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Author: Heather Denise Harden Botting
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: 1984-01-01
Total Pages: 252
ISBN-13: 9780802065452
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDiscusses the history and religious doctrines of the Jehovah's Witnesses and examines the parallels between the religion and George Orwell's novel, 1984
Author: Amber Scorah
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2020-06-02
Total Pages: 290
ISBN-13: 073522255X
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"A fascinating glimpse into the consciousness of being an outsider in every possible way, and what it takes to find your path into the life you'd like to lead."--Nylon A riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries. A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture--and a whole new way of thinking--turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true. As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch," Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness. Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery--with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her thirties, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone.
Author: Ruth A. Tucker
Publisher: HarperCollins Christian Publishing
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 468
ISBN-13: 9780310259374
DOWNLOAD EBOOKRuth A. Tucker's book is a comprehensive survey of all the major alternative religions in the United States, including the new groups since the 1960s.
Author: Erwin Fahlbusch
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Published: 1999
Total Pages: 924
ISBN-13: 9780802824158
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"The Encyclopedia of Christianity is the first of a five-volume English translation of the third revised edition of Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon. Its German articles have been tailored to suit an English readership, and articles of special interest to English readers have been added. The encyclopedia describes Christianity through its 2000-year history within a global context, taking into account other religions and philosophies. A special feature is the statistical information dispersed throughout the articles on the continents and over 170 countries. Social and cultural coverage is given to such issues as racism, genocide, and armaments, while historical content shows the development of biblical and apostolic traditions."--"Outstanding reference sources 2000", American Libraries, May 2000. Comp. by the Reference Sources Committee, RUSA, ALA.
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Publisher: BRILL
Published: 2016-04-26
Total Pages: 488
ISBN-13: 9004310789
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity: Movements, Institutions & Allegiance traces how the largest religion in the world continues to be expressed in energetic global dynamic forms. In contemporary times Christianity is increasingly exposed to divisions, not only through its traditional channels – Roman Catholic, Protestant and the Orthodoxy – nor conservative and liberal streams, but numerous nuanced articulations. This is reflected in the roles of clergy and lay people, in organisational dynamics, sources of allegiance and articulations of the faith, movements of renewal and revivalism, syncretic modes, and broader relationships with wider cultural trajectories and changing social circumstances. Collectively the contributors to this volume offer a comprehensive exploration of these themes. The volume is a companion to the Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity.
Author: George D. Chryssides
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Published: 2009-09-15
Total Pages: 242
ISBN-13: 0810868911
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis volume shows how World Wars I & II influenced Watch Tower attitudes to civil government, armed conflict, and medical innovations like blood transfusion, as well as to mainstream churches and the development of Jehovah's Witnesses' door-to-door evangelism. The theme of prophecy, the doctrine of the 144,000, end-time calculations, Armageddon, and the Witnesses' denial of hell are all considered in this work, which contains a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and 250 cross-referenced dictionary entries relating to key people and concepts. Originating from a small group of Bible students led by Charles Taze Russell in the 1870s, the Watch Tower Society grew into an international society. After Russell's death in 1916, Franklin Rutherford was named his successor and gave the society a new name: 'Jehovah's Witnesses.'
Author: George D. Chryssides
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 2019-05-15
Total Pages: 299
ISBN-13: 1538119528
DOWNLOAD EBOOKOriginating from a small group of Bible students who met under Charles Taze Russell’s leadership and grew into an international Society, to which the second leader Joseph Franklin Rutherford and gave the name ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’. Two World Wars shaped Watch Tower attitudes to civil government, armed conflict, and medical innovations such as blood transfusion, as well as to mainstream churches. The twenty-first century has seen some important changes in the Watch Tower organization, and coverage is given to changes in organizational structure, its use of the World Wide Web, and its major relocation from Brooklyn to Warwick. This updated second edition of Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on key concepts, themes, and people relating to Jehovah’s Witnesses. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Jehovah's Witnesses.
Author: Robert Crompton
Publisher: James Clarke & Co.
Published: 1996
Total Pages: 168
ISBN-13: 9780227679395
DOWNLOAD EBOOKCounting the Days to Armageddon is work is of vital importance for all concerned with the Jehovah's Witness movement. It provides a thorough examination of their eschatological development, treating Watch Tower theology objectively but sympathetically. Crompton also speculates about the future direction of Jehovah's Witness teaching. The book begins with a brief consideration of the biblical foundations of doctrines of the last days, particularly the books of Daniel and Revelation. There follows an outline summary of some of the main aspects of the history of this doctrine within the Protestant mainstream during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and an outline of the Adventist teaching of William Miller (1782-1849) in the U.S.A. During the time following the failure of Miller's expectations of the end of the world, his ideas were developed by Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), prime mover of the Watch Tower movement. Counting the Days to Armageddon explores the way in which Russell amended Miller's ideas, and also the distinctive way in which he handled the Dispensational categorisation of history of John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) to create an extension of historicist speculation on the application of prophecy to the modern world. The response of the Watch Tower movement to the failure of Russell's expectations in 1914 is explored, and the new body of doctrine which has replaced Russell's is examined. The ways in which these doctrines have been modified in the past suggest ways in which future doctrine may develop, especially in response to the protracted delay of Armageddon. What is envisaged, in the light of the history of Watch Tower doctrine, is no dramatic collapse of the movement but rather an increasing emphasis upon other, less vulnerable areas of doctrine together with a greater turnover of membership which may, in due course, undermine the movement's stability.
