The following report is based on Chapter 10: New Religious Movements in the 2015 textbook Introducing world religions: A Christian engagement by Charles E. Farhadian. In this chapter, Farhadian provides a comprehensive overview of major new religious movements (NRM) and identifies popular NRMs, particularly their historical beginnings, important individuals, fundamental beliefs, and connections to larger religious denominations, found in the United States. The report will identify critical features of the chapter and present the main ideas and arguments.
The author aims to help the reader gain a profound understanding of new religious movements. In particular, he attempts to persuade his audience about the relevance of NRM teachings and traditions to other religions. Due to the medium in which the chapter is found, the text could be primary aimed at students learning about theology. Since Farhadian provides the information in an impartial way but still heavily leans on NRMs’ connection to Christianity, particularly in the conclusion section, it can be inferred that his audience is primarily Christian.
Farhadian starts his chapter by identifying what constitutes a new religious movement: a religious practice that does not strictly fall into the common traditions of world religions. He acknowledges that due to the variety of NRM, it is hard to identify their generic features and structures, other than the fact that they usually stem from mainstream religions, such as Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism. For the purpose of clarity, the author categorizes major new religious movements into three categories: Western-oriented, Asian-oriented, or not directly related to either.
Having set a proper foundation for his argument, Farhadian proceeds to describe what he calls “Movements of Judeo-Christian Orientation.” This section describes the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormonism), the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Seventh-Day Adventist movement, and the Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science). It is then followed by a detailed overview of the Movements of Hindu-Buddhist Orientation, which Hinduism and Buddhism profoundly influenced.
The author categorizes the Theosophical Society and Transcendental Meditation as such. Subsequently, he includes the Movements of Distinctive Orientation, such as the Church of Scientology and the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (the Unification Church). The descriptions are supported by relevant illustrations, citations from respective sacred texts, and fundamental definitions. In general, the author argues that all of the religious traditions mentioned above have both their merits and challenges.
In his conclusion, Farhadian explores the interconnectivity of religions, or theology of religions. He identifies three main perspectives of Christian devotees on other religions, i.e., exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist. All three relationship models are concerned with the nature of biblical revelation: whether it is unique and final (exclusivist), can also be found outside of Christianity (inclusivist), or is just another name for the universal truth (pluralist). Overall, the author suggests that Christian devotees can potentially gain a better appreciation of their faith by using encounters with other religions to learn about their values and origins.
In the relevant chapter of his textbook Introducing world religions: A Christian engagement, Charles E. Farhadian provides a thorough overview of popular new religious movements by describing their historical backgrounds, identifying important traditions, and naming key individuals. He categorizes the new religious movements into three categories, acknowledging their unique features and impact on society. Overall, he accomplishes his goal of offering his audience a profound understanding of the topic.
Reference
Farhadian, C. E. (2015). Introducing world religions: A Christian engagement. Baker Academic.