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178-459: Modern paganism , also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism , spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East . Despite some common similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse, sharing no single set of beliefs, practices, or religious texts . Scholars of religion may study

356-406: A forensic psychologist noted for his writings on the brainwashing controversy, has defended NRMs, and in 1988 argued that involvement in such movements may often be beneficial: "There's a large research literature published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part, the effects seem to be positive in any way that's measurable." Those who convert to

534-472: A NRM can pose a number of difficulties. It may result in their having to abandon a daily framework that they had previously adhered to. It may also generate mixed emotions as ex-members lose the feelings of absolute certainty, which they may have held while in the group. Three basic questions have been paramount in orienting theory and research on NRMs: what are the identifying markers of NRMs that distinguish them from other types of religious groups?; what are

712-400: A NRM typically believe that in doing so they are gaining some benefit in their life. This can come in many forms, from an increasing sense of freedom to a release from drug dependency, and a feeling of self-respect and direction. Many of those who have left NRMs report that they have gained from their experience. There are various reasons as to why an individual would join and then remain part of

890-452: A NRM, including both push and pull factors. According to Marc Galanter , professor of psychiatry at NYU, typical reasons why people join NRMs include a search for community and a spiritual quest. Sociologists Stark and Bainbridge , in discussing the process by which people join new religious groups, have questioned the utility of the concept of conversion , suggesting that affiliation is

1068-419: A category within modern paganism that does not encompass all pagan religions. Other terms some pagans favor include "traditional religion", "indigenous religion", "nativist religion", and "reconstructionism". Various pagans who are active in pagan studies, such as Michael York and Prudence Jones, have argued that, due to the similarities of their worldviews , the modern pagan movement can be treated as part of

1246-496: A crucial place in time and space. Some NRMs venerate unique scriptures , while others reinterpret existing texts, utilizing a range of older elements. They frequently claim that these are not new but rather forgotten truths that are being revived. NRM scriptures often incorporate modern scientific knowledge, sometimes with the claim that they are bringing unity to science and religion. Some NRMs believe that their scriptures are received through mediums . The Urantia Book ,

1424-579: A deep-rooted sense of place and people, and eclectics embracing a universality and openness toward humanity and the Earth. Strmiska nevertheless notes that this reconstructionist-eclectic division is "neither as absolute nor as straightforward as it might appear". He cites the example of Dievturība , a form of reconstructionist paganism that seeks to revive the pre-Christian religion of the Latvian people, by noting that it exhibits eclectic tendencies by adopting

1602-543: A distinct phenomenon, the " Satanic Panic ". Consequently, scholars such as Eileen Barker, James T. Richardson , Timothy Miller and Catherine Wessinger argued that the term "cult" had become too laden with negative connotations, and "advocated dropping its use in academia". A number of alternatives to the term "new religious movement" are used by some scholars. These include "alternative religious movements" (Miller), "emergent religions" (Ellwood) and "marginal religious movements" (Harper and Le Beau). The 1960s and 1970s saw

1780-649: A dozen scholarly organizations and committees were formed by 1983, and a scholarly quarterly, the Journal of Law and Religion first published that year and the Ecclesiastical Law Journal opened in 1999. Many departments and centers have been created around the world during the last decades. As of 2012, major Law and Religion organizations in the U.S. included 500 law professors, 450 political scientists, and specialists in numerous other fields such as history and religious studies. Between 1985 and 2010,

1958-412: A financial interest in promoting the "brainwashing" explanation. Academic research, however, has demonstrated that these brainwashing techniques "simply do not exist". Many members of NRMs leave these groups of their own free will. Some of those who do so retain friends within the movement. Some of those who leave a religious community are unhappy with the time that they spent as part of it. Leaving

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2136-432: A form of racism. Other pagan groups allow people of any ethnicity, on the view that the gods and goddesses of a particular region can call anyone to their form of worship. Some such groups feel a particular affinity for the pre-Christian belief systems of a particular region with which they have no ethnic link because they see themselves as reincarnations of people from that society. There is greater focus on ethnicity within

2314-491: A framework, because while seeking a reconstructionist form of historical accuracy, Asatro strongly eschewed the emphasis on ethnicity that is common to other reconstructionist groups. While Wicca is identified as an eclectic form of paganism, Strmiska also notes that some Wiccans have moved in a more reconstructionist direction by focusing on a particular ethnic and cultural link, thus developing such variants as Norse Wicca and Celtic Wicca . Concern has also been expressed regarding

2492-521: A key, essential element which all religions share, which can be used to define "religion" as a category, and which must be necessary in order for something to be classified as a "religion". There are two forms of monothetic definition; the first are substantive , seeking to identify a specific core as being at the heart of religion, such as a belief in a God or gods, or an emphasis on power. The second are functional , seeking to define "religion" in terms of what it does for humans, for instance defining it by

2670-464: A major figure in sociology , he has no doubt influenced later sociologists of religion. Émile Durkheim also holds continuing influence as one of the fathers of sociology. He explored Protestant and Catholic attitudes and doctrines regarding suicide in his work Suicide . In 1912, he published his most memorable work on religion, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life . Interest in

2848-509: A means to engage in cross-cultural studies. In doing so, we can take the beliefs, symbols, rituals etc. of the other from within their own perspective, rather than imposing ours on them. Another earlier scholar who employs the phenomenological method for studying religion is Gerardus van der Leeuw . In his Religion in Essence and Manifestation (1933), he outlines what a phenomenology of religion should look like: The subjectivity inherent to

3026-437: A method which is more complex and claims rather more for itself than did Chantepie’s mere cataloguing of facts." (Partridge) Husserl argued that the foundation of knowledge is consciousness . He recognized "how easy it is for prior beliefs and interpretations to unconsciously influence one’s thinking, Husserl’s phenomenological method sought to shelve all these presuppositions and interpretations." (Partridge) Husserl introduced

3204-596: A monotheistic focus and ceremonial structure from Lutheranism . Similarly, while examining neo-shamanism among the Sami people of Northern Scandinavia, Siv Ellen Kraft highlights that despite the religion being reconstructionist in intent, it is highly eclectic in the manner in which it has adopted elements from shamanic traditions in other parts of the world. In discussing Asatro – a form of Heathenry based in Denmark – Matthew Amster notes that it did not fit clearly within such

3382-463: A more useful concept. A popular explanation for why people join new religious movements is that they have been "brainwashed" or subject to "mind control" by the NRM itself. This explanation provides a rationale for "deprogramming", a process in which members of NRMs are illegally kidnapped by individuals who then attempt to convince them to reject their beliefs. Professional deprogrammers, therefore, have

3560-447: A new field by Eboo Patel , Jennifer Howe Peace, and Noah Silverman. There are many approaches to the study of sacred texts. One of these approaches is to interpret the text as a literary object. Metaphor, thematic elements, and the nature and motivations of the characters are of interest in this approach. An example of this approach is God: A Biography , by Jack Miles . The temporal lobe has been of interest which has been termed

3738-413: A part of the "much larger phenomenon" of efforts to revive "traditional, indigenous, or native religions" that were occurring across the globe. Beliefs and practices vary widely among different pagan groups; however, there are a series of core principles common to most, if not all, forms of modern paganism. The English academic Graham Harvey noted that pagans "rarely indulge in theology". One principle of

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3916-502: A pejorative manner, to refer to Spiritualism and Christian Science during the 1890s. As commonly used, for instance in sensationalist tabloid articles, the term "cult" continues to have pejorative associations. The term "new religions" is a calque of shinshūkyō ( 新宗教 ) , a Japanese term developed to describe the proliferation of Japanese new religions in the years following the Second World War. From Japan this term

4094-400: A phenomenon or phenomena from a neutral standpoint, instead of with our own particular attitudes. In performing this reduction, whatever phenomenon or phenomena we approach are understood in themselves, rather than from our own perspectives. In the field of religious studies, a contemporary advocate of the phenomenological method is Ninian Smart. He suggests that we should perform the epoche as

