This wide-ranging collection explores the complex relationships between religious sects and contemporary Western society and examines the controversial social, political, and religious issues that arise as sects seek to pursue a way of life at variance with that of other people. Wilson argues that sects, often subject to negative theological and moral judgements, can be understood only as social entities and as such require a scientifically neutral and unbiased approach to explore their emergence and persistence. He traces the growth and expansion of various movements--including the Unification Church, the Scientologists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Exclusive Brethren--relating them to their social context, and indicates the sections of society from which their support is likely to come.

"The is one of the most illuminating updates on the current state of Mormonism that I have ever seen. It brings Mormonism's unstable, changeable truth clearly into view, and provides a convincing warning against the most polytheistic religion ever offered to the modern world." - Dr. Gleason Archer, Professor of Old Testament and Semitics at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Scientology: A New Slant on Life

The materials of Scientology comprise the greatest
accumulation of knowledge ever assembled on the
mind, spirit and life. Through more than a hundred
books and publications, thousands more articles and
essays, and over 3,000 recorded lectures, the works
of L. Ron Hubbard embrace virtually every aspect of living.

Here, then, is Scientology: A New Slant on Life, containing
a timeless selection of Ron's discoveries drawn from the full
wealth of his writings and each one presenting a broad, yet
comprehensive overview of Scientology applied to a specific
aspect of existence -- and, in combination, providing the panoramic
overview of life itself.

Here are the answers to questions Man has sought through
the ages; here are practical answers you hoped could be found
somewhere; here are answers that work.

- Is It Possible to Be Happy?

- Personal Integrity

- Man's Search for His Soul

- On Our Efforts for Immortality

- The Eight Dynamics that comprise life itself

- The Affinity, Reality and Communication Triangle
providing the components for interpersonal relationships

- Marriage

- How to Live with Children

- What Is Greatness?

- The Two Rules for Happy Living

- Anti-Social and Social Personalities

- The Third Party Law revealing the cause of conflict

- Honesty and Ethics

- My Philosophy, Ron's personal statement on what
motivated his life's work and the quest for Scientology

Here, then, are essentials for living, real solutions that work in
the here and now, truths to consult again and again.

Handbook for Preclears follows L. Ron Hubbard's book "Self Analysis". Both books contain easy to do methods of discovering your own mind, and increasing a person's ability to utilize considerably more of his mental potential. Discover why behavior patterns become so solidly fixed; why habits seemingly can't be broken; how decisions long ago have more power over a person than his decisions today; and why a person keeps past negative experiences in the present.

The book is written around the "Chart of Human Evaluation" - a chart that makes it possible to predict how reliable or trustworthy a person will be. This is essential knowledge for anyone, be it to chose his personal friends and relationships, or be to select personnel for a job. The book further covers methods of improving a person's IQ, emotional tone and abilities through further developments from Dianetics.

A New Edition of a classic volume on a vital subject for our day. Originally published in 1990, this volume has gone through different editions and printings, but is presently unavailable. In typically thorough White-style brother James sends 17 Letters to a fictitious Mormon Elder addresses such topics as the following: WHAT IS TRUTH? ERRORS IN GOD'S WORD? THE DOCTRINE OF GOD: ONE GOD OR MANY? ELOHIM AND JEHOVAH: ONE GOD LATTER-DAY REVELATION? FURTHER TESTS OF JOSEPH SMITH, THE "PROPHET" MEET THE AWESOME GOD OF THE BIBLE

Hubbard offers solutions to readers having trouble with irrational behavior and getting along with others. "Dianetics" has been used in over 150 nations around the world by over 20 million people.

Mormonism is one of the fastest growing religions in the world. For those who have wondered in what specific ways Mormonism differs from the Christian faith, Mormonism 101 provides definitive answers, examining the major tenets of Mormon theology and comparing them with orthodox Christian beliefs. Perfect for students of religion and anyone who wants to have answers when Mormons come calling.

