ABSTRACT
Peter B. Clarke’s in-depth account explores the innovative character of new religious movements and new forms of spirituality from a global vantage point. Ranging from North America and Europe to Japan, Latin America, South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, it is the perfect introduction to NRMs such as Falun Gong, Aum Shirikyo, the Brahma Kumaris, the Ikhwan or Muslim Brotherhood, Sufism, the Engaged Buddhist and Engaged Hindi movements, Messianic Judaism and Rastafarianism.
Charting the cultural significance and global impact of NRMs, he discusses the ways in which various religious traditions are shaping, rather than displacing, each other’s understanding of notions such as transcendence and faith, good and evil, of the meaning, purpose and function of religion, and of religious belonging. He then examines the responses of governments, churches, the media and general public to new religious movements, as well as the reaction to older, increasingly influential religions, such as Buddhism and Islam, in new geographical and cultural contexts. Taking into account the degree of continuity between old and new religions, each chapter contains not only an account of the rise of the NRMs and new forms of spirituality in a particular region, but also an overview of change in the regions’ mainstream religions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |69 pages
Part 1 Global perspective, New Age and society's response
part |92 pages
Part II New religions in the West
chapter |35 pages
Chapter 4 Europe
chapter |33 pages
Chapter 5 North America
chapter |22 pages
Chapter 6 Australia, New Zealand and Melanesia (New Guinea)
part |46 pages
Part III New religions
chapter |21 pages
Chapter 7 North Africa and the Middle East
chapter |23 pages
Chapter 8 Africa, south of the Sahara
part |27 pages
Part IV NRMs in South and Central America and the Caribbean
chapter |25 pages
Chapter 9 South and Central America and the Caribbean
part |114 pages
Part V New religions of South, Southeast and East Asia
chapter |32 pages
Chapter 10 South Asia (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)
chapter |25 pages
Chapter 11 Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia)
part |10 pages
Part VI Conclusion