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Books > Christianity > Christian & quasi-Christian cults & sects

Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction (Paperback): Sarah M. S. Pearsall Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction (Paperback)
Sarah M. S. Pearsall
R269 R218 Discovery Miles 2 180 Save R51 (19%) In Stock

Marriage has not always meant just one man and one woman. For much of human history, over much of the globe, the most common alternative was polygamy: marriage involving more than one spouse. Polygamy, or plural marriage, has long been an accepted form of union in human societies, involving people living on every continent. However, polygamy has come to symbolize a problematic, even "barbaric," form of marriage that is often labeled as "backwards," less modern and progressive, embodying the oppression of women by men. In Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction, Sarah M. S. Pearsall explores what plural marriages reveal about the inner workings of marriage and describes the controversies surrounding it. The book emphasizes the diversity of historical polygamist societies, from the Shi'ite Muslims and Wendat men who practiced short-term marriages to the Mixteca, Maori, Inca, Algonquin, and Marta indigenous people of North America and the Pacific Islands, as well as medieval Irish kings, rulers of the Kingdom of Buganda in east Africa, and residents of the Ottoman Empire. Pearsall also explains the Old Testament origins of polygamy in the book of Genesis, making note of vocal Protestant defenders of the practice such as Martin Luther and John Milton, and the divides within Christianity that led to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) and the Mormons' fight throughout the 19th-century under his successor Brigham Young's leadership to freely practice plural marriage. Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction looks at how polygamous domestic and sexual relationships have influenced larger dynamics of power, gender, rank, race, and religion in societies all over the world, while also attempting to untangle the paradox of female constraint and liberty for women who advocated for polygamy, arguing that plural marriage offered security and stability rather than restraint for women. In balancing an explanation of the many complexities and misunderstandings of plural marriage, the book reveals how polygamy continues to have an influence on society today.

Unfollow - A Journey from Hatred to Hope, leaving the Westboro Baptist Church (Hardcover): Megan Phelps-Roper Unfollow - A Journey from Hatred to Hope, leaving the Westboro Baptist Church (Hardcover)
Megan Phelps-Roper 1
R471 R424 Discovery Miles 4 240 Save R47 (10%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

'For anyone who enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy or Educated, Unfollow is an essential text' - Louis Theroux 'Such a moving, redemptive, clear-eyed account of religious indoctrination' - Pandora Sykes 'A nuanced portrait of the lure and pain of zealotry' New York Times 'Unfolds like a suspense novel . . . A brave, unsettling, and fascinating memoir about the damage done by religious fundamentalism' NPR A Radio Four Book of the Week Pick for June 2021 As featured on the BBC documentaries, 'The Most Hated Family in America' and 'Surviving America's Most Hated Family' It was an upbringing in many ways normal. A loving home, shared with squabbling siblings, overseen by devoted parents. Yet in other ways it was the precise opposite: a revolving door of TV camera crews and documentary makers, a world of extreme discipline, of siblings vanishing in the night. Megan Phelps-Roper was raised in the Westboro Baptist Church - the fire-and-brimstone religious sect at once aggressively homophobic and anti-Semitic, rejoiceful for AIDS and natural disasters, and notorious for its picketing the funerals of American soldiers. From her first public protest, aged five, to her instrumental role in spreading the church's invective via social media, her formative years brought their difficulties. But being reviled was not one of them. She was preaching God's truth. She was, in her words, 'all in'. In November 2012, at the age of twenty-six, she left the church, her family, and her life behind. Unfollow is a story about the rarest thing of all: a person changing their mind. It is a fascinating insight into a closed world of extreme belief, a biography of a complex family, and a hope-inspiring memoir of a young woman finding the courage to find compassion for others, as well as herself. --- More praise for Unfollow 'A beautiful, gripping book about a singular soul, and an unexpected redemption' - Nick Hornby 'A modern-day parable for how we should speak and listen to each other' - Dolly Alderton 'Her journey - from Westboro to becoming one of the most empathetic, thoughtful, humanistic writers around - is exceptional and inspiring' - Jon Ronson 'A gripping story, beautifully told . . . It takes real talent to produce a book like this. Its message could not be more urgent' Sunday Times

