Teaching New Religious Movements Historically
Distance, Empathy, and Cults in the Classroom
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21700166 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Douglas Fitzhenry Jones (0000-0001-8603-273X, Binghamton University Binghamton New York USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 46-54 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Teaching Theology & Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1368-4868 • E-ISSN: 1467-9647 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/teth.70028 |
| OpenAlex | W7150007758 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 13 |
Resistance to understanding the beliefs of modern New Religious Movements (NRMs) is well‐known to those who teach in the area. This paper builds on Eugene Gallagher's repurposing of “methodological belief” for college classes on NRMs by suggesting that scholars and teachers in the field of religious studies engage methods and content drawn from the discipline of early‐modern history. Doing so, I argue, allows the instructor to make an end run around our assumptions about “cults” by providing students the space to hone their skills with less immediately charged subject matter from the distant past. I then offer two learning modules drawn from classes at a large public university in the United States, intended to show instructors how aspects of early‐modern minority religion might inform the teaching of NRMs. I conclude by analyzing papers and in‐class discussions in an effort to demonstrate the potential of this approach for fostering methodological belief
Religious education · Repurposing · Subject matter · Teaching method · Religious Education and Schools · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Study and Philosophy of Religion
| Highly cited | No |
|---|