4272-498: A philosophical method by Edmund Husserl , who is considered to be its founder. In the context of Phenomenology of religion however, the term was first used by Pierre Daniel Chantepie de la Saussaye in his work "Lehrbuch der Religiongeschichte" (1887). Chantepie's phenomenology catalogued observable characteristics of religion much like a zoologist would categorize animals or an entomologist would categorize insects. In part due to Husserl's influence, "phenomenology" came to "refer to

4450-506: A polytheistic world-view would be beneficial for western society – replacing the dominant monotheism they see as innately repressive. In fact, many American modern pagans first came to their adopted faiths because it allowed a greater freedom, diversity, and tolerance of worship among the community. This pluralistic perspective has helped the varied factions of modern paganism exist in relative harmony. Most pagans adopt an ethos of " unity in diversity " regarding their religious beliefs. It

4628-439: A range of ecologic and explicitly ecocentric practices, which may overlap with scientific pantheism . Pagans may distinguish their beliefs and practices as a form of religious naturalism or naturalist philosophy , with some engaged as humanistic or atheopagans . For some pagan groups, ethnicity is central to their religion, and some restrict membership to a single ethnic group. Some critics have described this approach as

4806-471: A relative of theirs joins a new religion. Although children break away from their parents for all manner of reasons, in cases where NRMs are involved, it is often the latter that are blamed for the break. Some anti-cultist groups emphasise the idea that "cults" use deceit and trickery to recruit members. The anti-cult movement adopted the term brainwashing, which had been developed by the journalist Edward Hunter and then used by Robert J. Lifton to apply to

4984-419: A result, they are "not inherently different" from mainstream and established religious movements, with the differences between the two having been greatly exaggerated by the media and popular perceptions. Melton has stated that those NRMs that "were offshoots of older religious groups... tended to resemble their parent groups far more than they resembled each other." One question that faces scholars of religion

5162-656: A revival and established the Roman academy which secretly celebrated the Natale di Roma and the birthday of Romulus . The Academy was dissolved in 1468 when Pope Paul II orderd the arrest and execution of some of the members, Pope Sixtus IV allowed Laetus to open the accademy again until the Sack of Rome of the 1527. Positive identification with paganism became more common in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it tied in with criticism of Christianity and organized religion, rooted in

5340-473: A secular worldview. Humanistic, naturalistic, or secular pagans may recognize deities as archetypes or useful metaphors for different cycles of life, or reframe magic as a purely psychological practice. Contemporary paganism has been associated with the New Age movement, with scholars highlighting their similarities as well as their differences. The academic field of pagan studies began to coalesce in

5518-496: A significant moment in its history. Over the months and years following its leader's death, the movement can die out, fragment into multiple groups, consolidate its position, or change its nature to become something quite different from what its founder intended. In some cases, a NRM moves closer to the religious mainstream after the death of its founder. A number of founders of new religions established plans for succession to prevent confusion after their deaths. Mary Baker Eddy ,

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5696-467: A single one. The category of modern paganism could be compared to the categories of Abrahamic religions and Indian religions in its structure. A second, less common definition found within pagan studies – promoted by the religious studies scholars Michael F. Strmiska and Graham Harvey – characterises modern paganism as a single religion, of which groups like Wicca , Druidry , and Heathenry are denominations . This perspective has been critiqued, given

5874-517: A single word his or her definitive break" from Christianity. He further suggests that the term gained appeal through its depiction in romanticist and 19th-century European nationalist literature, where it had been imbued with "a certain mystery and allure", and that by embracing the word "pagan" modern pagans defy past religious intolerance to honor the pre-Christian peoples of Europe and emphasize those societies' cultural and artistic achievements. "We might say that Reconstructionist Pagans romanticize

6052-538: A society's established traditional religions. Generally, Christian denominations are not seen as new religious movements; nevertheless, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, and the Shakers have been studied as NRMs. The same situation with Jewish religious movements , when Reform Judaism and newer divisions have been named among NRM. There are also problems in

6230-406: A spectrum ranging from reconstructive , which seeks to revive historical pagan religions; to eclectic movements , which blend elements from various religions and philosophies with historical paganism. Polytheism , animism , and pantheism are common features across pagan theology. Modern pagans can also include atheists , upholding virtues and principles associated with paganism while maintaining

6408-626: A strong recruitment drive to survive. The Shakers established orphanages, hoping that the children would become members of their community. Violent incidents involving NRMs are very rare. In events having a large number of casualties, the new religion was led by a charismatic leader. Beginning in 1978, the deaths of 913 members of the Peoples Temple in Jonestown , Guyana, by both murder and suicide brought an image of "killer cults" to public attention. Several subsequent events contributed to

6586-428: A structure for the analysis of religious phenomena. Phenomenology is "arguably the most influential approach to the study of religion in the twentieth century." (Partridge) The term is first found in the title of the work of the influential philosopher of German Idealism , Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel , entitled The Phenomenology of Spirit . Phenomenology had been practiced long before its being made explicit as

6764-478: A theological project which actually imposes views onto the people it aims to survey. Their areas of research overlap heavily with postcolonial studies . In 1998, Jonathan Z. Smith wrote a chapter in Critical Terms for Religious Studies which traced the history of the term religion and argued that the contemporary understanding of world religions is a modern Christian and European term, with its roots in

6942-530: A younger average membership than mainstream religious congregations. Some NRMs have been formed by groups who have split from a pre-existing religious group. As these members grow older, many have children who are then brought up within the NRM. In the Third World , NRMs most often appeal to the poor and oppressed sectors of society. Within Western countries, they are more likely to appeal to members of

7120-460: Is "a highly diverse phenomenon", "an identifiable common element" nevertheless runs through the pagan movement. Strmiska described paganism as a movement "dedicated to reviving the polytheistic, nature-worshipping pagan religions of pre-Christian Europe and adapting them for the use of people in modern societies." The religious studies scholar Wouter Hanegraaff characterised paganism as encompassing "all those modern movements which are, first, based on

7298-483: Is "open to many approaches", and thus it "does not require either a distinctive method or a distinctive explanation to be worthy of disciplinary status." Different scholars operating in the field have different interests and intentions; some for instance seek to defend religion, while others seek to explain it away, and others wish to use religion as an example with which to prove a theory of their own. Some scholars of religious studies are interested in primarily studying

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7476-616: Is a "new", "modern" religious movement, even if some of its content derives from ancient sources. Contemporary paganism as practiced in the United States in the 1990s has been described as "a synthesis of historical inspiration and present-day creativity". Eclectic paganism takes an undogmatic religious stance and therefore potentially sees no one as having authority to deem a source apocryphal. Contemporary paganism has therefore been prone to fakelore , especially in recent years as information and misinformation alike have been spread on

7654-418: Is concerned with the psychological principles operative in religious communities and practitioners. William James 's The Varieties of Religious Experience analyzed personal experience as contrasted with the social phenomenon of religion. Some issues of concern to the psychologist of religions are the psychological nature of religious conversion , the making of religious decisions, religion and happiness , and

7832-415: Is contrasted by the average of 47% from the richest countries, with incomes over $ 25,000 (with the United States breaking the trend by reporting at 65%). Social scientists have suggested that religion plays a functional role (helping people cope) in poorer nations. The history of religions is not concerned with theological claims apart from their historical significance. Some topics of this discipline are

8010-407: Is expanding to include many topics and scholars. Western philosophy of religion, as the basic ancestor of modern religious studies, is differentiated from theology and the many Eastern philosophical traditions by generally being written from a third party perspective. The scholar need not be a believer. Theology stands in contrast to the philosophy of religion and religious studies in that, generally,