Jehovah's Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse (Paperback): David A. Reed Jehovah's Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse (Paperback)
David A. Reed
R361 Discovery Miles 3 610 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

They always manage to knock on your door at the worst possible times. It's difficult to talk to Jehovah's Witnesses because they test your Bible knowledge and spiritual endurance. But the effort is worth it, because they need to hear the gospel from you. Reed, a former JW elder, closely examines the Jehovah's Witnesses' favorite Bible verses and discusses other important verses they ignore.

Complete Jewish Bible Flexisoft (Leather / fine binding, Updated ed.): David H. Stern Complete Jewish Bible Flexisoft (Leather / fine binding, Updated ed.)
David H. Stern
R1,375 R1,113 Discovery Miles 11 130 Save R262 (19%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days
Wild Wild Guru - An insider's account of his life with Bhagwan, the world's most controversial guru (Hardcover):... Wild Wild Guru - An insider's account of his life with Bhagwan, the world's most controversial guru (Hardcover)
Subhuti Anand Waight 1
R621 R509 Discovery Miles 5 090 Save R112 (18%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

'It is a Lord of the Flies parable with Bhagwan as lord. The book is a fascinating social history, with many celebrities, from Diana Ross to Prince Charles. - Helen Rumbelow, The Times This is the story of a Englishman who gave up a job in journalism to spend fourteen years with the controversial Indian mystic Osho, also known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and frequently referred to as 'the sex guru'. His guru was always controversial with his teachings on sex and spirituality, rumours of orgies and because he owned ninety-three Rolls Royces. Early in 1976, Subhuti travelled to India to meet Rajneesh in his ashram in Pune, became initiated as his disciple and immediately began to have mystical experiences, which he attributed to the powerful energy field surrounding the guru. He stayed for six months, participating in the ashram's notorious Encounter Group and other therapies designed to release suppressed emotions and awaken sexual energy Subhuti would stay to live and work on his master's ashrams for fourteen years, first as his press officer in Pune, India, then as editor of the community's weekly newspaper when Bhagwan and his followers shifted to Oregon, USA, and built a whole new town on the massive Big Muddy Ranch. There Subhuti was a first-hand witness to the scandals and hullabaloo that accompanied the guru, including tales of broken bones in no-holds-barred therapy groups and Tantra groups that encouraged total sexual freedom, and the increasing hostility with the locals which would lead to Bhagwan's attempt to flee America, his arrest and imprisonment. . He was on the Oregon Ranch when Rajneesh's secretary, Ma Anand Sheela, plotted against rival cliques within the ashram as well as a range of murderous crimes against state and federal officials which feature in hit Netflix series Wild Wild Country. Yet, amidst it all, Subhuti could see the profound revolution in spirituality that Bhagwan was creating, leaving a lasting impact on our ideas about society, religion, meditation and personal transformation. According to the author's understanding, it was the controversy itself, plus Bhagwan's refusal to tread the path of a spiritual saint, that became the stepping stone to a new vision of what it means to be a spiritual seeker.

Inochentism and Orthodox Christianity - Religious Dissent in the Russian and Romanian Borderlands (Hardcover): James A. Kapalo Inochentism and Orthodox Christianity - Religious Dissent in the Russian and Romanian Borderlands (Hardcover)
James A. Kapalo
R3,842 Discovery Miles 38 420 Ships in 9 - 15 working days

