Religious and Spiritual Groups in Modern America (2nd Edition) [Facsimile] [Paperback]

Robert S. Ellwood (Author), Harry Partin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0137730454 | ISBN-13: 978-0137730452 | Publication Date: October 11, 1987 | Edition: 2

The book explores the major new or unconventional religions and spiritual movements in America that exists outside the Judeo-Christian tradition. Gives accounts of some 25 groups--divided into six types--covering their history, teaching, worship, and way of life. Considers bitter controversies about cults, brainwashing, and deprogramming that have arisen around them.

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From the Publisher

This text explores the major new or unconventional religions and spiritual movements in America that exist outside the Judeo-Christian tradition.

From the Back Cover

The book explores the major new or unconventional religions and spiritual movements in America that exists outside the Judeo-Christian tradition. Gives accounts of some 25 groups--divided into six types--covering their history, teaching, worship, and way of life. Considers bitter controversies about cults, brainwashing, and deprogramming that have arisen around them.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 2 edition (October 11, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0137730454
• ISBN-13: 978-0137730452
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,011,456 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A SHORT, BUT HELPFUL SURVEY OF MANY ALTERNATIVE RELIGIOUS GROUPS, September 17, 2009

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Religious and Spiritual Groups in Modern America (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

This book is a fairly brief (about 300 pgs) survey of various modern religious/spiritual groups originating in America. Many of the groups are labeled as "cults" by the authors, which they define as, "a group offering an alternative to the dominant spiritual tradition, which is small, has authoritative and charismatic leadership, offers powerful subjective experiences which meet personal needs, is separatist, and claims a relation to a legitimating tradition."

Groups surveyed include the Theosophical Society, Anthroposophy, Rosicrucianism, the "I AM" movement, the Church Universal and Triumphant, the "Liberal Catholic Church," Spiritualist churches, Flying Saucer groups, the Aetherius Society, Gurdjieff groups, Scientology, Wicca, Satanism, the Self-Realization Fellowship, Transcendental Meditation, the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Sai Baba, Meher baba, Eckankar, the Unification Church, the Black Muslims, as well as actual religous groups such as Baha'i, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhism. They also present a "Reading Selection" (i.e., an excerpt from one of the writings of the movement) at the end of most chapters, which really helps give one a genuine "flavor" of the group.

Most of the groups receive only a few pages of survey, but the authors include a lot of information in those pages. The revised edition published in 1988 is somewhat "dated" now, but is still useful for students of such groups (although you will obviously have to obtain more detailed treatments of any group you have a particular interest in).