8188-460: Is held by a "significant number" of contemporary pagans. Among those who believe in it, there are a variety of different views about what magic is. Many modern pagans adhere to the definition of magic provided by Aleister Crowley , the founder of Thelema : "the Science and Art of causing change to occur in conformity with Will". Also accepted by many is the related definition purportedly provided by

8366-494: Is its inclusion of female deity which distinguishes pagan religions from their Abrahamic counterparts. In Wicca, male and female deities are typically balanced out in a form of duotheism . Among many pagans, there is a strong desire to incorporate the female aspects of the divine in their worship and within their lives, which can partially explain the attitude which sometimes manifests as the veneration of women . There are exceptions to polytheism in paganism, as seen for instance in

8544-445: Is one of the only spiritual communities that is exploring humor, joy, abandonment, even silliness and outrageousness as valid parts of spiritual experience". Domestic worship typically takes place in the home and is carried out by either an individual or family group. It typically involves offerings – including bread, cake, flowers, fruit, milk, beer, or wine – being given to images of deities, often accompanied with prayers and songs and

8722-603: Is that of animism . This has been interpreted in two distinct ways among the pagan community. First, it can refer to a belief that everything in the universe is imbued with a life force or spiritual energy . In contrast, some contemporary pagans believe that there are specific spirits that inhabit various features in the natural world, and that these can be actively communicated with. Some pagans have reported experiencing communication with spirits dwelling in rocks, plants, trees and animals, as well as power animals or animal spirits who can act as spiritual helpers or guides. Animism

8900-413: Is the holistic concept of a universe that is interconnected. This is connected with a belief in either pantheism or panentheism . In both beliefs, divinity and the material or spiritual universe are one. For pagans, pantheism means that "divinity is inseparable from nature and that deity is immanent in nature". Dennis D. Carpenter noted that the belief in a pantheistic or panentheistic deity has led to

9078-408: Is the analysis of religions and their various communities of adherents using the functions of particular religious phenomena to interpret the structure of religious communities and their beliefs. The approach was introduced by British anthropologist Alfred Radcliffe-Brown . A major criticism of functionalism is that it lends itself to teleological explanations. An example of a functionalist approach

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9256-476: Is understanding the dietary restrictions contained in the Pentateuch as having the function of promoting health or providing social identity ( i.e. a sense of belonging though common practice). Lived religion is the ethnographic and holistic framework for understanding the beliefs, practices, and everyday experiences of religious and spiritual persons in religious studies. The name lived religion comes from

9434-425: Is unified by its topic of interest rather than by its methodology , and is therefore interdisciplinary in nature. A sizeable body of scholarly literature on new religions has been published, most of it produced by social scientists . Among the disciplines that NRS utilises are anthropology, history, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. Of these approaches, sociology played a particularly prominent role in

9612-557: Is used in reference to devotion or dedication to a particular person or place. For instance, within the Roman Catholic Church, devotion to Mary, mother of Jesus may be termed the " Cult of Mary ". It is also used in non-religious contexts to refer to fandoms devoted to television shows like The Prisoner , The X-Files , and Buffy the Vampire Slayer . In the United States, people began to use "cult" in

9790-512: Is useful in appreciating and understanding sectarian tensions and religious violence . The term " religion " originated from the Latin noun religio , that was nominalized from one of three verbs: relegere (to turn to constantly/observe conscientiously); religare (to bind oneself [back]); and reeligere (to choose again). Because of these three different potential meanings, an etymological analysis alone does not resolve

9968-661: Is when a new religious movement ceases to be "new". As noted by Barker, "In the first century, Christianity was new, in the seventh century Islam was new, in the eighteenth century Methodism was new, in the nineteenth century the Seventh-day Adventists, Christadelphians, and Jehovah's Witnesses were new; in the twenty-first century the Unification Church, the ISKCON, and Scientology are beginning to look old." The Roman Catholic Church has observed that

10146-786: The Christian Reformed Church in North America , was especially influential. In the US, the Christian Research Institute was founded in 1960 by Walter Ralston Martin to counter opposition to evangelical Christianity and has come to focus on criticisms of NRMs. Presently the Christian countercult movement opposes most NRMs because of theological differences. It is closely associated with evangelical Christianity . In his book The Kingdom of

10324-692: The Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894. In 1889, Ahmadiyya , an Islamic branch, was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad . In 1891, the Unity Church , the first New Thought denomination, was founded in the United States. In 1893, the first Parliament of the World's Religions was held in Chicago. The conference included NRMs of the time such as spiritualism , Baháʼí Faith, and Christian Science . Henry Harris Jessup , who addressed

10502-562: The Holy Spirit Movement were killed as they approached gunfire because its leader, Alice Lakwena , told them that they would be protected from bullets by the oil of the shea tree . The history of the Latter Day Saint movement includes multiple cases of significant violence committed by or against Mormons . NRMs are typically founded and led by a charismatic leader. The death of any religion's founder represents

10680-495: The Shakers and more recent NRMs, inspired by Hindu traditions, see it as a lifelong commitment. Others, including the Unification Church, as a stage in spiritual development. In some Buddhist NRMs, celibacy is practiced mostly by older women who become nuns . Some people join NRMs and practice celibacy as a rite of passage in order to move beyond previous sexual problems or bad experiences. Groups that promote celibacy require

10858-685: The Treatise on the Religious and Philosophical Sects (1127 CE), written by the Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Shahrastani . Peter the Venerable , also working in the twelfth century, studied Islam and made possible a Latin translation of the Qur'an . Notwithstanding the long interest in the study of religion, the academic discipline Religious Studies is relatively new. Christopher Partridge notes that

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11036-564: The Witchcraft Research Association ; at that time, the term was in use by Wiccans in the United States and the United Kingdom, but unconnected to the broader, counterculture pagan movement. The modern popularisation of the terms pagan and neopagan as they are currently understood is largely traced to Oberon Zell-Ravenheart , co-founder of the 1st Neo-Pagan Church of All Worlds who, beginning in 1967 with

11214-517: The ceremonial magician Dion Fortune : "magic is the art and science of changing consciousness according to the Will". Among those who practice magic are Wiccans , those who identify as neopagan witches , and practitioners of some forms of revivalist neo-Druidism , the rituals of which are at least partially based upon those of ceremonial magic and freemasonry . Discussions about prevailing, returning or new forms of paganism have existed throughout

11392-417: The gay liberation movement's reappropriation of the term " queer ", which had formerly been used only as a term of homophobic abuse. He suggests that part of the term's appeal lay in the fact that a large proportion of pagan converts were raised in Christian families, and that by embracing the term "pagan", a word long used for what was "rejected and reviled by Christian authorities", a convert summarizes "in

11570-416: The historicity of religious figures, events, and the evolution of doctrinal matters. Interreligious studies is an emerging academic field that is focused on interactions among religious groups, including but not limited to interfaith dialogue . Journals and interdisiplinary organizing efforts grew especially in the 2010s. A pivotal anthology for the field is Interreligious/interfaith studies: Defining

11748-434: The nemetons of the ancient Celts. Many pagans hold that different lands and/or cultures have their own natural religion, with many legitimate interpretations of divinity, and therefore reject religious exclusivism . While the pagan community has tremendous variety in political views spanning the whole of the political spectrum , environmentalism is often a common feature. Such views have also led many pagans to revere

11926-491: The persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses , the persecution of Baháʼís , and the persecution of Falun Gong . There are also instances in which violence has been directed at new religions. In the United States the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, Joseph Smith, was killed by a lynch mob in 1844. In India there have been mob killings of members of the Ananda Marga group. Such violence can also be administered by

12104-612: The state religion of Japan, bringing about greater freedom of religion . In 1954, Scientology was founded in the United States, by L. Ron Hubbard . It can be considered a psychotherapy oriented religion and has been consistently controversial among new religious movements in the country. In 1954 the Unification Church by Sun Myung Moon was founded, in South Korea. In 1955, the Aetherius Society

