The Church of New Jerusalem, followers of the Swedish medium Emanuel Swedenborg,

Nonetheless, all the main cults that you can name were founded on the East The book shows that religious innovation is rampant in the Western states,įrom Alaska down to California, where church membership is very low. (the 'subcultural' movements, like gangs and like the Peoples Temple of Jim Jones). Illness, business plan (or sexual privileges) or just group interaction There are different theories on why individuals invent new cults: mental In 1985 Stark and Bainbridge found that 75% of all cults were born after 1950. Stark and Bainbridge argue that too little attention has been devoted toĬults which are instead a major factor in the emergence of new religions. Sects are schismatic groups, groups foundedīy a leader who used to be a member of another religious organization. The difference between church and sect is that a church accepts the social The universal often succumbs to the inevitable tension between the worldlyĪnd the otherworldly, and that's the source of new sects.Ĭhurches become increasingly worldly and eventually those who can onlyĪspire to the unworldly dimension (the poor who don't benefit in this world)Īre attracted to a new sect that pledges to restore the unworldly dimension. The worldly, that offers tangible rewards to the powerful,Īnd the universal that binds together both the powerful and the powerless. World: the otherworldly, that offers intangible rewards to the poor, There are at least three dimensions to the religious The 'supernatural' need not be a god: Buddhism, for example, doesn't have a god. General compensators based on supernatural assumptions. The book defines religions as organizations primarily engaged in providing The total amount of religion remains the same.

It comes with two parallel processes, one of religious revival and one of They don't deny the process of secularization but they show that Shows that we live in an age that lends itself to the establishment of new Religion, this book (as well as Daniel Bell's 'The Winding Passage' of 1980) While it seems natural to think that science is slowly eroding the appeal of

I found this book extremely interesting to explain the popularity ofĪrtificial Intelligence and the Singularity in an age in which religions ( Copyright © 2016 Piero Scaruffi | Terms of use) 'The Future of Religion' (UC Press, 1986) Book review of Rodney Stark and William Bainbridge

Rodney stark catholic