This book explores the history and evolution of Inochentism, a controversial new religious movement that emerged in the Russian and Romanian borderlands of what is now Moldova and Ukraine in the context of the Russian revolutionary period. Inochentism centres around the charismatic preaching of Inochentie, a monk of the Orthodox Church, who inspired an apocalyptic movement that was soon labelled heretical by the Orthodox Church and persecuted as socially and politically subversive by Soviet and Romanian state authorities. Inochentism and Orthodox Christianity charts the emergence and development of Inochentism through the twentieth century based on hagiographies, oral testimonies, press reports, state legislation and a wealth of previously unstudied police and secret police archival material. Focusing on the role that religious persecution and social marginalization played in the transformation of this understudied and much vilified group, the author explores a series of counter-narratives that challenge the mainstream historiography of the movement and highlight the significance of the concept of 'liminality' in relation to the study of new religious movements and Orthodoxy. This book constitutes a systematic historical study of an Eastern European 'home-grown' religious movement taking a 'grass-roots' approach to the problem of minority religious identities in twentieth century Eastern Europe. Consequently, it will be of great interest to scholars of new religions movements, religious history and Russian and Eastern European studies.

Unfollow - A Radio 4 Book of the Week Pick for June 2021 (Paperback): Megan Phelps-Roper Unfollow - A Radio 4 Book of the Week Pick for June 2021 (Paperback)
Megan Phelps-Roper
R334 R271 Discovery Miles 2 710 Save R63 (19%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

'For anyone who enjoyed Hillbilly Elegy or Educated, Unfollow is an essential text' - Louis Theroux 'Such a moving, redemptive, clear-eyed account of religious indoctrination' - Pandora Sykes 'A nuanced portrait of the lure and pain of zealotry' New York Times 'Unfolds like a suspense novel . . . A brave, unsettling, and fascinating memoir about the damage done by religious fundamentalism' NPR A Radio Four Book of the Week Pick for June 2021 As featured on the BBC documentaries, 'The Most Hated Family in America' and 'Surviving America's Most Hated Family' It was an upbringing in many ways normal. A loving home, shared with squabbling siblings, overseen by devoted parents. Yet in other ways it was the precise opposite: a revolving door of TV camera crews and documentary makers, a world of extreme discipline, of siblings vanishing in the night. Megan Phelps-Roper was raised in the Westboro Baptist Church - the fire-and-brimstone religious sect at once aggressively homophobic and anti-Semitic, rejoiceful for AIDS and natural disasters, and notorious for its picketing the funerals of American soldiers. From her first public protest, aged five, to her instrumental role in spreading the church's invective via social media, her formative years brought their difficulties. But being reviled was not one of them. She was preaching God's truth. She was, in her words, 'all in'. In November 2012, at the age of twenty-six, she left the church, her family, and her life behind. Unfollow is a story about the rarest thing of all: a person changing their mind. It is a fascinating insight into a closed world of extreme belief, a biography of a complex family, and a hope-inspiring memoir of a young woman finding the courage to find compassion for others, as well as herself. --- More praise for Unfollow 'A beautiful, gripping book about a singular soul, and an unexpected redemption' - Nick Hornby 'A modern-day parable for how we should speak and listen to each other' - Dolly Alderton 'Her journey - from Westboro to becoming one of the most empathetic, thoughtful, humanistic writers around - is exceptional and inspiring' - Jon Ronson 'A gripping story, beautifully told . . . It takes real talent to produce a book like this. Its message could not be more urgent' Sunday Times

God's Blueprints - A Sociological Study of Three Utopian Sects (Paperback): John McKelvie Whitworth God's Blueprints - A Sociological Study of Three Utopian Sects (Paperback)
John McKelvie Whitworth
R1,034 Discovery Miles 10 340 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Viewing the world with abhorrence, members of utopian sects isolate themselves from its influence. As this book, first published in 1975, shows, they seek to establish and promulgate radically distinctive forms of society according to what they claim to be God's blueprint and which they believe are destined by his intervention and their example to spread throughout the world. Rooted in the sociology of religion and more particularly in the concepts of sectarianism and communitarianism, this study presents an analysis of three sects: the Shakers; the Oneida Community; and the Bruderhof. The author examines the origins, religious conceptions, social structure and composition, modes of social control, and development of each group; and in a concluding chapter he discusses the utopian sect as a distinctive social form.

