- The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Categorizing Religious Organizations: In Search of a Theoretically Meaningful Strategy
- Conversion
- Charisma and Authority in New Religious Movements
- Disaffiliation and New Religious Movements
- Seekers and Subcultures
- Quantitative Approaches to New Religions
- Psychology and New Religious Movements
- As It Was in the Beginning: Developmental Moments in the Emergence of New Religions
- The North American Anticult Movement
- The Christian Countercult Movement
- Legal Dimensions of New Religions: An Update
- Brainwashing and “Cultic Mind Control”
- From Jonestown to 9/11 and Beyond: Mapping the Contours of Violence and New Religious Movements
- Conspiracy Theories and New Religious Movements
- Satanic Ritual Abuse
- Cult Journalism
- Invention in “New New” Religions
- Children in New Religions
- Media, Technology, and New Religious Movements: A Review of the Field
- New Religions and Science
- Gender and New Religions
- Sex and New Religions
- Occulture and Everyday Enchantment
- Rituals and Ritualization in New Religions Movements
- The Mythic Dimensions of New Religious Movements: Function, Reality Construction, and Process
- Religious Experiences in New Religious Movements
- New Religious Movements and Scripture
- Material Religion
- Hagiography: A Note on the Narrative Exaltation of Sect Leaders and Heads of New Religions
- Millennialism: New Religious Movements and the Quest for a New Age
- What Does God Need with a Starship?: UFOs and Extraterrestrials in the Contemporary Religious Landscape
- Late Modern Shamanism in a Norwegian Context: Global Networks—Local Grounds
- Modern Religious Satanism: A Negotiation of Tensions
- Western Esotericism and New Religious Movements
- The New Age
- The Study of Paganism and Wicca: A Review Essay
- Native American Prophet Religions
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
This chapter deals with sacred biographies, hagiographies, and their function in the formation of religious leaders and ritually venerated persons. It is argued that the status of any Master, Teacher, Prophet, guru, Seer and Channel is partly based on sacred biographies, and that the narrative construction of religious authority is crucial to our understanding of leadership in new religions, sects etc. Distinctions are made between doctrinal and popular hagiographies; doctrinal narratives promote the exalted leader according to theologically well-defined standards, while popular narratives cover a wider span, as they seek to draw a picture of the perfected human in many different ways. Counter-hagiographies, finally, serve to deconstruct the ideal person and are typically employed by ex-devotees or members of counter-groups. Hagiographies are seen as very ancient social strategies (there are references to old new religions including early Christianity and the cult of Christ), but also a very lively and important mechanisms in the current make of religious leaders. Examples are derived from Catholic cults of saints, the Mormon Church, Scientology, TM and several other groups.
Keywords: hagiography, sacred narrative, personal myths, religious leadership, sect leaders, leaders of NRMs, narrative formations
Mikael Rothstein is Assistant Professor in the Department of History of Religions at the University of Copenhagen. He specializes in the study of new religions and is the author or editor of several books on the subject. He is a member of the board of the Research Network on New Religions (RENNER), based in Denmark, and Editor in Chief of CHAOS, a Danish-Norwegian journal on the history of religions.
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- The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Categorizing Religious Organizations: In Search of a Theoretically Meaningful Strategy
- Conversion
- Charisma and Authority in New Religious Movements
- Disaffiliation and New Religious Movements
- Seekers and Subcultures
- Quantitative Approaches to New Religions
- Psychology and New Religious Movements
- As It Was in the Beginning: Developmental Moments in the Emergence of New Religions
- The North American Anticult Movement
- The Christian Countercult Movement
- Legal Dimensions of New Religions: An Update
- Brainwashing and “Cultic Mind Control”
- From Jonestown to 9/11 and Beyond: Mapping the Contours of Violence and New Religious Movements
- Conspiracy Theories and New Religious Movements
- Satanic Ritual Abuse
- Cult Journalism
- Invention in “New New” Religions
- Children in New Religions
- Media, Technology, and New Religious Movements: A Review of the Field
- New Religions and Science
- Gender and New Religions
- Sex and New Religions
- Occulture and Everyday Enchantment
- Rituals and Ritualization in New Religions Movements
- The Mythic Dimensions of New Religious Movements: Function, Reality Construction, and Process
- Religious Experiences in New Religious Movements
- New Religious Movements and Scripture
- Material Religion
- Hagiography: A Note on the Narrative Exaltation of Sect Leaders and Heads of New Religions
- Millennialism: New Religious Movements and the Quest for a New Age
- What Does God Need with a Starship?: UFOs and Extraterrestrials in the Contemporary Religious Landscape
- Late Modern Shamanism in a Norwegian Context: Global Networks—Local Grounds
- Modern Religious Satanism: A Negotiation of Tensions
- Western Esotericism and New Religious Movements
- The New Age
- The Study of Paganism and Wicca: A Review Essay
- Native American Prophet Religions
- Index
