The academic study of new religious movements is known as new religions studies (NRS). The study draws from the disciplines of anthropology, psychiatry, history, psychology, sociology, religious studies, and theology. Eileen Barker noted that there are five sources of information on new religious movements (NRMs): the information provided by such groups themselves, that provided by ex-members as well as the friends and relatives of members, organisations that collect information on NRMs, the mainstream media, and academics studying such phenomena.
The Lectorium Rosicrucianum or Spiritual School of the Golden Rosycross is a new religious movement which considered itself a worldwide school of Gnostic Christianity. It was founded in 1935 by Dutch mystics Jan van Rijckenborgh, his brother Zwier Willem Leene and Catharose de Petri. The school teaches a form of modern Christian Gnosticism which is based upon the ideas and iconography of Rosicrucianism, the beliefs of the Cathars and other forms of religio-mystical thought such as Hermeticism and alchemy.
The Friends of Man are a Christian denomination founded in 1919 by Frédéric-Louis-Alexandre Freytag, the former Branch manager of the Swiss Watch Tower Society since 1912. He founded a group first named the Angel of the Lord, Angel of Jehovah Bible and Tract Society, then Church of the Kingdom of God or the Philanthropic Assembly of the Friends of Man.
Jean Baubérot, is a French historian and sociologist specializing in sociology of religions. He is the founder of the sociology of secularism.
Jean Séguy was a French sociologist of religions.
The Cultural Office of Cluny, often named OCC is a Catholic-related association registered as a voluntary association, created in France by Olivier Fenoy in 1963. It is a group of cultural animation composed of a theater company whose activities include arts, cultural travels, photographs, among other things. Although primarily located in France, the OCC has several centers in Québec and Chile. The group was widely referred to as a cult in the media, particularly after the publication of the first parliamentary report in which it was mentioned.
The Monastic Order of Avallon is an Orthodox Christian religious order founded in France in 1970 by Henri Hillion de Coatmoc'han (1923–1980). Hillion was a former member of Order of St. Columban, which belongs to the Celtic Orthodox Church.
The Universal Alliance, formerly known as Universal Christian Church and followers as Christ's Witnesses, is a Christian-oriented new religious movement founded in France in 1952 by Georges Roux, a former postman in the Vaucluse department. Roux claimed to be the reincarnation of Christ and was thus named the "Christ of Montfavet", a village on the commune of Avignon where he lived then.
The Pilgrims of Arès is a new religious movement founded in 1974 and whose founder was Michel Potay. It was named after the town of Arès, Gironde, where Michel Potay received revelations. Beliefs and practices are based on the Revelation of Arès, written by Potay.
Danièle Hervieu-Léger is a French sociologist specialized in the sociology of religion.
Jean-Francois Mayer is a religious historian, translator in Switzerland, and Director of the Institute Religioscope.
Bernard Blandre is a French secondary history teacher (retired). He is the President and one of the founders of the Association of Study and Information on Religious Movements, a nonprofit organization established in Sarreguemines whose purpose is to gather documentation on small religious movements, to provide researchers with material on the subject of "cults". Blandre published two books and other studies on the Jehovah's Witnesses and wrote articles on other religious groups including Adventism and the Latter-day Saint movement. Journal La Vie considered him "one of the best specialists" of Jehovah's Witnesses. On the other hand, Jean-Pierre Chantin deplores the lack of analysis, and states that a synthesis is still expected.
Simon Claude Mimouni is a French biblical scholar. He published first on Christian legends surrounding the assumption of Mary, then worked on fragments of Jewish-Christian gospels associated with the 3rd and 4th century "judaizing" Christian sects (2006). He is known for his theory of continuity between Jewish early Christianity and the later sects of Nazarenes and Ebionites.
Stanislas Breton was a French theologian and philosopher. He taught at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, the Catholic University of Paris and the Catholic University of Lyon.
Études is a historic Roman Catholic journal published by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). It was established by Ivan Gagarin in 1856. Its editor is François Euvé. Each issue is printed as a journal and published online on Cairn.info.
Xavier de Montclos is a 20th-21st-century French historian, a specialist of the history of religions and particularly christianity.
Nadine-Josette Chaline is a contemporary French historian, specialist in religious history, especially Christians in France.
Daniel Moulinet is a French priest and historian, professor of contemporary history at the Catholic University of Lyon.
Yvonne Chauffin was a 20th-century French writer. A catholic, she wrote as a critic for Le Pèlerin. She received the Prix Breizh in 1970.
Pierre-Jean Souriac is a contemporary French historian, a master of Conferences in Modern History at Jean Moulin University Lyon 3.
