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Encyclopedia of new religionsOnly for the discerningENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW RELIGIONS This is a valuable resource for any person who wants to know about major world religions, but especially the new religious movements, sects and alternative spiritualities which often have their origins in one or more of these major religions. The book is reasonably extensive, covering more than 200 such movements, religions and spiritualities. It is the type of book one can dip into at any time for short or longer periods to discover details about a sect or a religion like Zoroastrianism or one of the numerous but varied spiritualities like Celebrity-centric Spirituality (p.360), Feminist and Eco-Feminist Spirituality (p.379) or Prosperity Spirituality (pp.91-93). Or it may be that you want to obtain an overview of Chinese or Japanese or Indian or East Asian religions. Well, this book may be what you need. Attractively produced with an abundance of colour and extensively illustrated, the book is both eye-catching and user-friendly with helpful cross-references and a comprehensive index. There are nine main sections in this book covering Christianity (pp.26-102), Judaism (pp.104-122), Islam (pp.123-144), Zoroastrianism (pp.146-156), Indian Religions (pp.158-210), Religions of East Asia (pp.212-266), Indigenous and Pagan Traditions (pp.268-302), Western Esoteric & New Age Traditions (pp.304-356), then, finally, Roots in Modern Western Cultures (pp.358-418). Each section has an Introduction and a varying number of feature articles. Christianity is given the greatest attention in the book, with the inclusion of over 30 articles on various sects or movements. The editor’s introductory article on Christianity (pp.26-31) is orthodox and his brief outline of church history is fair. But the purpose of the varied articles in this, as in other, sections is not to expose error and uphold biblical truth. Rather the purpose is to provide ‘a judgement-free survey of new religions, sects and alternative spiritualities’ (p.24). Consequently, not all the contributors are Christians, but chosen because they are scholars in their areas of study. There are, of course, weaknesses in the book. For example, although the task of choosing contributors for this volume may have been challenging, I am surprised that the entry on Celtic Christianity was not written by an even more prominent specialist on the subject, namely Professor Donald E. Meek of Aberdeen University. Again, the entry on the Worldwide Church of God could have provided more details on the recent, even current, progress of the group and its acceptance by some Protestant churches. Then I found the editor’s entry on Satanism, confined to a single column on page 336, lacking in content and research. Reading Harriet Harris’s Feature article on Fundamentalism (pp.409-415) was interesting, but she clearly does not understand the classical doctrine of Scripture as being free from error when she claims it is ‘closer to the Islamic view of the Qur’an than to traditional Christian views of the Bible’ (p.409). Notwithstanding these and many other criticisms which can be made of the book, discerning Christians will find the information in it extremely useful. And the price is right too! Dr. Eryl Davies, © Evangelicals Now - April 2007 |