ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the cultural significance of New religious movements (NRMs) by using the concept of theodicy. Following Max Weber and Peter Berger, the authors' approach to theodicy will be primarily sociological, incorporating the notions of 'world risk society' and 'reflexive modernisation' as developed by Ulrich Beck. The chapter suggests that one aspect of the cultural significance of NRMs is that they provide a window into how certain members of society select a religious and yet highly secular and pragmatic solution to the problem of evil. It introduces the concept of theodicy and explains how this concept is important sociologically. The chapter provides an outline of Beck's theory of world risk society and of his notion of reflexive modernisation. It uses the idea of theodicy as distribution of risk to explain one aspect of the cultural significance of new religious movements.
