content is only available via PDF. ©© 2008 by The Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Buddhism and the Perils of Advocacy

This article raises problems with the use of advocacy in Buddhist Studies, and critiques those who bring their Buddhist beliefs into the classroom and into their research. It argues that the foundations of the academic discipline (Religious Studies) within which Buddhist Studies is located are grounded in the search for an objective, non-confessional approach to the study of religion, one that distinguishes Religious Studies from Theology, and that this perspective is what gives the field its integrity. It cites examples of the problems that occur in teaching and research when such objectivity is replaced by confessional approaches, and provides an example from another field (the study of new religious movements) in which immense problems have occurred because some scholars have become advocates rather than analysts, to warn of the problems that can arise when confessional approaches become a dominant field paradigm.

The esoteric milieu in Finland today

As in the other Scandinavian countries, so in Finland an exceptionally high percentage of the population belongs to a religious community. Today, about 82 per cent of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. However, the picture of the Finnish religious and spiritual landscape is more complex than it may at first appear. The project ‘Religions in Finland’ was started in 2003. The project is a joint-effort of the Church Research Institute and the Research Network for the Study of New Religious Movements. The aim is to create an electronic database for describing, mapping and analysing religious associations and communities in Finland (active ones and also those that no longer exist). In August 2007 there were 777 communities and organizations listed in the database. They are classified into ten categories representing religious traditions according to their historical and cultural background. There are 29 organizations classified under the category Western esotericism. This article presents a general overview of the major and recently founded esoteric groups in Finland, most of which are registered associations.

A New Religious Movement in Singapore: Syncretism and Variation in the Sathya Sai Baba Movement

AbstractThis ethnographic study of the Sathya Sai Baba Movement in Singapore situates itself within the sociological study of New Religious Movements (NRMs). Studies on the expansion of “cults” and NRMs are well documented, but little has been done to explore how such movements proceed after the initial foothold has been established in the host country. Patterns of interaction with the highly plural socio-ethnic and religious elements that exist in multicultural nations, as in Singapore, and the attendant social implications have not been sufficiently addressed. The Sai Baba movement preaches and practises ethno-religious ecumenism and allow adherents to maintain the religious affiliations and practices of their parent or current religion. This paper explores the nature of the Sathya Sai Baba Movement's religious framework and its apparent success in pluralistic Singapore by studying the impact of syncretism and ritual variations on the identity of the movement.

The Community of the Many Names of God

The Community of the Many Names of God in Skanda Vale, Carmarthenshire has a number of unusual features. Founded by Guru Subramanium, a Sri Lankan Tamil in the 1960s in London, the Community moved to a valley in South Wales in the early 1970s, since when it has developed into a pilgrimage centre for British Tamils. The centre in Wales boasts three temples to Kali, Murugan and Sri Ranganathan (Vishnu), and the sadhana followed is that of Agamic Shaiva Siddhanta without the usual caste restrictions in worship. The paper will introduce the concept of ‘border guardians’ to describe a particular kind of charismatic authority. Innovative, intensely counter-intuitive, they creatively guard the border terrain. Whilst assessing the development of Skanda Vale into a sacred space for British Hindus, the paper will explore the contested relationship between Agamic and non-Agamic forms of Shaivism in Sri Lanka. The conclusion will be that such movements that have developed in the West owe more to their beginnings and histories in the place of origin to determine their formation and should be understood as transplanted sampradayas rather than being under the umbrella of the sociological study of new religious movements.

The Thomas Robbins Award: For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements

Research Article| May 01 2007 The Thomas Robbins Award: For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements Nova Religio (2007) 10 (4): 5. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2007.10.4.5 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation The Thomas Robbins Award: For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements. Nova Religio 1 May 2007; 10 (4): 5. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2007.10.4.5 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentNova Religio Search This content is only available via PDF. ©© 2007 by The Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Flirty Fishing in the Children of God : the sexual body as a site of proselytization and salvation

The Children of God [now called The Family] emerged as an apocalyptic new religious movement in the late 1960s. By the late 1970s, the group had engendered a great deal of academic and popular debate due to, among other things, its controversial sexual practices. In this article, I examine one such practice, namely, Flirty Fishing, in which many women in the group used their sexuality in combination with scriptural discussions as a method of proselytization. Utilizing social theories of the body, I explore the ways that many of the women may have adopted strategies that helped them to perceive their bodies and their behaviours in ways that did not threaten their senses of self. I consider both how women were able to endure the physical and emotional aspects of Flirty Fishing, and how they contextualized their behaviour in terms of the group’s general dynamics and belief system. Thus, I explore not only the organizational imposition of certain modes of behaviour on the body, but also individual perceptions of, responses to, and negotiations of them. Importantly, this article applies a theoretical approach to the study of new religious movements that few scholars thus far have explored.