12282-476: The transcendent or supernatural according to traditional religious accounts, religious studies takes a more scientific and objective approach, independent of any particular religious viewpoint. Religious studies thus draws upon multiple academic disciplines and methodologies including anthropology , sociology , psychology , philosophy , and history of religion . Religious studies originated in 19th-century Europe , when scholarly and historical analysis of

12460-490: The "God center" of the brain. (Ramachandran, ch. 9) Neurological findings in regard to religious experience is not a widely accepted discipline within religious studies. Scientific investigators have used a SPECTscanner to analyze the brain activity of both Christian contemplatives and Buddhist meditators, finding them to be quite similar. The "origin of religion" refers to the emergence of religious behavior in prehistory , before written records. The psychology of religion

12638-443: The "first professorships were established as recently as the final quarter of the nineteenth century." In the nineteenth century, the study of religion was done through the eyes of science. Max Müller was the first professor of comparative philology at Oxford University , a chair created especially for him. In his Introduction to the Science of Religion (1873) he wrote that it is "the duty of those who have devoted their life to

12816-495: The "newness" of "new religious movements" raises problems, for it is "the very fact that NRMs are new that explains many of the key characteristics they display". George Chryssides favors "simple" definition; for him, NRM is an organization founded within the past 150 or so years, which cannot be easily classified within one of the world's main religious traditions. Scholars of religion Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein argued that "new religions are just young religions" and as

12994-464: The (Western) philosophy of religion are the existence of God , belief and rationality, cosmology , and logical inferences of logical consistency from sacred texts. Although philosophy has long been used in evaluation of religious claims ( e.g. Augustine and Pelagius 's debate concerning original sin), the rise of scholasticism in the eleventh century, which represented "the search for order in intellectual life" (Russell, 170), more fully integrated

13172-481: The 1950s or the end of the Second World War in 1945 as the defining time, while others look as far back as the founding of the Latter Day Saint movement in 1830 and of Tenrikyo in 1838. New religions have sometimes faced opposition from established religious organisations and secular institutions. In Western nations, a secular anti-cult movement and a Christian countercult movement emerged during

13350-481: The 1970s and 1980s to oppose emergent groups. A distinct field of new religion studies developed within the academic study of religion in the 1970s. There are several scholarly organisations and peer-reviewed journals devoted to the subject. Religious studies scholars contextualize the rise of NRMs in modernity as a product of, and answer to, modern processes of secularization, globalization, detraditionalization, fragmentation, reflexivity, and individualization. In 1830,

13528-469: The 1970s and 1980s, some NRMs as well as some non-religious groups came under opposition by the newly organized anti-cult movement, which mainly charged them with psychological abuse of their own members. It actively seeks to discourage people from joining new religions (which it refers to as "cults"). It also encourages members of these groups to leave them, and at times seeking to restrict their freedom of movement. Family members are often distressed when

13706-601: The 1980s led to cut backs affecting religious studies departments." (Partridge) Later in the decade, religious studies began to pick up as a result of integrating religious studies with other disciplines and forming programs of study that mixed the discipline with more utilitarian study. Philosophy of religion uses philosophical tools to evaluate religious claims and doctrines. Western philosophy has traditionally been employed by English speaking scholars. (Some other cultures have their own philosophical traditions including Indian , Muslim , and Jewish .) Common issues considered by

13884-406: The 1990s, emerging from disparate scholarship in the preceding two decades. There is "considerable disagreement as to the precise definition and the proper usage" of the term modern paganism . Even within the academic field of pagan studies , there is no consensus about how contemporary paganism can best be defined. Most scholars describe modern paganism as a broad array of different religions, not

14062-668: The American founder of Christian Science, spent fifteen years working on her book The Manual of the Mother Church , which laid out how the group should be run by her successors. The leadership of the Baháʼí Faith passed through a succession of individuals until 1963, when it was assumed by the Universal House of Justice , members of which are elected by the worldwide congregation. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada ,

14240-601: The Bible had flourished, as Hindu and Buddhist sacred texts were first being translated into European languages. Early influential scholars included Friedrich Max Müller in England and Cornelis Petrus Tiele in the Netherlands. However, Max Müller was a philologist, not a professor of religion; Cornelis Tiele was. Today, religious studies is an academic discipline practiced by scholars worldwide. In its early years, it

14418-732: The Chinese government, and by 1999 there were 70 million practitioners in China. But in July 1999, the government started to view the movement as a threat and began attempts to eradicate it . In the 21st century, many NRMs are using the Internet to give out information, recruit members, and sometimes to hold online meetings and rituals. That is sometimes referred to as cybersectarianism . Sabina Magliocco , professor of Anthropology and Folklore at California State University, Northridge, has discussed

14596-746: The Cults (1965), Christian scholar Walter Ralston Martin examines a large number of new religious movements; included are major groups such as Christian Science, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, Armstrongism , Theosophy , the Baháʼí Faith, Unitarian Universalism , Scientology, the Unity Church, as well as minor groups including various New Age groups and those based on Eastern religions . The beliefs of other world religions such as Islam and Buddhism are also discussed. He covers each group's history and teachings, and contrasts them with those of mainstream Christianity. In

14774-490: The English-speaking world have begun using the prefixes "modern" or "contemporary" rather than "neo". Several pagan studies scholars, such as Ronald Hutton and Sabina Magliocco , have emphasized the use of the upper-case "Paganism" to distinguish the modern movement from the lower-case "paganism", a term commonly used for pre-Christian belief systems. In 2015, Rountree opined that this lower case/upper case division

14952-471: The French tradition of sociology of religion "la religion vécue". The concept of lived religion was popularized in the late twentieth century by religious study scholars like Robert A. Orsi and David Hall . The study of lived religion has come to include a wide range of subject areas as a means of exploring and emphasizing what a religious person does and what they believe. Today, the field of lived religion

15130-535: The Internet and in print media. A number of Wiccan , pagan and even some Traditionalist or Tribalist groups have a history of Grandmother Stories – typically involving initiation by a Grandmother, Grandfather, or other elderly relative who is said to have instructed them in the secret, millennia-old traditions of their ancestors. As this secret wisdom can almost always be traced to recent sources, tellers of these stories have often later admitted they made them up. Strmiska asserts that contemporary paganism could be viewed as

15308-565: The Latter Day Saint movement was founded by Joseph Smith . It is one of the largest new religious movements, with over 16 million members in 2019. In Japan, 1838 marks the beginning of Tenrikyo . In 1844, Bábism was established in Iran, from which the Baháʼí Faith was founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 1863. In 1860, Donghak , later Cheondoism , was founded by Choi Jae-Woo in Korea. It later ignited

15486-406: The Western philosophical tradition (with the introduction of translations of Aristotle ) in religious study. There is some amount of overlap between subcategories of religious studies and the discipline itself. Religious studies seeks to study religious phenomena as a whole, rather than be limited to the approaches of its subcategories. The anthropology of religion is principally concerned with

15664-472: The ambiguity of defining religion, since each verb points to a different understanding of what religion is. During the Middle Ages , the term "religious" was used as a noun to describe someone who had joined a monastic order (a "religious"). Throughout the history of religious studies, there have been many attempts to define the term "religion". Many of these have been monothetic , seeking to determine

15842-466: The anthropologist Kathryn Rountree describing paganism as a whole as a "new religious phenomenon". A number of academics, particularly in North America, consider modern paganism a form of nature religion . Some practitioners completely eschew the use of the term pagan , preferring to use more specific names for their religion, such as "Heathen" or "Wiccan". This is because the term pagan originates in Christian terminology, which individuals who object to

16020-483: The argument that it exists to assuage fear of death, unite a community, or reinforce the control of one group over another. Other forms of definition are polythetic , producing a list of characteristics that are common to religion. In this definition there is no one characteristic that need to be common in every form of religion. Causing further complications is the fact that there are various secular world views, such as nationalism and Marxism , which bear many of