God's Blueprints - A Sociological Study of Three Utopian Sects (Hardcover): John McKelvie Whitworth God's Blueprints - A Sociological Study of Three Utopian Sects (Hardcover)
John McKelvie Whitworth
R3,044 Discovery Miles 30 440 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Viewing the world with abhorrence, members of utopian sects isolate themselves from its influence. As this book, first published in 1975, shows, they seek to establish and promulgate radically distinctive forms of society according to what they claim to be God's blueprint and which they believe are destined by his intervention and their example to spread throughout the world. Rooted in the sociology of religion and more particularly in the concepts of sectarianism and communitarianism, this study presents an analysis of three sects: the Shakers; the Oneida Community; and the Bruderhof. The author examines the origins, religious conceptions, social structure and composition, modes of social control, and development of each group; and in a concluding chapter he discusses the utopian sect as a distinctive social form.

Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity - Biblical, Theological, and Historical Essays on the Relationship Between... Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity - Biblical, Theological, and Historical Essays on the Relationship Between Christianity and Judaism (Paperback)
Gerald McDermott
R702 R609 Discovery Miles 6 090 Save R93 (13%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days
Aimee Semple McPherson and the Making of Modern Pentecostalism, 1890-1926 (Paperback): Chas H. Barfoot Aimee Semple McPherson and the Making of Modern Pentecostalism, 1890-1926 (Paperback)
Chas H. Barfoot
R1,243 Discovery Miles 12 430 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Pentecostalism was born at the turn of the twentieth century in a "tumble-down shack" in a rundown semi-industrial area of Los Angeles composed of a tombstone shop, saloons, livery stables and railroad freight yards. One hundred years later Pentecostalism has not only proven to be the most dynamic representative of Christian faith in the past century, but a transnational religious phenomenon as well. In a global context Pentecostalism has attained a membership of 500 million growing at the rate of 20 million new members a year. Aimee Semple McPherson, born on a Canadian farm, was Pentecostalism's first celebrity, its "female Billy Sunday". Arriving in Southern California with her mother, two children and $100.00 in 1920, "Sister Aimee", as she was fondly known, quickly achieved the height of her fame. In 1926, by age 35, "Sister Aimee" would pastor "America's largest 'class A' church", perhaps becoming the country's first mega church pastor. In Los Angeles she quickly became a folk hero and civic institution. Hollywood discovered her when she brilliantly united the sacred with the profane. Anthony Quinn would play in the Temple band and Aimee would baptize Marilyn Monroe, council Jean Harlow and become friends with Charlie Chaplain, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Based on the biographer's first time access to internal church documents and cooperation of Aimee's family and friends, this major biography offers a sympathetic appraisal of her rise to fame, revivals in major cities and influence on American religion and culture in the Jazz Age. The biographer takes the reader behind the scenes of Aimee's fame to the early days of her harsh apprenticeship in revival tents, failed marriages and poverty. Barfoot recreates the career of this "called" and driven woman through oral history, church documents and by a creative use of new source material. Written with warmth and often as dramatic as Aimee, herself, the author successfully captures not only what made Aimee famous but also what transformed Pentecostalism from its meager Azusa Street mission beginnings into a transnational, global religion.

Community of the Transfiguration - The Journey of a New Monastic Community (Paperback, New): Paul R Dekar Community of the Transfiguration - The Journey of a New Monastic Community (Paperback, New)
Paul R Dekar
R654 Discovery Miles 6 540 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