Author: William M. Ashcraft
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Published: 2006-10-30
Total Pages: 1500
ISBN-13: 0313050783
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMost new or alternative religious are gravely misunderstood by members of the religious mainstream. Labeled cults or sects, groups and their members are often ridiculed or otherwise disregarded as weird and potentially dangerous by the populace at large. Despite their efforts at educating the general public, the various anti- and counter-cult activists have in fact promoted much more mis-understanding than accurate understanding of the religious lives of some of their fellow citizens. Consequently, they have helped to create a very hostile environment for anyone whose religious practices do not fit within a so-called mainstream. This set rectifies the situation by presenting accurate, comprehensive, authoritative and accessible accounts of various new and alternative religious movements that have been and are active in American society, and it addresses ways of understanding new and alternative religions within a broader context. Determining what actually constitutes a new or alternative religion is a subject of constant debate. Questions arise as to a new faith's legitimacy, beliefs, methods of conversion, and other facets of a religious movement's viability and place in a given culture. How a religion gains recognition by the mainstream, which often labels such new movements as cults, is fraught with difficulty, tension, and fear. Here, experts delineate the boundaries and examine the various groups, beliefs, movements, and other issues related to new faiths and alternative beliefs. Readers will come away with a fuller understanding of the religious landscape in America today. Volume 1: History and Controversies discusses the foundations of new and alternative religions in the United States and addresses the controversies that surround them. This volume helps readers better understand what makes a new or alternative belief system a religion and the issues involved. Volume 2: Jewish and Christian Traditions explores the various new religions that have grown out of these two Abrahamic faiths. Groups such as the Shakers, the People's Temple, the Branch Davidians, Jehovah's Witnesses and others are examined. Volume 3: Metaphysical, New Age, and Neopagan Movements looks at Shamanism, Spiritualism, Wicca, and Paganism, among other movements, as they have developed and grown in the U.S. These faiths have found new and devoted followers yet are often misunderstood. Volume 4: Asian Traditions focuses on those new and alternative religions that have been inspired by Asian religious traditions. From Baha'i to Soka Gakkai, from Adidam to the Vedanta Society, contributors look at a full range of groups practicing and worshiping in the U.S. today. Volume 5: African Diaspora Traditions and Other American Innovations examines the various traditions linked to the African diaspora such as Rastafarianism, Santeria, and the Nation of Islam, alongside traditions that are truly American incarnations like Scientology, UFO religions, and Heaven's Gate. Some of the new and alternative religions covered in these pages include: ; Shamanism ; Wicca ; Black Israelites ; Santeria ; Scientology ; Elan Vital ; Hare Krishna ; Soka Gakkai ; and many more
Author: Douglas E. Cowan
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Published: 2003-05-30
Total Pages: 274
ISBN-13: 031305701X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom Hare Krishna to the Latter-Day Saints, and from Jehovah's Witnesses to the New Age, religious pluralism in North American presents evangelical Protestantism with significant challenges. Declaring newer religious groups cults, aberrant sects, and heretical religions, the Christian countercult movement has warned that these groups represent a threat to society. In ^IBearing False Witness?^R Cowan considers the Christian countercult as a whole, locating it in sociological perspective as an entity distinct from the secular anti-cult. Through his analysis, the author argues that the primary purpose of the countercult movement is to reinforce and repair the Christian worldview when it appears threatened by the advent of alternative religious traditions. This unique analysis of the Christian countercult helps explain why conservative Christian responses to competing religious movements have taken the form that they have in addition to how those responses are carried out. Unlike the anti-cult movement, which is concerned with removing individuals from cults and returning them to their families, the Christian countercult movement, according to the author, attempts not only to remove cultists from the negative influences of the cults to which they belong, but also to insure that they will join the particular version of Christianity adhered to by the countercultists themselves. Beginning with the countercult's early history, the author provides an historical account of the movement and its present activities. Since the rise of new religious movements, the growing interest in religions imported from outside North America, and the broadening of the religious marketplace continues to grow, understanding the Christian countercult and its presence as a countervailing pressure to these increasingly socioreligious dynamics becomes ever more important.
