The Lure of the Cults and New Religion: Why They Attract and That We Can Do [Hardcover]

Ronald M. Enroth (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 140 pages
• Publisher: Intervarsity Pr (August 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830817085
• ISBN-13: 978-0830817085
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,104,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Weberian Analysis of Contemporary Religion, February 25, 2012

By 

Bradley P. Hayton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lure of the Cults and New Religions: Why They Attract and What We Can Do (Paperback)

Enroth takes the themes of the New Age movement and explores them from a sociological, psychological, and theological viewpoint within the confines of the new American cults during the past 20 years. He breaks down current cults into five basic categories: 1) Eastern mystical groups, 2) aberrant Christian groups, 3) psychospiritual or self-improvement groups, 4) eclectic-syncretistic groups, and 5) psychic-occult-astral groups.

It is a balanced and very informative treatment. He analyzes their charismatic leaders in a Weberian fashion. He squarely links these cults to their psychicism, occultism, and even sexual libertinism, all linked in ancient pagan mystery religions.

Though Enroth doesn't link psychology to any of the movements, one can easily see many similarities between cult beliefs and those of many current psychologies. Contemporary American society appears drawn to Asian spirituality, consciousness altering experiences, experience over rationality, and self-discovery. Enroth also offers some explicit psychological reasons for the appeal of cults. The adolescents who are mostly drawn to them find escapist alternatives to the complexity of contemporary life. They meet their needs for a close family, strong authority and guidance, meaning, and a sense of community. Through cults, they can resolve many of their own personal crises.

Enroth offers guidance to families, the church, and society on prevention. His guidance is very weak, however. Families will find his suggestions limited at best. He seems to tell the church just to be more informed, without suggesting how the church can better meet the needs of these wayward, idealistic youth. He suggests that society's emphasis on self-fulfillment and privatism have paved the way to cults, and says that more rehabilitation centers and halfway houses need to be offered to cult victims, but really offers no antidote to cult theology and practice.

Consequently, though his book is very informative about the nature of cults, Enroth's book leaves one pessimistic about how to stop their influence. He doesn't give families, the church, or society real tangible guidance in how to meet the needs of youth or society so that cult sociology, psychology, and theology will be less seductive. Maybe these are subjects for other books.