Cults, New Religions, and the Spiritual Landscape: A Review of Four Collections

Four recent edited collections on new religions inspired this essay. As a group, the books are complementary to one another and relatively cohesive, summarizing recent research on new religious movements and offering clues for more directions for theory and research. They also raise a number of questions about the field and its future. The collections vary slightly in their foci, and each would be useful in undergraduate classes on religious movements in the United States, social movements, or the sociology of religion. In Cults and New Religious Movements, Dawson suggests that the sociological study of new religious movements has come of age, and this collection sometimes presents opposing views on topics such as controversies on brainwashing. James R. Lewis's Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements also includes core chapters on issues that have received the most sociological attention and pages in print over the past three decades. Lewis adds a specific emphasis on modernization and new technologies as they relate to cults. Lucas and Robbins's New Religious Movements in the 21st Century considers many of the same 20th century issues as the collections noted above, but adds an international element, with interesting chapters on globalization, Islamic sects, and developing nations. Only Davis and Hankins's New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America offers a unified thematic focus, examining controversial movements and their detractors over the past 200 years. These collections draw together chapters representing established research on new religions and much of the middle range theory currently grounding the field. All of the editors attempt to present major debates and areas of agreement about cults. It is also the case, however, that these books provide rather narrow interpretations of the sociology of new religious movements.

Field Notes A History of the Study of New Religious Movements1

The study of New Religious Movements (NRMs) has evolved over the last thirty to forty years by both design and chance. Beginning in the 1970s, scholars interested in NRMs studied specific groups, read one another's work, and ultimately met one another to fashion a "coalition of the mind," or scholarly yet interdisciplinary field of study, focused upon NRMs. The story of this development largely depends on the accounts provided by NRM scholars in interviews conducted by the author.

The Thomas Robbins Award: For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements

Research Article| March 01 2004 The Thomas Robbins Award: For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements Nova Religio (2004) 7 (3): 5. https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2004.7.3.5 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation The Thomas Robbins Award: For Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements. Nova Religio 1 March 2004; 7 (3): 5. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/nr.2004.7.3.5 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentNova Religio Search This content is only available via PDF. ©© 2004 by The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.2004 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

New Religious Movements and the Study of Folklore: The Russian Case

The present article deals with the question of emergence of new religious movements in contemporary Russia. Although sociological approach to the study of new religious movements proceeds usually from the theories of secularization, the author claims that the appearance of these movements should be viewed also in various contexts of national and historical peculiarities of different cultures. He stresses the importance of new urban mythology and semi-Orthodox mysticism as a basis for autochthonous Russian new religious movements emerged in the 1990s. The collapse of the Soviet ideology evidently resulted in the symbolic vacuum, which was to be filled with diverse social, political, religious and ideological patterns. Proceeding from the study of religious practices and personal narratives by the followers of “The Last Testament Church” (also known as “the sect of Vissarionovtsy”), the author argues that indigenous Russian new religious movements appear to be typical “crisis cults” comparable to so-called “cargo-cults” and other messianic and prophetic movements of this kind. This particular case demonstrates that the rise and functioning of new religious movements are often more

NA Law: a legal studies approach to New Age

In the context of a plethora of recent studies of New Age, especially from a sociological perspective, this paper presents a new approach to the field, that of legal studies. A legal studies approach to the study of New Religious Movements in particular, and religion or spirituality in general, is in its infancy. Sources at a legal scholar's disposal include legislation and other governmental publications, case history, legal textbooks, legal journals and the legal press. This paper first explores the lines of interpretation for a possible legal definition of New Age before examining by way of example three aspects of New Age and their legitimation in mainstream society; namely, holistic health, corporate social responsibility and, perhaps surprisingly, criminal justice. In conclusion, more general comments are made about the implications of a legal studies approach to New Age with regard to the mechanisms of adaptation of a fringe movement to conventional societal values.