16198-655: The atheist Church of Satan . In 1967, the Beatles visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India brought public attention to the Transcendental Meditation movement . In the late 1980s and 1990s, the decline of communism and the revolutions of 1989 opened up new opportunities for NRMs. Falun Gong was first taught publicly in Northeast China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi . At first, it was accepted by

16376-414: The belief systems of the world's Indigenous peoples because the latter lived under colonialism and its legacy , and that while some pagan worldviews bear similarities to those of indigenous communities, they stem from "different cultural, linguistic, and historical backgrounds". Many scholars have favored the use of "neopaganism" to describe this phenomenon, with the prefix "neo-" serving to distinguish

16554-651: The claim that leftist -oriented forms of paganism were prevalent in North America and the British Isles while rightist -oriented forms of paganism were prevalent in Central and Eastern Europe. They noted that in these latter regions, pagan groups placed an emphasis on "the centrality of the nation, the ethnic group, or the tribe". Rountree wrote that it was wrong to assume that "expressions of Paganism can be categorized straight-forwardly according to region", but acknowledged that some regional trends were visible, such as

16732-514: The common basic human needs that religion fulfills. The cultural anthropology of religion is principally concerned with the cultural aspects of religion. Of primary concern to the cultural anthropologist of religions are rituals, beliefs, religious art, and practices of piety. Gallup surveys have found that the world's poorest countries may be the most religious. Of those countries with average per-capita incomes under $ 2000, 95% reported that religion played an important role in their daily lives. This

16910-741: The concept. In 1994, members of the Order of the Solar Temple committed suicide in Canada and Switzerland. In 1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate group committed suicide in the belief that their spirits would leave the Earth and join a passing comet. There have also been cases in which members of NRMs have been killed after they engaged in dangerous actions due to mistaken belief in their own invincibility. For example, in Uganda, several hundred members of

17088-704: The conclusion, based upon her ethnographic fieldwork in California that certain pagan beliefs "arise from what they experience during religious ecstasy". Sociologist Margot Adler highlighted how several pagan groups, like the Reformed Druids of North America and the Erisian movement incorporate a great deal of play in their rituals rather than having them be completely serious and somber. She noted that there are those who would argue that "the Pagan community

17266-876: The conviction that what Christianity has traditionally denounced as idolatry and superstition actually represents/represented a profound and meaningful religious worldview and, secondly, that a religious practice based on this worldview can and should be revitalized in our modern world." Discussing the relationship between the different pagan religions, religious studies scholars Kaarina Aitamurto and Scott Simpson wrote that they were "like siblings who have taken different paths in life but still retain many visible similarities". But there has been much "cross-fertilization" between these different faiths: many groups have influenced, and been influenced by, other pagan religions, making clear-cut distinctions among them more difficult for scholars to make. The various pagan religions have been academically classified as new religious movements , with

17444-514: The core scripture of the Urantia Movement, was published in 1955 and is said to be the product of a continuous process of revelation from "celestial beings" which began in 1911. Some NRMs, particularly those that are forms of occultism , have a prescribed system of courses and grades through which members can progress. Some NRMs promote celibacy , the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. Some, including

17622-425: The development of the field, resulting in it being initially confined largely to a narrow array of sociological questions. This came to change in later scholarship, which began to apply theories and methods initially developed for examining more mainstream religions to the study of new ones. Most research has been directed toward those new religions that attract public controversy. Less controversial NRMs tend to be

17800-422: The difference between these groups and established or mainstream religious movements while at the same time evading the problem posed by groups that are not particularly new. The 1970s was the era of the so-called "cult wars", led by "cult-watching groups". The efforts of the anti-cult movement condensed a moral panic around the concept of cults. Public fears around Satanism , in particular, came to be known as

17978-412: The different types of NRMs and how do these different types relate to the established institutional order of the host society?; and what are the most important ways that NRMs respond to the sociocultural dislocation that leads to their formation? — Sociologist of religion David G. Bromley The academic study of new religious movements is known as 'new religions studies' (NRS). The study draws from

18156-458: The disciplines of anthropology , psychiatry , history , psychology , sociology , religious studies , and theology . Barker noted that there are five sources of information on NRMs: the information provided by such groups themselves, that provided by ex-members as well as the friends and relatives of members, organisations that collect information on NRMs, the mainstream media, and academics studying such phenomena. The study of new religions

18334-502: The dominant faith in any country, many of the concepts they first introduced (often referred to as " New Age " ideas) have become part of worldwide mainstream culture. Eileen Barker has argued that NRMs should not be "lumped together," as they differ from one another on many issues. Virtually no generalisation can be made about NRMs that applies to every group, with David V. Barrett noting that "generalizations tend not to be very helpful" when studying NRMs. J. Gordon Melton expressed

18512-615: The earliest academic institutions where Religious Studies was presented as a distinct subject was University College Ibadan, now the University of Ibadan , where Geoffrey Parrinder was appointed as lecturer in Religious Studies in 1949. In the 1960s and 1970s, the term "religious studies" became common and interest in the field increased. New departments were founded and influential journals of religious studies were initiated (for example, Religious Studies and Religion ). In

18690-403: The early issues of Green Egg , used both terms for the growing movement. This usage has been common since the pagan revival in the 1970s. According to Strmiska, the reappropriation of the term "pagan" by modern pagans served as "a deliberate act of defiance" against "traditional, Christian-dominated society", allowing them to use it as a source of "pride and power". In this, he compared it to

18868-424: The early modern period. One reason was increased contacts with areas outside of Europe, which happened through trade, Christian mission and colonization. Increased knowledge of other cultures led to questions of whether their practices even fit into the definitions of religion, and paganism was incorporated in the idea of progress , where it was ranked as a low, undeveloped form of religion. Another reason for change

19046-736: The emergence of a number of highly visible new religious movements... [These] seemed so outlandish that many people saw them as evil cults, fraudulent organizations or scams that recruited unaware people by means of mind-control techniques. Real or serious religions, it was felt, should appear in recognizable institutionalized forms, be suitably ancient, and – above all – advocate relatively familiar theological notions and modes of conduct. Most new religions failed to comply with such standards. — Religious studies scholars Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein There has been opposition to NRMs throughout their history. Some historical events have been: Anti-Mormonism ,

19224-453: The exceptionally wealthy U.S. is so inefficient that it is experiencing a much higher degree of societal distress than are less religious, less wealthy prosperous democracies. Conversely, how do the latter achieve superior societal health while having little in the way of the religious values or institutions?" Vogel reports that in the 1970s a new "law and religion" approach has progressively built its own contribution to religious studies. Over

19402-497: The family, and human rights. Moving beyond Christianity, scholars have looked at law and religion interrelations in law and religion in the Muslim Middle East, and pagan Rome. The earliest serious writing on the interface between religion and cinema appeared in the work of film critics like Jean Epstein in the 1920s. The subject has grown in popularity with students and is cited as having particular relevance given

19580-588: The field saw the publication of some 750 books and 5000 scholarly articles. Scholars are not only focused on strictly legal issues about religious freedom or non establishment but also on the study of religions as they are qualified through judicial discourses or legal understanding on religious phenomena. Exponents look at canon law, natural law, and state law, often in comparative perspective. Specialists have explored themes in western history regarding Christianity and justice and mercy, rule and equity, discipline and love. Common topics on interest include marriage and

19758-532: The form of Ukrainian paganism promoted by Lev Sylenko , which is devoted to a monotheistic veneration of the god Dazhbog . As noted above, pagans with naturalistic worldviews may not believe in or work with deities at all. Pagan religions commonly exhibit a metaphysical concept of an underlying order that pervades the universe, such as the concept of harmonia embraced by Hellenists and that of Wyrd found in Heathenry. A key part of most pagan worldviews