Organized in chronological order of the founding of each movement, this documentary reader brings to life new religious movements from the 18th century to the present. It provides students with the tools to understand questions of race, religion, and American religious history. Movements covered include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), the Native American Church, the Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam, and more. The voices included come from both men and women. Each chapter focuses on a different new religious movement and features: - an introduction to the movement, including the context of its founding - two to four primary source documents about or from the movement - suggestions for further reading.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints currently boasts millions of members, thousands of missionaries, and congregations on every continent as well as in the vast majority of the world's countries. It's clear that their influence is still growing in our communities, places of business, and in the political arena. It's also clear that Christians need to be prepared to answer questions from Mormon friends, neighbors, co-workers, and from fellow believers as well.

In this updated and expanded edition of McKeever's popular and practical book, authors Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson provide ready responses to the common questions Mormons ask. With more than six decades of combined experience, the authors tackle such tough questions as: Why don't you accept Mormons as Christians? Do you believe Mormonism is a cult? If the LDS church is not true, which church is? How can you explain the many contradictions found throughout the Bible?

After offering analysis and responses to these and other questions, McKeever and Johnson provide helpful appendices that summarize Mormon beliefs, provide 101 Bible references to use in conversation, and expose common logical fallacies. Originally published in the 1980s, this volume has been--and will continue to be--a classic resource to help Christians become more successful in sharing their faith with Mormons.

"A Different Gospel," a book for the heart and the mind, is must reading for those who seek reliable information about the "Word of Faith" movement. Every Christian should read this book in order to be aware of the dangerous implications of the widespread and cultic "Word of Faith" movement preaching what is popularly known as ""Name It and Claim It"" theology. "A Different Gospel" is a bold and revealing examination of the biblical and historical basis of this movement. This new and revised edition is complete with a foreword by Hank Hanegraaff, author of "Christianity in Crisis," and a new afterward by D. R. McConnell. The author knows the movement first hand and has a heart for those snared by it. He is also an academically trained observer who has based his work on careful historical and biblical analysis. McConnell warns of the movement's cultic nature in its doctrine of healing and its understanding of the atonement and demonstrates how far the movement's doctrine of prosperity is from Scripture's true teaching.

In the tradition of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song, the story of David Koresh, the FBI and the tragedy at Waco - a book for everyone fascinated by true crime, conspiracy theory, and American extremity. The assault by federal agents on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993, in which 86 people died, has become a founding myth of the extreme wing of American conservatism, invoked by militiamen, gun rights advocates and the alt-right. The leader of the evangelical sect at Waco, an extreme form of Seventh-Day Adventism, was Vernon Howell, a charismatic chancer and former victim of sexual abuse who called himself David Koresh. He himself became a sexual predator on a large scale, exploiting many of the women in his compound. He was also a compelling preacher and interpreter of the Bible, notably the Book of Revelation, and was obsessed with the coming of the Apocalypse. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms duly obliged, with tragic results. Koresh is Stephan Talty's extraordinary, meticulous narration of this event, in all its squalor, strangeness and delirium. Talty doesn't downplay the madness of the cult, but he is humanely sympathetic to Koresh and his followers and is also highly critical of the ATF and FBI, who were spoiling for a violent showdown, and explains why the siege has become so important to those who loathe the state.

A major, perhaps the major, focus of early research on New Religious Movements (NRMs) was on the people who joined. Most of the field's pioneer researchers were sociologists. However, the profile of NRM members had changed substantially by the twenty-first century - changes largely missed because the great majority of current NRM specialists are not quantitatively oriented. Sects & Stats aims to overturn the conventional wisdom by drawing on current quantitative data from two sources: questionnaire research on select NRMs and relevant national census data collected by Anglophone countries. Sects & Stats also makes a strong argument for the use of longitudinal methods in studying alternative religions. Additionally, through case studies drawn from the author's own research projects over the years, readers will be brought into a conversation about some of the issues involved in how to conduct such research.

Scientology is one of the wealthiest and most powerful new religions to emerge in the past century. To its detractors, L. Ron Hubbard's space-age mysticism is a moneymaking scam and sinister brainwashing cult. But to its adherents, it is humanity's brightest hope. Few religious movements have been subject to public scrutiny like Scientology, yet much of what is written about the church is sensationalist and inaccurate. Here for the first time is the story of Scientology's protracted and turbulent journey to recognition as a religion in the postwar American landscape.