IN THE 1930s, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer anticipated the restoration of the church after the coming Second World War through a new monasticism, a way of life of uncompromising adherence to the Sermon on the Mount in imitation of Christ. Since then, the renewal of Christian monasticism has become a great spiritual movement. Imbued with a love for God and neighbour, and with healthy self-love, people visit monasteries to deepen their relationship with God, to pray, and to ?nd peace. Some monastic institutions are suffering a decline in vocations, but many Christians are exploring monastic lifestyles. This book introduces the Community of the Trans?guration in Australia, a new monastic community and an inspiring source of hope for the world at another time of spiritual, social, and ecological crisis. "The Community of the Trans?guration at Breakwater, Victoria, is a hidden and unexpected gem in the contemporary Australian Christian scene. Quietly but purposefully it has grown over the past 25 years into a vibrant, Spirit-?lled community standing in the great tradition of Christian monasticism. What is unexpected but exciting is that this community is ?rmly grounded in and embraced by the Baptist Church while at the same time being thoroughly ecumenical. Paul Dekar's book is a most timely contextualization of and tribute to the community." - The Rt. Rev. Andrew St. John, DD, Rector, the Church of the Trans?guration, New York, and Assisting Bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York "Western civilization was cradled by the monastic movements of the Middle Ages, and many of the discoveries of modern science have their roots in monastic gardens and in?rmaries. Paul Dekar gives a glimpse into a Christian movement of our time that promises to provide new energies, from the heart of evangelical Christianity, to enliven the monastic ideal, and provide a unique Christian witness to the world. Intentional Christianity, a more intense form of belief and practice, provides all Christians, and indeed all persons, with a window into the possibilities of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the prospect of a world remade." - Brother Jeffrey Gros, FSC, Memphis Theological Seminary PAUL R. DEKAR is Niswonger Professor of Evangelism and Missions at Memphis Theological Seminary. He is the author of Creating the Beloved Community: A History of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in the United States (2005) and Holy Boldness: Practices of an Evangelistic Lifestyle (2004). Paul and his wife, Nancy, are North American members of Holy Trans?guration Monastery in Australia.

In the Days of Rain (Paperback, Edition): Rebecca Stott In the Days of Rain (Paperback, Edition)
Rebecca Stott 1
R358 R294 Discovery Miles 2 940 Save R64 (18%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

WINNER FOR THE 2017 COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD

In the vein of Bad Blood and Why be Happy when you can be Normal?: an enthralling, at times shocking, and deeply personal family memoir of growing up in, and breaking away from, a fundamentalist Christian cult.

‘At university when I made new friends and confidantes, I couldn’t explain how I’d become a teenage mother, or shoplifted books for years, or why I was afraid of the dark and had a compulsion to rescue people, without explaining about the Brethren or the God they made for us, and the Rapture they told us was coming. But then I couldn’t really begin to talk about the Brethren without explaining about my father…’

As Rebecca Stott’s father lay dying he begged her to help him write the memoir he had been struggling with for years. He wanted to tell the story of their family, who, for generations had all been members of a fundamentalist Christian sect. Yet, each time he reached a certain point, he became tangled in a thicket of painful memories and could not go on.

The sect were a closed community who believed the world is ruled by Satan: non-sect books were banned, women were made to wear headscarves and those who disobeyed the rules were punished.

Rebecca was born into the sect, yet, as an intelligent, inquiring child she was always asking dangerous questions. She would discover that her father, an influential preacher, had been asking them too, and that the fault-line between faith and doubt had almost engulfed him.

In In the Days of Rain Rebecca gathers the broken threads of her father’s story, and her own, and follows him into the thicket to tell of her family’s experiences within the sect, and the decades-long aftermath of their breaking away.

Gone from the Promised Land - Jonestown in American Cultural History (Paperback, 2nd edition): John R. Hall Gone from the Promised Land - Jonestown in American Cultural History (Paperback, 2nd edition)
John R. Hall
R1,366 Discovery Miles 13 660 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

In this superb cultural history, Hall presents a reasoned analysis of the meaning of Jonestown: why it happened and how it is tied to our history as a nation, our ideals, our practices, and the tensions of modern culture. Hall deflates the myths of Jonestown by exploring the social character of Jim Joness Peoples Temple--how much of what transpired was unique to the group and its leader and how much can be explained by reference to wider social processes? The book begins by examining the cultural origins of Jonestown: Who was Jim Jones? Where did he get his ideas and followers? How was his Peoples Temple established? The organiational base of the Temple is analyed through relevant comparisons with modern institutionalied practices in economics, bureaucracy, social control, public relations, and power.