A State-of-the-Art Theoretical Tool Kit for Student Researchers in the Study of New Religious Movements

A State-of-the-Art Theoretical Tool Kit for Student Researchers in the Study of New Religious Movements

Obaku Zen: The Emergence of the Third Sect of Zen in Tokugawa Japan

This is the first detailed English-language study of the Obaku branch of Japanese Zen. Beginning with the founding of the sect in Japan by Chinese monks in the seventeenth century, the volume describes the conflicts and maneuverings within the Buddhist and secular communities that led to the emergence of Obaku as a distinctive institution during the early Tokugawa period. Throughout the author explores a wide range of texts and includes excerpts from important primary documents such as the Zenrin shuheishu and the Obaku geki, translated here for the first time. She provides an impressive portrait of the founding Chinese leadership and the first generation of Japanese converts, whose work enabled the fledgling sect to grow and take its place beside existing branches of the closely related Rinzai Zen sect. Obaku's distinctive Chinese practices and characteristics set it apart from its Japanese counterparts. In an innovative investigation of these differences, the author uses techniques derived from the contemporary study of new religious movements in the West to explain both Obaku's successes and failures in its relations with other Japanese Buddhist sects. She illuminates the role of government support in the initial establishment of the main monastery, Mampuku-ji, and the ongoing involvement of the bakufu and the imperial family in Obaku's early development. Hers is a thorough and well-governed analysis that brings to the fore a religious movement that has been much neglected in Japanese and Western scholarship despite its tremendous influence on modern Japanese Buddhism as a whole.

“Quo Vadis” the Scientific Study of New Religious Movements?

The study of new religious movements has been developing in recent decades in an intellectual context in which both religion and its scholarly investigation appear to be more significant and more controversial than seemed to be the case in the earliest decades of SSSR. The present paper recounts the main themes of early work on nrms in the 1970s and 80s and subsequently explores three current areas of conceptual ambiguity and/or intellectual ferment and conflict. Key contemporary issues represent 1) The Boundary Problem or what is a “new religious movement”?; 2) The growing salience of the analysis of catastrophic episodes of mass violence_involving nrms; and 3) Recent claims to the effect that scholars in the sociology of religion and religious studies who do research on nrms have been led by their strong ideological commitment to the defense of religious liberty to take up a defensive attitude toward controversial “cults” to a degree which has undermined objectivity.

Psychological Studies of New Religious Movements: Findings from German-Speaking Countries

The article reviews psychological studies of members of new religious movements available only in the Gennan language. On the basis of the results of these studies, conversion to new religious movements can be understood as a process that includes activating certain defense mechanisms. Such mechanisms seem to be the idealization of new religious leaders or the new religious movement as a whole and the overem- phasis of certain values. Therapeutic effects of new religious commitments may stan from these defense mechanisms. This perspective also contributes to understanding destructive trends in the course of development within new religious movements. Such trends reflect the fact that under certain conditions dysfunctional aspects of the defense mechanisms increasingly outweigh functional aspects.

Too Narrow and Too Close: Some Problems With Participant Observation in the Study of New Religious Movements

At the beginning of her moving account of anthropological field work in Africa, Karla Poewe asks, What did fieldwork mean to you? How did it affect you?(Cesara 1982: 1). For Poewe, these questions represent description about the impact of research and a foreign culture on the researcher (1982: 1). However much they may have thought themselves so in the past, researchers are not immune to effects of their own research. As transpersonal theorist Ken Wilber notes, quoting the physicist Andrade, 'Observation means interfer ence with what we are observing ... observation disturbs reality'(Wilber 1993: 24 ; 17-34). The fact of this interference re quires special care on the part of the researcher. How does one minimize or eliminate those disturbances over which one has influ ence, and how does one mitigate the effects of those over which one has none? These are key questions for participant observation. And, because of the need for interpretation of experience (as opposed to the simple measurement of data), and the often emotionally-charged