Hugh Urban tells the real story of Scientology from its cold war-era beginnings in the 1950s to its prominence today as the religion of Hollywood's celebrity elite. Urban paints a vivid portrait of Hubbard, the enigmatic founder who once commanded his own private fleet and an intelligence apparatus rivaling that of the U.S. government. One FBI agent described him as "a mental case," but to his followers he is the man who "solved the riddle of the human mind." Urban details Scientology's decades-long war with the IRS, which ended with the church winning tax-exempt status as a religion; the rancorous cult wars of the 1970s and 1980s; as well as the latest challenges confronting Scientology, from attacks by the Internet group Anonymous to the church's efforts to suppress the online dissemination of its esoteric teachings.

"The Church of Scientology" demonstrates how Scientology has reflected the broader anxieties and obsessions of postwar America, and raises profound questions about how religion is defined and who gets to define it.

The Sathya Sai global civil religious movement incorporates Hindu and Muslim practices, Buddhist, Christian, and Zoroastrian influences, and "New Age"-style rituals and beliefs. Shri Sathya Sai Baba, its charismatic and controversial leader, attracts several million adherents from various national, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. In a dynamic account of the Sathya Sai movement's explosive growth, "Winged Faith" argues for a rethinking of globalization and the politics of identity in a religiously plural world.

This study considers a new kind of cosmopolitanism located in an alternate understanding of difference and contestation. It considers how acts of "sacred spectating" and illusion, "moral stakeholding" and the problems of community are debated and experienced. A thrilling study of a transcultural and transurban phenomenon that questions narratives of self and being, circuits of sacred mobility, and the politics of affect, "Winged Faith" suggests new methods for discussing religion in a globalizing world and introduces readers to an easily critiqued yet not fully understood community.

When it became evident that the People's Republic of China (PRC) was on the verge of banning the Falun Gong movement, Li Hongzhi, the movement's founder, and his family escaped China, relocating permanently in the United States. Subsequently, the dramatic crackdown on Falun Gong in 1999 made international headlines. From the safety of his new home, Master Li encouraged his followers left behind in the PRC to vigorously demonstrate against the Chinese government, even if it meant imprisonment or even death. Further, Master Li actively discourages his followers from telling outsiders about his esoteric teachings; rather, he explicitly directs them to say that Falun Gong is just a peaceful spiritual exercise group being persecuted by the PRC. Not only has Falun Gong succeeded in propagating their side of the story in the media but the group will vigorously protest any news story that disagrees with their point of view. In more recent years, Falun Gong has attempted to silence critical scholars, including two of the contributors to the present volume. Enlightened Martyrdom: The Hidden Side of Falun Gong provides a comprehensive overview of Falun Gong: the movement's background, history, beliefs and practices. But whereas prior treatments have generally tended to downplay Falun Gong's 'dark side, ' in Enlightened Martyrdom, we have made an effort to include treatments of the less palatable aspects of this movement.

Imagine an age where the predictability of science and the wisdom of religion combine. Scientology is called a spiritual technology for a reason. Scientology provides tools to assist you to find your own answers to your questions about existence, your own truth about your life and you. The word Scientology comes from: Scio (Latin) 'knowing, in the fullest sense of the word', logos (Greek) 'study of'. Thus Scientology means 'knowing how to know'. Although modern life seems to pose an infinitely complex array of problems, Scientology maintains that the solutions to those problems are basically simple and within every man's reach. Difficulties with communication and interpersonal relationships, nagging insecurities, self-doubt and despair each man innately possesses the potential to be free of these and many other concerns. This book was designated by L. Ron Hubbard as the Book One of Scientology. It gives the basic philosophical principles of Scientology, and shows practical application how to improve conditions in life. It covers concepts like the relation of mind body and spirit, it gives you the analysis of what understanding consists of and how understanding can be mended or achieved, and all other essential concepts of this amazing study, merging science and spirituality.

This history of Sufi conceptions of the hereafter - often imagined as a place of corporeal reward (Paradise) or punishment (Hell) - is built upon the study of five medieval Sufi Qur'an commentaries. Pieter Coppens shows that boundary crossing from this world to the otherworld, and vice versa, revolves around the idea of meeting with and the vision of God; a vision which for some Sufis is not limited to the hereafter. The Qur'anic texts selected for study - all key verses on seeing God - are placed in their broader religious and social context and are shown to provide a useful and varied source for the reconstruction of a history of Sufi eschatology and the vision of God.