Waldenses: Rejections of Holy Church in Medieval Europe (Paperback): E. Cameron Waldenses: Rejections of Holy Church in Medieval Europe (Paperback)
E. Cameron
R1,242 Discovery Miles 12 420 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

This book provides the first full single-volume scholarly account in English of the "Waldenses" and examination of the concept of "Waldensianism" from the late 12th century to the Reformation. "Waldenses" is the name given to diverse and widely-scattered groups of religious dissenters since the time of the movement's reputed founder, a rich citizen of Lyon called Valdesius, in the late twelfth century. Though living within the culture of the Catholic Church, these people doubted the holiness of its priesthood and questioned its teachings about the destiny of souls after death.

The various strands of this movement emerged and endured over a long period of time. In consequence some earlier historians assumed, rather than demonstrated, that 'Waldensian' heresy remained one coherent phenomenon throughout its life-span. They also tended to neglect some of the transient or 'untypical' aspects of the movement.

This new book draws on primary sources to consider each of the manifestations of the movement in turn. It examines connections in space and time through correspondence and tradition between the different groups of Waldenses. It also asks what were the common threads in certain characteristics of religious practice, linking in differing degrees all the forms that the movement took.

Sex Cult Nun (Paperback): Faith Jones Sex Cult Nun (Paperback)
Faith Jones
R326 Discovery Miles 3 260 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

'Both inspiring and disturbing, Sex Cult Nun unravels Jones' complicated upbringing, the trauma she endured as a result and her eventual path to liberation.' TIME 'A moving story about family, courage, religious oppression, and more, and readers will have their heads spinning.' SHONDALAND 'Her gripping memoir-like Educated-takes you inside a disturbing childhood and leaves you marvelling at the resilience of the human spirit' PEOPLE MAGAZINE Faith Jones was raised to be part of an elite army preparing for the End Times. Isolated on a farm in Macau, she practised devotions and read letters of prophecy written by her grandfather, the leader of the now infamous cult, The Children of God. A direct decedent of the founding family, Faith featured in international media coverage - she was celebrated as extraordinary and then published doubly as a sharp reminder that she was not. With indomitable grit, Faith created a world of her own, pilfering books and educating herself in secret. At the age of 23, she escaped, abandoning her history, her inheritance and her legacy. While her childhood friends succumbed to addiction, suicide and prostitution, Faith fought her way into Georgetown University and went on to establish a successful career in law. Sex Cult Nun is an enthralling coming-of-age story that gives fascinating insight into the closed and complex world of extreme belief. Exploring the issues of psychological and physical control, Faith draws on her hard-won insight to interrogate the binaries of good and evil, and shed light on the insidiousness of oppression. At its heart, this extraordinary story is a stark warning about the consequences of surrendering our rights and responsibilities.

Apocalypse Observed - Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe and Japan (Hardcover): John R. Hall, Philip D.... Apocalypse Observed - Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe and Japan (Hardcover)
John R. Hall, Philip D. Schuyler, Sylvaine Trinh
R4,066 Discovery Miles 40 660 Ships in 12 - 17 working days


Apocalypse Observed is about religious violence. By analysing five of the most notorious cults of recent years, the authors present a fascinating and revealing account of religious sects and conflict.
Cults covered include:
* the apocalypse at Jonestown
* the Branch Davidians at Waco
* the violent path of Aum Shinrikyo
* the mystical apocalypse of the Solar Temple
* the mass suicide of Heaven's Gate.
Through comparative case studies and in-depth analysis, the authors show how religious violence can erupt not simply from the beliefs of the cult followers or the personalities of their leaders, but also from the way in which society responds to the cults in its midst.

