Field Guide to the Wild World of Religion

From the back cover:

The American religious scene in 1955 was a very tame and predictable world. It matched the tame, predictable world of women's clothing, where most women going out shopping wore a dress with coordinating gloves, hat and shoes. And it matched the tame, predictable world of children's toys, where almost every young girl yearned for a baby doll that said Ma-Ma and almost every boy needed a coonskin cap. Choices of fashions, toys, preachers, and churches were limited and domesticated.

Fifty years later, the tame, predictable world of 1950s fashions and toys is long gone. Women go shopping in everything from sweatshirts and jeans to tube tops and short shorts. And both boys and girls want the latest Sponge Bob Square Pants video game. The same kind of transformation has gone on in the world of religion. It is no longer tame and predictable either.

Welcome to the Wild World of Religion of the 21^st Century. Explore its habitats, identify some of the inhabitants, and learn about their characteristics and customs in this Field Guide.

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Book Description:

The emphasis on the Field Guide website is unconnected profiles of various religious leaders, groups, movements, and ideas. One of the goals of the book is to clarify how these all fit together into patterns of change on the face of the American religious landscape of the past five decades. The first section of the book contains five chapters of brand new material, providing an overview of some of the factors that have taken us from the relatively Tame World of Religion in 1955 to the Wild World out there now in 2005. Oh, what a difference a half-century has made! This section ends with a chapter outlining seven trends that are particularly troubling.

Edited and expanded versions of some of the sections of the website follow. The longest chapters:

• The Religious Lingo Lexicon cuts through the jargon of the Wild World for the reader, providing concise explanations of over 100 specialized terms, from Preterism to Petra and from Hermeneutics to Holy Ghost Glue.

• The Who’s Who Digest of the Wild World of Religion features brief biographical sketches of over 120 of the most influential movers and shakers of the American Religious scene, past and present. Meet everyone from Joseph Smith and Ellen G. White of the 19th century to Benny Hinn and Marilyn Hickey of the 21st century.
   
• Profile chapters of four of the most influential movements on the religious scene today: the End Times Prophecy Movement, Word Faith Movement, Healing Ministries Movement, and Hebrew Roots Movement.

Also included are chapters on identifying the characteristics of groups and teachers which may be dangerous to the spiritual health of followers, and an extensive bibliography of books and websites for further research.

The paperback book is priced by the publisher at $16.95, and is now available from Amazon.com at that price plus their required shipping and handling. If you order more items for a total purchase of $25 or more, shipping is free.

 Click on the Amazon link below to order the Field Guide book.