19936-489: The forward to Approaches to the Study of Religion , Ninian Smart wrote that "in the English-speaking world [religious studies] basically dates from the 1960s, although before then there were such fields as 'the comparative study of religion', the 'history of religion', the 'sociology of religion' and so on ..." In the 1980s, in both Britain and America , "the decrease in student applications and diminishing resources in

20114-606: The founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness , appointed 11 "Western Gurus" to act as initiating gurus and to continue to direct the organisation. However, according to British scholar of religion Gavin Flood , "many problems followed from their appointment and the movement has since veered away from investing absolute authority in a few, fallible, human teachers." NRMs typically consist largely of first-generation believers, and thus often have

20292-399: The general study of religion dates back to at least Hecataeus of Miletus ( c.  550 BCE  – c.  476 BCE ) and Herodotus ( c.  484 BCE  – c.  425 BCE ). Later, during the Middle Ages , Islamic scholars such as Ibn Hazm (d. 1064 CE) studied Persian , Jewish , Christian , and Indian religions , among others. The first history of religion was

20470-410: The gods reflected the dynamics of life on Earth, allowing for the expression of humour. One view in the pagan community is that these polytheistic deities are not viewed as literal entities, but as Jungian archetypes or other psychological constructs that exist in the human psyche. Others adopt the belief that the deities have both a psychological and external existence. Many pagans believe adoption of

20648-519: The growing popularity of new religious movements on the Internet. In 2006 J. Gordon Melton , executive director of the Institute for the Study of American Religions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told The New York Times that 40 to 45 new religious movements emerge each year in the United States. In 2007, religious scholar Elijah Siegler said that, though no NRM had become

20826-465: The growth of sects and new religious movements is one of the "most noticeable" and "highly complex" developments in recent years, and in relation to the ecumenical movement , their "desire for peaceful relations with the Catholic Church may be weak or non-existent". Some NRMs are strongly counter-cultural and 'alternative' in the society where they appear, while others are far more similar to

21004-406: The idea of interconnectedness playing a key part in pagans' worldviews. The prominent Reclaiming priestess Starhawk related that a core part of goddess-centred pagan witchcraft was "the understanding that all being is interrelated, that we are all linked with the cosmos as parts of one living organism. What affects one of us affects us all." Another pivotal belief in the contemporary pagan movement

21182-643: The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and Romanticism . The approach to paganism varied during this period; Friedrich Schiller 's 1788 poem " Die Götter Griechenlandes " presents ancient Greek religion as a powerful alternative to Christianity, whereas others took interest in paganism through the concept of the noble savage , often associated with Jean-Jacques Rousseau . During the French Revolution and First French Republic , some public figures incorporated pagan themes in their worldviews. An explicit example

21360-483: The impact of Catholicism on paganism in Southern Europe. "Modern Pagans are reviving, reconstructing, and reimagining religious traditions of the past that were suppressed for a very long time, even to the point of being almost totally obliterated... Thus, with only a few possible exceptions, today's Pagans cannot claim to be continuing religious traditions handed down in an unbroken line from ancient times to

21538-504: The lack of core commonalities in issues such as theology, cosmology, ethics, afterlife, holy days, or ritual practices within the pagan movement. Contemporary paganism has been defined as "a collection of modern religious, spiritual, and magical traditions that are self-consciously inspired by the pre- Judaic , pre-Christian, and pre- Islamic belief systems of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East." Thus it has been said that although it

21716-836: The largest modern African initiated churches , was founded by Isaiah Shembe in South Africa. The early 20th century also saw a rise in interest in Asatru . The 1930s saw the rise of the Nation of Islam and the Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States; the rise of the Rastafari movement in Jamaica; the rise of Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo in Vietnam; the rise of Soka Gakkai in Japan; and

21894-621: The lighting of candles and incense. Common pagan devotional practices have thus been compared to similar practices in Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity, but contrasted with that in Protestantism, Judaism, and Islam. Although animal sacrifice was a common part of pre-Christian ritual in Europe, it is rarely practiced in contemporary paganism. Paganism's public rituals are generally calendrical, although

22072-586: The meeting, was the first to mention the Baháʼí Faith in the United States. Also attending were Soyen Shaku , the "First American Ancestor" of Zen , the Theravāda Buddhist preacher Anagarika Dharmapala , and the Jain preacher Virchand Gandhi . This conference gave Asian religious teachers their first wide American audience. In 1911, the Nazareth Baptist Church , the first and one of

22250-520: The methods employed by Chinese to convert captured US soldiers to their cause in the Korean War . Lifton himself had doubts about the applicability of his brainwashing hypothesis to the techniques used by NRMs to convert recruits. A number of ex-members of various new religions have made false allegations about their experiences in such groups. For instance, in the late 1980s a man in Dublin, Ireland,

22428-629: The middle and upper-middle classes, with Barrett stating that new religions in the UK and US largely attract "white, middle-class late teens and twenties". There are exceptions, such as the Rastafari movement and the Nation of Islam, which have primarily attracted Black members. A popular conception, unsupported by evidence, holds that those who convert to new religions are either mentally ill or become so through their involvement with them. Dick Anthony ,

22606-549: The modern period. Before the 20th century, Christian institutions regularly used paganism as a term for everything outside of Christianity, Judaism and – from the 18th century – Islam. They frequently associated paganism with idolatry, magic and a general concept of "false religion", which for example has made Catholics and Protestants accuse each other of being pagans. Various folk beliefs have periodically been labeled as pagan and churches have demanded that they should be purged. The Western attitude to paganism gradually changed during

22784-507: The modern religions from their ancient, pre-Christian forerunners. Some pagan practitioners also prefer "neopaganism", believing that the prefix conveys the reformed nature of the religion, such as its rejection of practices such as animal sacrifice . Conversely, most pagans do not use the word neopagan , with some expressing disapproval of it, arguing that the term "neo" offensively disconnects them from what they perceive as their pre-Christian forebears. To avoid causing offense, many scholars in

22962-548: The natural world, bound in kinship to all life and the Earth itself. The animistic aspects of pagan theology assert that all things have a soul – not just humans or organic life – so this bond is held with mountains and rivers as well as trees and wild animals. As a result, pagans believe the essence of their spirituality is both ancient and timeless, regardless of the age of specific religious movements. Places of natural beauty are therefore treated as sacred and ideal for ritual, like

23140-468: The origins of modern pagan movements lies in the romanticist and national liberation movements that developed in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. The publications of studies into European folk customs and culture by scholars like Johann Gottfried Herder and Jacob Grimm resulted in a wider interest in these subjects and a growth in cultural self-consciousness. At the time, it was commonly believed that almost all such folk customs were survivals from

23318-511: The pagan movement is polytheism , the belief in and veneration of multiple gods or goddesses. Within the pagan movement, there can be found many deities, both male and female, who have various associations and embody forces of nature, aspects of culture, and facets of human psychology. These deities are typically depicted in human form, and are viewed as having human faults. They are therefore not seen as perfect, but rather are venerated as being wise and powerful. Pagans feel that this understanding of

23496-414: The pagan movements in continental Europe than within the pagan movements in North America and the British Isles. Such ethnic paganisms have variously been seen as responses to concerns about foreign ideologies, globalization , cosmopolitanism , and anxieties about cultural erosion. Although they acknowledged that it was "a highly simplified model", Aitamurto and Simpson wrote that there was "some truth" to

23674-409: The past, while eclectic pagans idealize the future. In the first case, there is a deeply felt need to connect with the past as a source of spiritual strength and wisdom; in the second case, there is the idealistic hope that a spirituality of nature can be gleaned from ancient sources and shared with all humanity." — Religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska Modern pagan attitudes differ regarding

23852-553: The pejorative undertones of terms like " cult " and " sect ". These are words that have been used in different ways by different groups. For instance, from the nineteenth century onward a number of sociologists used the terms "cult" and "sect" in very specific ways. The sociologist Ernst Troeltsch for instance differentiated "churches" from "sect" by claiming that the former term should apply to groups that stretch across social strata while "sects" typically contain converts from socially disadvantaged sectors of society. The term "cult"

