Skip to main content.
Religion News Blog is a non-profit service providing academics, religion professionals and other researchers with religion & cult news
ReligionNewsBlog

Religion news articles about religious cults, sects, world religions, and related issues

Navigation:
Home | Site Menu | About RNB | RNB Store | Cult FAQ | Cult Experts | Apologetics Index | Cult Information Search Engine
A Random Image
More articles about: Book Review, Cult Apologists:

Book Review: The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, USA
Jan. 5, 2008 Book Review
www.sun-sentinel.com

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Saturday January 5, 2008

The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena. J. Gordon Melton. Visible Ink. $25. 380 pp.

J. Gordon Melton is a renowned authority on what academics call “New Religious Movements.”

He takes on a broad range of topics: ectoplasm, the tomb of Christ, the Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island, Ouija boards and the Kumbh Mela festival in India.

J. Gordon Melton

J. Gordon Melton is considered by many experts to be a cult apologist

Some of his work on cults has been described as “a travesty of research

Melton’s introduction takes a swing at a definition but misses. When describing each phenomenon, his tone whipsaws between critical and credulous, often without obvious justification.

And sometimes he doesn’t provide enough context. For instance, if you don’t know what the Western Esoteric tradition is, you’ll be wondering. He mentions it a lot.

And he does an entire entry about the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem without ever citing the cryptic Quran verse that is the root of the tradition — and never mentions Jerusalem.

But this is an entertaining and fascinating look at a variety of ways that people experience belief.

Bookmark share or email this Religion News Blog page Bookmark, Share, or Email This Page

 

Read another article Read Another Article

Tags and keywords for this Apologetics Index entry Related News Articles

arrow

RSS Feed Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates

Religion News Find Related Information

Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults:
arrow ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.
arrow CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Religion News Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com

Religion News Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles

Religion News Search Search Religion News Blog