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New globalized religions take two forms. Unlike new religions such as Transcendental Meditation, the former Unification Church and The Family - which are just a few of the recent religions to form networks of essentially identical communities around the world - the New Age beliefs discussed in this volume have spread without the benefit of any organisation or unified culture, and their more diffuse nature resists easy categorisation. While some of the chapters in this publication consider aspects of the general nature of New Age religion - spiritual imperialism versus cultural diversity, the overlap of globalisation and westernisation, the sources of New Age revelation and whether another age will follow - the remaining chapters are case studies which examine particular New Age beliefs, including the healing movement, the spiritualization of money, and the UFO, Gnostic and goddess myths. The book will appeal not only to scholars of the history of religions and sociology of religion, but also to those with an interest in New Age religious beliefs.
Globalization is a predominant theme in contemporary educational and political circles. Research on globalization has become a political priority because the world has become a 'single place', as Roland Robertson formulated it, where events in any particular part of the world can, and often do, have political, economical and military consequences for the rest of the world. Discourse on globalization, however, has generally ignored the cultural consequences. Recent waves of violence that seem to be religiously fueled, if not motivated, among immigrants and refugees in Europe and their home regions in the Middle East, have demonstrated that we can only ignore culture, values and religion at our own peril. Globalization and new religions is the theme of this book. It is argued here that studying new religions in a globalization perspective offers theoretical and methodological advantages both for the general study of religion and the general study of globalization. Religions are often cosmopolitan and universal in their overall message, yet they may at the same time be utterly immersed in local interactions. This is often clearly expressed among minority religions. The contrast of the local and the global is accentuated by globalization, and, in particular, many new religions have followed suit. This book draws together a selection of top quality papers given at a conference held in Aarhus in 2002 under the auspices of the Research Network on New Religions (RENNER). The papers, which have been edited and up-dated, represent the work of leading scholars in the history of religions, sociology of religion, psychology of religion and other disciplines. They address questions that are vital for everyone in the modern world: whether approached as a reflection of world economy and power dynamics, new possibilities of communication and cultural exchange in the light of mass media and technology, increased cultural plurality in the wake of migration or as a combination of any of these, globalization challenges the academic study of religion to renewed theoretical and methodological reflection.
The "Handbook of New Age" is a comprehensive survey of alternative spiritualities: their history, their global impact, their cultural influence and how they are understood by scholars. Chapters by many of the leading scholars of the movement give the latest analysis of contemporary spiritual trends, and present up-to-date observations of the interaction between the New Age movement and many different fields of knowledge and research.
This innovative collection examines the transnational movements, effects, and transformations of religion in the contemporary world, offering a fresh perspective on the interrelation between globalization and religion. Transnational Transcendence challenges some widely accepted ideas about this relationship—in particular, that globalization can be understood solely as an economic phenomenon and that its religious manifestations are secondary. The book points out that religion's role remains understudied and undertheorized as an element in debates about globalization, and it raises questions about how and why certain forms of religious practice and intersubjectivity succeed as they cross national and cultural boundaries. Framed by Thomas J. Csordas's introduction, this timely volume both urges further development of a theory of religion and globalization and constitutes an important step toward that theory.
In his exploration of the interaction between religion and worldwide social and cultural change, the author examines the major theories of global change and discusses the ways in which such change impinges on contemporary religious practice, meaning and influence. Beyer explores some of the key issues in understanding the shape of religion today, including religion as culture and as social system, pure and applied religion, privatized and publicly influential religion, and liberal versus conservative religions. He goes on to apply these issues to five contemporary illustrative cases: the American Christian Right; Liberation Theology movements in Latin America; the Islamic Revolution in Iran; Zionists in Israel; and religiou
Douglas Groothuis provides strategies for bringing the gospel to New Age followers and for confronting New Age practices which are gaining ground in schools and business.
This book begins with a comprehensive historical section that places the New Age within the context of its predecessor movements. It then focuses on specialized aspects of this subculture, from essays on the convergence of New Age spirituality with women's spirituality, to an essay on how Evangelical Christians have responded to the movement. The book also examines the international impact of the New Age.
This collection of essays, with special reference to Asia, analyzes religion through lived experience and reveals how religious phenomena are inextricably linked to globalizing processes.
The twenty-first century is witnessing a resurgence and globalization of religion. Around the world, religion has become an increasingly more important and pervasive force in personal and public life, and faith and politics now play a powerful role in international affairs. Revealing the significance of religion in contemporary life, World Religions Today explores major religious traditions--Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and East Asian religions--as dynamic, ongoing forces in the lives of individuals and in the collective experience of modern societies. Moving beyond the almost exclusively historical perspective of many books in the field, this text takes a fresh approach, using solid historical coverage of the various religious traditions as a framework to help students understand how faiths have evolved to the present day. It connects today's religions to their classical beliefs and practices but also shows how these religions have responded to and been transformed by the modern world. To help students grasp what might be "new" about the emerging era of religious life in the 21st century, the authors open each discussion with a contemporary scenario of religious experience that illustrates the tensions between pre-modern views and modernity. World Religions Today includes a general introduction that provides essential background information for students and features many pedagogical aids including timelines, maps, numerous illustrations, questions for discussion, and a glossary of key terms. Ideal for undergraduate courses in world religions and comparative religion, World Religions Today emphasizes the interconnectedness of faith, culture, politics, and society, providing a peerless examination of the diverse ways in which contemporary human beings are religious.
John Newport delivers a comprehensive study of the impact of New Age beliefs on contemporary culture - and on Christianity itself - while also offering an effective, biblical antidote to today's worldview crisis. After first surveying the historical development of the New Age worldview, from ancient times through important tendencies in nineteenth-century America to recent Far Eastern influences, Newport explores in depth eleven key areas of the New Age worldview and contrasts each area of belief with the traditional biblical worldview.