24030-399: The people" - the idea that religion has become a way for people to deal with their problems. At least one comprehensive study refutes this idea. Research has found that secular democracies like France or Scandinavia outperform more theistic democracies on various measures of societal health. The authors explains, "Pressing questions include the reasons, whether theistic or non-theistic, that

24208-484: The peoples that we study by means of this category have no equivalent term or concept at all". There is, for instance, no word for "religion" in languages like Sanskrit . Religious studies became a field in its own right in The Netherlands by promulgating the so called 'duplex ordo' law in 1876. Before that, several key intellectual figures explored religion from a variety of perspectives. One of these figures

24386-427: The pervasiveness of film in modern culture. Approaches to the study of religion and film differ among scholars; functionalist approaches for instance view film as a site in which religion is manifested, while theological approaches examine film as a reflection of God's presence in all things. A number of methodologies are used in Religious Studies. Methodologies are hermeneutics , or interpretive models, that provide

24564-545: The phenomenological study of religion makes complete and comprehensive understanding highly difficult. However, phenomenologists aim to separate their formal study of religion from their own theological worldview and to eliminate, as far as possible, any personal biases (e.g., a Christian phenomenologist would avoid studying Hinduism through the lens of Christianity). There are a number of both theoretical and methodological attitudes common among phenomenologists: source Many scholars of religious studies argued that phenomenology

24742-513: The phenomenon as a movement divided into different religions, while others study neopaganism as a decentralized religion with an array of denominations . Adherents rely on pre-Christian , folkloric, and ethnographic sources to a variety of degrees; many of them follow a spirituality that they accept as entirely modern, while others claim to adhere to prehistoric beliefs , or else, they attempt to revive indigenous religions as accurately as possible. Modern pagan movements are frequently described on

24920-496: The planet Earth as Mother Earth , who is often referred to as Gaia after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth. Pagan ritual can take place in both a public and private setting. Contemporary pagan ritual is typically geared towards "facilitating altered states of awareness or shifting mind-sets". To induce such altered states of consciousness, pagans use such elements as drumming, visualization, chanting, singing, dancing, and meditation. American folklorist Sabina Magliocco came to

25098-523: The practices, historical backgrounds, developments, universal themes and roles of religion in society. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history. The sociology of religion is distinguished from the philosophy of religion in that it does not set out to assess the validity of religious beliefs, though the process of comparing multiple conflicting dogmas may require what Peter L. Berger has described as inherent "methodological atheism". Whereas

25276-541: The pre-Christian festivals that pagans use as a basis varied across Europe. Nevertheless, common to almost all pagan religions is an emphasis on an agricultural cycle and respect for the dead. Common pagan festivals include those marking the summer solstice and winter solstice as well as the start of spring and the harvest. In Wicca and Druidry, a Wheel of the Year has been developed which typically involves eight seasonal festivals. The belief in magical rituals and spells

25454-543: The pre-Christian period. These attitudes would also be exported to North America by European immigrants in these centuries. New religious movement There is no single, agreed-upon criterion for defining a "new religious movement". Debate continues as to how the term "new" should be interpreted in this context. One perspective is that it should designate a religion that is more recent in its origins than large, well-established religions like Hinduism , Judaism , Buddhism , Christianity , and Islam . Some scholars view

25632-526: The present. They are modern people with a great reverence for the spirituality of the past, making a new religion – a modern Paganism – from the remnants of the past, which they interpret, adapt, and modify according to modern ways of thinking." — Religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska Although inspired by the pre-Christian belief systems of the past, modern paganism is not the same phenomenon as these lost traditions and in many respects differs from them considerably. Strmiska stresses that modern paganism

25810-401: The psychological factors in evaluating religious claims. Sigmund Freud was another figure in the field of psychology and religion. He used his psychoanalytic theory to explain religious beliefs, practices, and rituals, in order to justify the role of religion in the development of human culture. The sociology of religion concerns the dialectical relationship between religion and society ;

25988-403: The purpose of the discipline as to provide "training and practice ... in directing and conducting inquiry regarding the subject of religion". At the same time, Capps stated that its other purpose was to use "prescribed modes and techniques of inquiry to make the subject of religion intelligible." Religious studies scholar Robert A. Segal characterised the discipline as "a subject matter" that

26166-592: The reconstructionist side can be placed those movements which often favour the designation "Native Faith", including Romuva , Heathenry , Roman Traditionalism and Hellenism . On the eclectic side has been placed Wicca , Thelema , Adonism , Druidry , the Goddess Movement , Discordianism and the Radical Faeries . Strmiska also suggests that this division could be seen as being based on "discourses of identity", with reconstructionists emphasizing

26344-530: The religion to which they belong. Other scholars take a more unbiased approach and broadly examine the historical interrelationships among all major religious ideologies through history, focusing on shared similarities rather than differences. Scholars of religion have argued that a study of the subject is useful for individuals because it will provide them with knowledge that is pertinent in inter-personal and professional contexts within an increasingly globalized world . It has also been argued that studying religion

26522-553: The religious commitments. However, many contemporary scholars of theology do not assume such a dichotomy. Instead, scholars now understand theology as a methodology in the study of religion, an approach that focuses on the religious content of any community they might study. This includes the study of their beliefs, literatures, stories and practices. Scholars, such as Jonathan Z. Smith , Timothy Fitzgerald, Talal Asad , Tomoko Masuzawa , Geoffrey A. Oddie, Richard E. King , and Russell T. McCutcheon , have criticized religious studies as

26700-540: The rise of Zailiism and Yiguandao in China. In the 1940s, Gerald Gardner began to outline the modern pagan religion of Wicca . New religious movements expanded in many nations in the 1950s and 1960s at the height of the counterculture movements . Japanese new religions became very popular after the Shinto Directive (1945) forced the Japanese government to separate itself from Shinto , which had been

26878-496: The same characteristics that are commonly associated with religion, but which rarely consider themselves to be religious. Conversely, other scholars of religious studies have argued that the discipline should reject the term "religion" altogether and cease trying to define it. In this perspective, "religion" is argued to be a Western concept that has been forced upon other cultures in an act of intellectual imperialism. According to scholar of religion Russell T. McCutcheon , "many of

27056-517: The same global phenomenon as pre-Christian Ancient religions , living Indigenous religions , and world religions like Hinduism , Shinto , and Afro-American religions . They have also suggested that these could all be included under the rubric of "paganism". This approach has been received critically by many specialists in religious studies. Critics have pointed out that such claims would cause problems for analytic scholarship by lumping together belief systems with very significant differences, and that

27234-428: The scholar is first and foremost a believer employing both logic and scripture as evidence. Theology according to this understanding fits with the definition which Anselm of Canterbury gave to it in the eleventh century, credo ut intelligam , or faith seeking understanding (literally, "I believe so that I may understand"). The theologian was traditionally seen as having the task of making intelligible, or clarifying,

27412-428: The second half of the twentieth century the study of religion had emerged as a prominent and important field of academic enquiry." He cites the growing distrust of the empiricism of the nineteenth century and the growing interest in non-Christian religions and spirituality coupled with convergence of the work of social scientists and that of scholars of religion as factors involved in the rise of Religious Studies. One of

27590-408: The sociology of religion broadly differs from theology in assuming the invalidity of the supernatural, theorists tend to acknowledge socio-cultural reification of religious practise. The sociology of religion also deals with how religion impacts society regarding the positive and negatives of what happens when religion is mixed with society. Theorist such as Marx states that "religion is the opium of

27768-610: The source material surrounding pre-Christian belief systems. Strmiska notes that pagan groups can be "divided along a continuum: at one end are those that aim to reconstruct the ancient religious traditions of a particular ethnic group or a linguistic or geographic area to the highest degree possible; at the other end are those that freely blend traditions of different areas, peoples, and time periods." Strmiska argues that these two poles could be termed reconstructionism and eclecticism , respectively. Reconstructionists do not altogether reject innovation in their interpretation and adaptation of

