Christianity and New Religious Movements: An Introduction to the World's Newest Faiths

by Derek Cooper

Overview

Every major religion has produced hundreds of offshoots. Although sometimes disparaged as cults or sects, these new religious movements are often culturally accepted and claim to promote a healthy and happy lifestyle. We may have heard of them, but many of us know little about them. For Christians, this makes it difficult for us to engage with their adherents wisely and well. Derek Cooper, a professor of global Christianity, delves into ten of the most historic, most prominent, and most recognizable new religious movements, focusing on ones with members whom people have a higher chance of meeting. Writing from a confessional yet compassionate Christian perspective, he provides an overview of religions such as Jainism, Nation of Islam, Mormonism, and Scientology—their origins, religious writings, beliefs, practices—and describes effective points of contact for Christians. Includes discussion questions and suggestions for further reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781629955919
Publisher:	Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing
Publication date:	09/13/2023
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Derek Cooper is managing director of Thomas Institute, an educational travel company that specializes in learning on location. He is also the author of fifteen books, including Christianity and World Religions, Introduction to World Christian History, Basics of Latin, and Before You Go Overseas. Derek has visited more than seventy-five countries and earned a PhD in the history of religion and an MBA in entrepreneurial management. He runs a YouTube channel called Thomas Institute. To learn more, visit www.thomas-institute.com.

Editorial Reviews

As our neighborhoods become increasingly diverse in the West, we can cry out in fear, The barbarians are coming! or we can say with settled confidence, What opportunities God is bringing our way for thoughtful Christian witness. Derek Cooper teaches us how to do the latter, showing that this is part of what it means to love our neighbors well. Like C. S. Lewis, Cooper is a "translator"—that rare person with a genius for taking complex ideas and explaining them in ways that can be easily understood by ordinary followers of Jesus. He has done that again in this must-read sequel to Christianity and World Religions.

F. Lionel Young III

I am happy to endorse Derek Cooper’s Christianity and New Religious Movements, a sequel to his Christianity and World Religions, which students who took my introductory course on world religions appreciated greatly. The ambitious volume is a rigorous, critical, yet compassionate engagement with a variety of the world’s new religious movements on their terms. His book, which includes many intriguing insights and color images relevant to understanding the settings of these religious movements, is the product of true love and intellectual curiosity.

Jose Abraham

Dr. Derek Cooper’s latest book is brilliant, compassionate, and innovative. His exploration of new religious movements around the world is expertly written. One always expects great competence when reading a new book by Cooper. What stands out in this book is the empathy he displays toward people of other faiths, as well as people of no faith. I found his chapter on the "Nones" to be studded with insight and written with humility and compassion. This book will challenge Christians everywhere to treat people of other religious perspectives with the loving dignity that they deserve.

Dyron B. Daughrity

What a remarkable follow-up for Dr. Derek Cooper to his Christianity and World Religions. Cooper packs excellent scholarship into an extremely enjoyable and readable format, which, together with the first volume, provides a thorough and helpful road map with which to navigate the current religious landscape. His tone is generous and peaceable as he capably guides readers through each chapter’s contents. Each chapter has discussion questions and resources for further study, which will not only help readers process what has been written, but also encourage them to dig deeper. The callouts and figures are perfect little tidbits that offer additional information in a digestible format. And finally, the Name and Topical Glossary ensures that everyone can follow along with Cooper’s rich resource. This will no doubt prove to be a wonderful publication, for both students and churchgoers alike. Dr. Cooper has done the church a great service with this volume, and I commend it to anyone interested in learning more about today’s new religious movements and how they themselves might fit into this complicated but fascinating landscape.

Dan Lowery

Derek Cooper has provided the body of Christ with a useful and creative work in Christianity and New Religious Movements. Building on his Christianity and World Religions, in which he surveyed the major global religions, this offering introduces a selection of "new religious movements." The movements chosen are well known, and believers today are likely to encounter adherents in day-to-day life. The work is well researched. Cooper engages the ideas and faith experiences of those he encounters in these movements from a unique standpoint that can be described as a "confessional yet compassionate Christian disposition." The book aims to understand these movements (their history, beliefs, worship), to compare them with Christian teaching, and to "offer a way for committed Christians to engage them."

Ken Cuffey

Unlike major world religions—which might be broadly understood, whether rightly or wrongly—new religious movements are both mysterious and misunderstood. The rise of such movements makes Derek Cooper’s book all the more necessary. He is able to parse them in understandable and accurate ways. I know of no other all-in-one helpful guidebook like this, and Cooper makes for a readable and reliable interpreter. This book is highly useful not only for classrooms but also for personal study.

Allen Yeh

My friend Dr. Derek Cooper has done it again. His compassionate spirit and courageous fervor to engage the individuals many Christians would meet with disgust, debate, or simply dismiss is amazing. Unfortunately, most Christians lack the knowledge to defend their faith. This lack of knowledge limits their engagement with anyone who possess a different theological system. Dr. Cooper gives a sensitive explanation of these 'new religions' to help equip the faithful followers of Christ with the tools necessary to understand, engage and evangelize as the Spirit leads. — as our Lord’s desire is that none would perish.

Larry L. Anderson Jr. Author of Ask Me Why I’m Not In Church’and The Pastors’ Diar