In this compilation, Bryan Wilson, the acknowledged dean of the study of new religions, provides a clear and concise overview of the development of a tolerant society and of the nature of the religious diversity which has emerged hand-in-hand with it. In the West, the rise of diversity has been accompanied theologically by a reevaluation (and discarding) of some claims for uniqueness formerly espoused within the Christian community, a process largely dictated by the expanding awareness of the world’s religions. Within Christianity, generations of theological battles have produced several thousand denominations and a seemingly endless set of variations in theology, organizational forms, church life, worship and ethical commitments. Here you will find comparsions between Scientology and other religions, while unveiling the controversies that have come with it from its beginning. While new religions are targeted by ex-members, which Wilson mentions as “apostates”, it is a fact that every religion and social movement has them, and here you can find an analysis of how reliable can their testimonies be.

Bryan R. Wilson was Reader Emeritus in Sociology at the University of Oxford and President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (1971–75). He became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 1963.Wilson was the author of several influential books on new religious movements.