27946-449: The source material, however they do believe that the source material conveys greater authenticity and thus should be emphasized. They often follow scholarly debates about the nature of such pre-Christian religions, and some reconstructionists are themselves scholars. Eclectic pagans , conversely, seek general inspiration from the pre-Christian past, and do not attempt to recreate past rites or traditions with specific attention to detail. On

28124-647: The state. In Iran, followers of the Baháʼí Faith have faced persecution, while the Ahmadiyya have faced similar violence in Pakistan. Since 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong in China has been severe. Ethan Gutmann interviewed over 100 witnesses and estimated that 65,000 Falun Gong practitioners were killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008. In the 1930s, Christian critics of NRMs began referring to them as "cults". The 1938 book The Chaos of Cults by Jan Karel van Baalen (1890–1968), an ordained minister in

28302-485: The study of the principal religions of the world in their original documents, and who value and reverence it in whatever form it may present itself, to take possession of this new territory in the name of true science." Many of the key scholars who helped to establish the study of religion did not regard themselves as scholars of religious studies, but rather as theologians, philosophers, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, and historians. Partridge writes that "by

28480-492: The subject of less scholarly research. It has also been noted that scholars of new religions often avoid researching certain movements that scholars from other backgrounds study. The feminist spirituality movement is usually examined by scholars of women's studies , African-American new religions by scholars of Africana studies , and Native American new religions by scholars of Native American studies . J. Gordon Melton argued that "new religious movements" should be defined by

28658-454: The term "eidetic vision" to describe the ability to observe without "prior beliefs and interpretations" influencing understanding and perception. His other main conceptual contribution is the idea of the epoche : setting aside metaphysical questions and observing phenomena in and of themselves, without any bias or commitments on the part of the investigator. The epoche, also known as phenomenological reduction or bracketing, involves approaching

28836-918: The term wish to avoid. Some favor the term "ethnic religion"; the World Pagan Congress, founded in 1998, soon renamed itself the European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER), enjoying that term's association with the Greek ethnos and the academic field of ethnology . Within linguistically Slavic areas of Europe, the term "Native Faith" is often favored as a synonym for paganism, rendered as Ridnovirstvo in Ukrainian, Rodnoverie in Russian, and Rodzimowierstwo in Polish. Alternately, many practitioners in these regions view "Native Faith" as

29014-502: The term would serve modern pagan interests by making the movement appear far larger on the world stage. Doyle White writes that modern religions that draw upon the pre-Christian belief systems of other parts of the world, such as Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas, cannot be seen as part of the contemporary pagan movement, which is "fundamentally Eurocentric ". Similarly, Strmiska stresses that modern paganism should not be conflated with

29192-483: The use of "religion" within the term "new religious movements". This is because various groups, particularly active within the New Age milieu, have many traits in common with different NRMs but emphasise personal development and humanistic psychology , and are not clearly "religious" in nature. Since at least the early 2000s, most sociologists of religion have used the term "new religious movement" in order to avoid

29370-475: The utility of the term "reconstructionism" when dealing with paganisms in Central and Eastern Europe, because in many of the languages of these regions, equivalents of the term "reconstructionism" – such as the Czech Historická rekonstrukce and Lithuanian Istorinė rekonstrukcija – are already used to define the secular hobby of historical re-enactment . The spectrum of modern paganism includes

29548-514: The view that there is "no single characteristic or set of characteristics" that all new religions share, "not even their newness." Bryan Wilson wrote, "Chief among the miss-directed assertions has been the tendency to speak of new religious movements as if they differed very little, if at all, one from another. The tendency has been to lump them together and indiscriminately attribute all of the characteristics which are, in fact, valid for only one or two." NRMs themselves often claim that they exist at

29726-455: The way dominant religious and secular forces within a given society treat them. According to him, NRMs constituted "those religious groups that have been found, from the perspective of the dominant religious community (and in the West that is almost always a form of Christianity), to be not just different, but unacceptably different." Barker cautioned against Melton's approach, arguing that negating

29904-530: Was Gabriel André Aucler , who responded to both Christianity and Enlightenment atheism by performing pagan rites and arguing for renewed pagan religiosity in his book La Thréicie (1799). Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn. — William Wordsworth , " The World Is Too Much with Us ", lines 9–14 One of

30082-478: Was "now [the] convention" in pagan studies. Among the critics of the upper-case P are York and Andras Corban-Arthen, president of the ECER. Capitalizing the word, they argue, makes "Paganism" appear as the name of a cohesive religion rather than a generic religious category, and comes off as naive, dishonest or as an unwelcome attempt to disrupt the spontaneity and vernacular quality of the movement. The term "neo-pagan"

30260-426: Was "the distinctive method of the discipline". In 2006, the phenomenologist of religion Thomas Ryba noted that this approach to the study of religion had "entered a period of dormancy". Phenomenological approaches were largely taxonomical, with Robert A. Segal stating that it amounted to "no more than data gathering" alongside "the classification of the data gathered". Functionalism , in regard to religious studies,

30438-401: Was also a concept common to many pre-Christian European religions, and in adopting it, contemporary pagans are attempting to "reenter the primeval worldview" and participate in a view of cosmology "that is not possible for most Westerners after childhood." All pagan movements place great emphasis on the divinity of nature as a primary source of divine will , and on humanity's membership of

30616-406: Was coined in the 19th century in reference to Renaissance and Romanticist Hellenophile classical revivalism . By the mid-1930s "neopagan" was being applied to new religious movements like Jakob Wilhelm Hauer 's German Faith Movement and Jan Stachniuk 's Polish Zadruga , usually by outsiders and often pejoratively. Pagan as a self-designation appeared in 1964 and 1965, in the publications of

30794-444: Was founded in England. It and some other NRMs have been called UFO religions because they combine the belief in extraterrestrial life with traditional religious principles. In 1965, Paul Twitchell founded Eckankar , an NRM derived partially from Sant Mat . In 1966, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was founded in the United States by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada , and Anton LaVey founded

30972-544: Was given a three-year suspended sentence for falsely claiming that he had been drugged, kidnapped, and held captive by members of ISKCON. Religious studies Religious studies , also known as the study of religion , is the scientific study of religion . There is no consensus on what qualifies as religion and its definition is highly contested. It describes, compares, interprets, and explains religion, emphasizing empirical , historically based, and cross-cultural perspectives. While theology attempts to understand

31150-465: Was known as " comparative religion " or the science of religion and, in the United States , there are those who today also know the field as the "History of religion" (associated with methodological traditions traced to the University of Chicago in general, and in particular Mircea Eliade , from the late 1950s through to the late 1980s). The religious studies scholar Walter Capps described

31328-584: Was the circulation of ancient writings such as those attributed to Hermes Trismegistus ; this made paganism an intellectual position some Europeans began to self-identify with, starting at the latest in the 15th century with people like Gemistus Pletho , who wanted to establish a new form of Greco-Roman polytheism. Gemistus Pletho influenced Cosimo de Medici to establish the Florentine Neoplatonic Academy and consequentially Julius Pomponius Laetus (student of Pletho) also advocated for

31506-566: Was the famous pragmatist William James . His 1902 Gifford lectures and book The Varieties of Religious Experience examined religion from a psychological-philosophical perspective and is still influential today. His essay The Will to Believe defends the rationality of faith. Max Weber studied religion from an economic perspective in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904–1905), his most famous work. As

31684-584: Was translated and used by several American authors, including Jacob Needleman , to describe the range of groups that appeared in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1960s. This term, amongst others, was adopted by Western scholars as an alternative to "cult". However, "new religious movements" has failed to gain widespread public usage in the manner that "cult" has. Other terms that have been employed for many NRMs are "alternative religion" and "alternative spirituality", something used to convey

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