Apocalypse Observed - Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe and Japan (Paperback, New): John R. Hall,... Apocalypse Observed - Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe and Japan (Paperback, New)
John R. Hall, Philip D. Schuyler, Sylvaine Trinh
R2,111 Discovery Miles 21 110 Ships in 12 - 17 working days


Apocalypse Observed is a book about religious violence. By analysing five of the most notorious cults of recent years, the authors present a fascinating and revealing account of religious sects and conflict.
*the apocalypse at Jonestown
*the Branch Davidians at Waco
*the violent path of Aum Shinrikyo
*the mystical apocalypse of the Solar Temple
*the mass suicide of Heaven's Gate
Through comparative case studies and in-depth analysis, the authors show how religious violence can erupt not simply from the beliefs of the cult followers or the personalities of their leaders, but also from the way in which society responds to the cults in its midst.

When They Were Mine - Memories of a Branch Davidian Wife and Mother (Paperback): Sheila Martin When They Were Mine - Memories of a Branch Davidian Wife and Mother (Paperback)
Sheila Martin; Edited by Catherine Wessinger
R895 Discovery Miles 8 950 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

"When They Were Mine" is the autobiography of Sheila Martin, a member of the Branch Davidian Church at the time of its apocalyptic encounter with the FBI in April, 1993. The assault resulted in a fire that killed 76 Branch Davidians, including 23 children. Sheila's husband and four oldest children died in the fire. Martin told the story of her life, both before and after the attack, to Catherine Wessinger, who then wrote this first-person narrative from the recordings of their sessions together. The result is a haunting account of one life, typical in its ups and downs, made atypical by a collision of faith with history.

The Kingdom of the Cults - The Definitive Work on the Subject (Hardcover, 6th Edition): Walter Martin The Kingdom of the Cults - The Definitive Work on the Subject (Hardcover, 6th Edition)
Walter Martin
R914 R753 Discovery Miles 7 530 Save R161 (18%) Ships in 9 - 15 working days

In an era of rapid growth of false religions worldwide, Christians need information they can trust. This comprehensive new edition of the leading book on cults will equip you--no matter your background--to understand and use biblical truth to counter false religions, including many that masquerade as mainstream Christianity. Reflecting the developments in cults and world religions in recent years, this edition, updated by expert Jill Martin Rische (daughter of Walter Martin), gives you the authoritative information you need to know. As our culture becomes less and less outwardly Christian, awareness of the belief systems of those around us has never been more vital. Readable and reliable for everyone, whether you're a teacher, a pastor, or a regular church attender, The Kingdom of the Cults remains the go-to reference book on this crucial topic.

Cults in Our Midst - The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace (Paperback, Revised and Updated Edition): Margaret Thaler... Cults in Our Midst - The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace (Paperback, Revised and Updated Edition)
Margaret Thaler Singer; Foreword by Robert Jay Lifton
R674 R522 Discovery Miles 5 220 Save R152 (23%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Cults today are bigger than ever, with broad ramifications for national and international terrorism. In this newly revised edition of her definitive work on cults, Singer reveals what cults really are and how they work, focusing specifically on the coercive persuasion techniques of charismatic leaders seeking money and power. The book contains fascinating updates on Heaven's Gate, Falun Gong, Aum Shinrikyo, Hare Krishna, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and the connection between cults and terrorism in Al Queda and the PLO.

Cults and New Religious Movements - A Reader (Paperback, 2nd Revised edition): Lorne L. Dawson Cults and New Religious Movements - A Reader (Paperback, 2nd Revised edition)
Lorne L. Dawson
R1,034 Discovery Miles 10 340 Ships in 12 - 17 working days

What is a cult? Why do they emerge? Who joins them? And why do tragedies such as Waco and Jonestown occur? This Reader brings together the voices of historians, sociologists, and psychologists of religion to address these key questions about new religious movements.

The volume opens with an introductory essay by the editor, and each section is prefaced by a brief essay outlining the issues at stake, the state of current discussion, and the nature, value, and relevance of the selected readings. The readings themselves are broad-ranging and include coverage of topical questions, such as the 'brainwashing' controversy, sexual deviance and gender issues, and cults in cyberspace.

