ABSTRACT

Explaining how religion and society transform each other, this book explores such movements as Holiness, Adventism, religious communes, Satanism, New Age and democratization. The Sociology of Religious Movements is the culmination of work begun in The Future of Religion (the 1986 award winner of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion) and A Theory of Religion (1993 award winner of the Pacific Sociological Association). Explaining religious schism, innovation, and conversion to show how religion and society transform each other, this book explores such movements as: Holiness, Adventism, religious communes, Children of God, Satanism, New York City Mission Society, New Age, Asian imports, and democratization.

part |27 pages

Introduction

chapter 1|25 pages

The Religious Impulse

part |117 pages

The Dynamics of Schism

chapter 2|29 pages

Tension with the Sociocultural Environment

chapter 3|29 pages

The Holiness Movement

chapter 4|30 pages

The Adventist Movement

chapter 5|27 pages

American Religious Communes

part |120 pages

The Dynamics of Innovation

chapter 6|30 pages

Cultural Diffusion

chapter 7|29 pages

Asian Imports

chapter 8|33 pages

The Family (Children of God)

chapter 9|26 pages

The Process Church of the Final Judgement

part |125 pages

The Dynamics of Transformation

chapter 10|31 pages

Morality

chapter 11|33 pages

The New York City Mission Society

chapter 12|30 pages

Democratization Movements

chapter 13|29 pages

The New Age

part |30 pages

Conclusion

chapter 14|28 pages

The Perpetual System