On one level, 51-year-old James Arthur Ray—who, the year after his life-altering television appearance authored the runaway bestseller Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want, and these days is involved in a homicide investigation—is just another Oprah guest gone bad.

On another level, he is a wakeup call for anyone who would dismiss all New Age dabbling as merely risk-free recreation, like incense and crystals.

Oprah’s unorthodox gospel comes under scrutinyOprah Winfrey has become a catalyst for a new journalistic project and increasing news coverage by conservative Christians questioning and criticizing her spiritual beliefs.

Oprah Winfrey may have gone too far in exploiting and distributing the teachings of a questionable New Age writer.

Winfrey has become a billionaire and one of world’s most powerful women by baring her soul and urging millions of others to follow her example, resulting in what some critics call the Oprahfication of America. However, it’s almost impossible to answer this simple question: What does Oprah believe?

The $40 million academy aims to give 152 girls from deprived backgrounds a quality education in a country where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.

After two decades of searching for her authentic self -- exploring New Age theories, giving away cars, trotting out fat, recommending good books and tackling countless issues from serious to frivolous -- Oprah Winfrey has risen to a new level of guru.

A growing number of people, mostly young, reject the mega-celebrity's media empire

In her 2000 HBO stand-up comedy special, "The Beginning," Ellen DeGeneres describes an imaginary (one presumes) meeting with God at God's house.

The TV evangelists -- remember them?

Her sold-out Tampa show promises to help devotees be the best they can be.

While giving the keynote speech at Cuyahoga Community College’s scholarship luncheon, talk show host Oprah Winfrey offered to match the $600,000 US the event was expected to raise for scholarships.

The most common rituals in the religion of Oprah are reading, writing and buying, said Lofton, who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.