Modern Religious Cults and Movements: On Truth and Spiritual Deception

A perennial classic, Modern Religious Cults and Movements has continued to receive plaudits even after further exploration has continued to add to the literature on the subject. Atkins begins with the forms and history of what he considered the inevitable Catholic and Protestant traditions. The more recent developments in Christianity led to a belief in faith healing in general that grew into Christian Science. Clearly this is the modern religion that concerned him most as Atkins gives an approach to Mary Baker Eddy and her tradition, examining Christian Science as a philosophy and as a theology, and also as a system of healing and a religion. The universal and loosely defined “new thought” and “new age” led to a renewed interest in the East and consequently Theosophy and related “cults”. Atkins addresses the Spiritualism that was a well attested phenomenon in the decades after the turn of the twentieth century, and concludes with a discussion of minor and peripheral cults. This portrayal of non-traditional religions in its own day is a period piece that will be of interest to students of American religion and historians of religion in general.

Table of Contents

Introduction

I. THE FORMS AND BACKGROUNDS OF INHERITED CHRISTIANITY II. NEW FORCES AND OLD FAITHS III. FAITH HEALING IN GENERAL IV. THE APPROACH TO CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AND MARY BAKER EDDY V. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AS A PHILOSOPHY VI. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AS A THEOLOGY VII. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE AS A SYSTEM OF HEALING AND A RELIGION VIII. NEW THOUGHT X. THE RETURN OF THE EAST UPON THE WEST X. SPIRITUALISM XI. MINOR CULTS: THE MEANING OF THE CULTS FOR THE CHURCH