Millennialism or chiliasm is a belief which is held by some religious denominations. According to this belief, a Messianic Age will be established on Earth prior to the Last Judgment and the future permanent state of "eternity".
Raëlism, also known as Raëlianism, is a UFO religion founded in 1970s France by Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël. Scholars of religion classify Raëlism as a new religious movement. The group is formalised as the International Raëlian Movement (IRM) or Raëlian Church, a hierarchical organisation under Raël's leadership. It is considered a cult by French and Belgian authorities.
The Order of the Solar Temple, or simply the Solar Temple, was an esoteric new religious movement and secret society, often described as a cult, notorious for the mass deaths of many of its members in several incidents throughout the 1990s. The OTS was a neo-Templar movement, claiming to be a continuation of the Knights Templar, and incorporated a mix of Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and New Age ideas. It was lead by Joseph Di Mambro, with Luc Jouret as a spokesman and second in command. It was founded in 1984, in Geneva, Switzerland.
CESNUR, is a non-profit organization based in Turin, Italy that studies new religious movements and opposes the anti-cult movement. It was established in 1988 by Massimo Introvigne, Jean-François Mayer and Ernesto Zucchini.
Luc Georges Marc Jean Jouret was a Belgian cult leader and homeopath. Jouret founded the Order of the Solar Temple (OTS) with Joseph Di Mambro in 1984. He committed suicide in the Swiss village of Salvan on 5 October 1994 as part of a mass murder–suicide. While Di Mambro was the true leader of the group, Jouret was its outward image and primary recruiter.
Schisms among the Jews are cultural as well as religious. They have happened as a product of historical accident, geography, and theology.
Religions are represented on the Internet in many ways. There are sites which attempt to cover all religions, traditions, and faiths, such as Patheos, Religious Tolerance, and Beliefnet. There are also sites that are specific to a religious tradition. Many sites are discussion groups, others host theological debates, and some provide advice concerning religious doctrine. Some sites aim to provide a religious experience facilitating prayer, meditation, or virtual pilgrimages. People also leverage search engines to investigate aspects of religion. Some religious websites are translated into several languages. For example, JW.ORG features content in over 1,000 languages.
A schism is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, such as the Great East–West Schism or the Western Schism. It is also used of a split within a non-religious organization or movement or, more broadly, of a separation between two or more people, be it brothers, friends, lovers, etc.
Islam: The Straight Path is an Islamic studies book that aims to give an introduction to Islam. The book, authored by John Esposito, was first published in 1988 by the Oxford University Press.
Susan Jean Palmer is a Canadian sociologist of religion and author whose primary research interest is new religious movements. Formerly a professor of religious studies at Dawson College in Westmount, Quebec, she is currently an Affiliate Professor at Concordia University. She has authored and edited several books on NRMs.
Raëlian beliefs and practices are the concepts and principles of Raëlism, a new religious movement and UFO religion founded in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon, an auto racing journalist who changed his name to "Raël". The followers of the International Raëlian Movement believe in an advanced species of extraterrestrial aliens called Elohim who created life on Earth. Raëlians are individualists who believe in sexual self-determination. As advocates of the universal ethic and world peace, they believe the world would be better if geniuses had an exclusive right to govern in what Rael terms Geniocracy. As believers of life in outer space, they hope that human scientists will follow the path of the Elohim by achieving space travel through the cosmos and creating life on other planets. As believers in the resurrection of Jesus through a scientific cloning process by the Elohim, they encourage scientific research to extend life through cloning; however, critics outside are doubtful of its possibility.
The Temple of Priapus, also known as the St. Priapus Church, is a North American pagan religion founded in 1979 that centers on the worship of the phallus.
The Order of the Magnificat of the Mother of God, also known as the Apostles of Infinite Love is a traditionalist Independent Catholic religious group active in various parts of the world, with its headquarters being near Mont-Tremblant in Quebec. It was founded by Michel Collin, a French Catholic priest in Lille, who proclaimed himself Pope Clement XV, after receiving a vision from God crowning him with a papal tiara. Initially heading a religious congregation that had Catholic archdiocesan approval, Jean-Gaston Tremblay merged his religious community with the Apostles of Infinite Love and led it for a time. The Apostles of Infinite Love has attracted traditionalist Catholics unhappy with the modernizing changes made during the Second Vatican Council.
Scientology is an edited volume about Scientology, and the Church of Scientology organization, published in 2009 by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the sociologist James R. Lewis. Chapters in the work give an overview and introduction to the organization, and present analysis of the movement from the perspective of sociology. The book compares the organization to religious movements, and goes over its history of controversy. It delves into the practices of the organization and the activities undertaken at its facilities.
Jean-Francois Mayer is a Swiss religious historian, author, and translator. He is also Director of the Institute Religioscope, which he founded. His writing focuses on religion and new religious movements, including the Unification Church, the Church of Scientology and the Pilgrims of Arès. In the 1990s, he was an analyst for the Swiss federal government.
Adam Possamai is a sociologist and novelist born in Belgium and living in Australia. Possamai is professor in sociology and the Deputy Dean in the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at Western Sydney University, New South Wales, Australia. He is the former Director of the Religion and Society Research Centre (RSRC) He is married to Alphia Possamai-Inesedy, and lives in the south-western suburbs of Sydney with his family.
Hyper-real religion is a sociological term to describe a new consumer trend in acquiring and enacting religion. The term was first described in the book Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real Testament by Adam Possamai. The term is used to explore the intersection between postmodernity and religion. The idea has been expanded and critiqued by a number of academics since its creation.
Following the dissolution of the Knights Templar, or the Order of the Temple, several groups have claimed to have unbroken descent from the initial Order. The idea of the Templars' continued existence has been criticized by scholars of Templar history, and was described by French historian Régine Pernoud as "totally insane." These orders typically draw from western esotericism.
The Order of the Solar Temple: The Temple of Death is an edited volume about the Order of the Solar Temple, a cult notorious for the mass deaths of its members in several mass murders and suicides throughout the 1990s. It was edited by James R. Lewis, and published in 2006 by Ashgate Publishing as part of its Controversial New Religions series. Contributors to the book include Jean-François Mayer, Massimo Introvigne, Susan J. Palmer, and George D. Chryssides.
Following the Order of the Solar Temple affair – a case that gained international notoriety when members of the group, a then-obscure Neo-Templar cult or new religious movement, orchestrated several mass suicides and mass murders in the 1990s – there have been several books and studies published about the events and organization. The case became a media sensation, with many conspiracy theories promoted by the media; as described by Susan J. Palmer, "false or unverifiable trails have been laid: secondhand testimonies are traded by journalists, ghost-written apostate memoirs are in progress and conspiracy theories abound."
