Money and Power in the New Religions
| Author: | Richardson, James | |
| Year: | 1990 | |
| Pages: | 436 | |
| ISBN: | 0-88946-852-4 978-0-88946-852-8 | |
| Price: | $259.95 + shipping | |
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A collection of essays focusing on the interaction of material and ideological or theological elements in some of the new religions or cults that have achieved prominence in recent years. Particularly noteworthy are case studies showing how several of these groups have been greatly influenced by material concerns. Among the new religions or cults examined are Mormonism, the Unification Church (Moonies), Hare Krishna, the Love Family, the English Rajneesh commune, est, Transcendental Meditation, 3HO, Divine Light Mission, and Centerpoint (a New Zealand group).
Reviews
"Clergy, seminarians, and laypersons will benefit from the reading of this work. . . . very readable. . . . breaks new ground in the matter of money and power in the new religions." - George W. Braswell, Jr., in Faith Mission
". . . approaches the topic from a different angle . . . contains sociological studies of some of the new religious movements that have emerged in the last 30 years." - America
"While spectacular scams and misuses of funds of the more notorious new religions have made the front pages of newspapers and evening news programs, until recently there has been surprisingly little sociological research on the economic structure of new religious movements. [This book] is an excellent attempt to help alleviate this hiatus in the literature. . . . addresses important areas of sociological investigation that deserve further study. . . . an important collection for scholars of the sociology of religion. . . . will be of use as a text for advanced undergraduate courses as well." - Sociological Analysis
". . . approaches the topic from a different angle . . . contains sociological studies of some of the new religious movements that have emerged in the last 30 years." - America
"While spectacular scams and misuses of funds of the more notorious new religions have made the front pages of newspapers and evening news programs, until recently there has been surprisingly little sociological research on the economic structure of new religious movements. [This book] is an excellent attempt to help alleviate this hiatus in the literature. . . . addresses important areas of sociological investigation that deserve further study. . . . an important collection for scholars of the sociology of religion. . . . will be of use as a text for advanced undergraduate courses as well." - Sociological Analysis