This collection enables readers to gain a clear understanding of the phenomenon of new religious movements in modern culture and to replace prejudice and speculation with reliable insights into the nature of cult activity.

Salvation on Sand Mountain - Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia (Paperback, Re-issue): Dennis Covington Salvation on Sand Mountain - Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia (Paperback, Re-issue)
Dennis Covington
R465 R384 Discovery Miles 3 840 Save R81 (17%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

For "New York Times" reporter Dennis Covington, what began as a journalistic assignment--covering the trial of an Alabama pastor convicted of attempting to murder his wife with poisonous snakes--would evolve into a headlong plunge into a bizarre, mysterious, and ultimately irresistible world of unshakable faith: the world of holiness snake handling.

Set in the heart of Appalachia, "Salvation on Sand Mountain" is Covington's unsurpassed and chillingly captivating exploration of the nature, power, and extremity of faith--an exploration that gradually turns inward, until Covington finds himself taking up the snakes.

Life in The Family - An Oral History of the Children of God (Hardcover, 1st ed): James D. Chancellor Life in The Family - An Oral History of the Children of God (Hardcover, 1st ed)
James D. Chancellor
R824 R691 Discovery Miles 6 910 Save R133 (16%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

From a unique insider's perspective -- including interviews with more than seven-hundred family members -- James D. Chancellor charts The Family's course since its emergence as the most controversial group to grow out of the Jesus People Movement in the 1960s.

Chancellor, who had extraordinary access to rare Family records, includes the experiences of members who have remained loyal to the community and to the founding vision of their prophet, David Brandt Berg. In the first book of its kind -- comprising often painful personal histories and firsthand accounts -- Chancellor focuses on the motivation and process of becoming a Child of God, the core beliefs of the community, the mission of the disciples, their shifting sexual mores, and the cost of membership in terms of internal discipline and external persecution.

Intense confrontation with the legal, religious, political, and educational establishment marked the movement's activities from the beginning. The young disciples heeded the call of their prophet to flee a soon-to-be-destroyed North America. Dispersed throughout Europe, Latin America, Africa, and East Asia, they virtually disappeared from the American landscape. In the late 1980s, The Family had gone through extreme theological and lifestyle changes, including a radical reordering of their sexual ethos. The Children of God started to come home. Now a worldwide counterculture of some twelve thousand members, the movement's colorful history reveals a profoundly religious group that has tested the limits of human experience.

Love, Power, Sacrifice - Life with the Jesus Army (Hardcover, New): John Angerson Love, Power, Sacrifice - Life with the Jesus Army (Hardcover, New)
John Angerson
R415 R376 Discovery Miles 3 760 Save R39 (9%) Ships in 12 - 17 working days

Photographed over twenty years, this is a portrait of the Jesus Army. For most of us, if we register them at all, they are the tambourine-wielding, gospel-singing fanatics who intrude on our Saturday morning shopping excursions. But for the members themselves, this charismatic Christian sect - often dismissed as a cult - is a total way of life. Founded in 1969 in Northamptonshire, England, believers are expected to renounce all their possessions, live in communes, and share all earnings. Their motto, and three basic tenets - "Love, Power and Sacrifice" - form the title of this book.It would be easy to ridicule belief, but instead photographer John Angerson has adopted another approach - a profoundly sympathetic authorial style which does not judge, or even simply chronicle, but seems to penetrate the very skin of a religious sect. What gives these photographs an eerie relevance today is that fanatical religious belief has, seemingly out of the blue, come to the foreground of contemporary life. From the Christian fundamentalist certainties that have underpinned recent American policy, to the Islamic extremism that has erupted everywhere from New York to London and Madrid, competing religious beliefs have redrawn the contours of the modern world. Angerson's photographs provide a searing insight in a world within a world. By peering into this microcosm of fanatical religion we can begin to understand a phenomenon that it is no longer possible to ignore.

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