A Historical Introduction to the Study of New Religious Movements

by W Michael Ashcraft

Book Overview

The American public's perception of New Religious Movements (NRMs) as fundamentally harmful cults stems from the "anticult" movement of the 1970s, which gave a sometimes hysterical and often distorted image of NRMs to the media. At the same time, academics pioneered a new field, studying these same NRMs from sociological and historical perspectives. They offered an interpretation that ran counter to that of the anticult movement. For these scholars...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0367887142
• ISBN13: 9780367887148
• Release Date: December 2019
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 252 Pages