Table of contents for Legitimating New Religions by James R. Lewis

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One - Legitimating New Religions

Religious Experience and the Origins of Religion

Native American Prophet Religions

Jesus in India and the Forging of Tradition

Science, Technology, and the Space Brothers

Anton Lavey, The Satanic Bible, and the Satanist Tradition

Heaven's Gate and the Legitimation of Suicide

The Authority of the Long Ago and the Far Away

Part Two - Legitimating Repression

Atrocity Tales as a Delegitimation Strategy

Religious Insanity

The Cult Stereotype as an Ideological Resource

Scholarship and the Delegitimation of Religion

Conclusion

Appendix A: Satanist Survey

Appendix B: Ex-member Survey

Notes

References

Index