The Church of Scientology® A religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard
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Overview:
The Scientology religion is an expanding new religion, founded by American
author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. The word Scientology means the "study
of knowledge or truth" and addresses the rehabilitation and salvation of the
human spirit.
According to a Scientology website:
"Today its more than 6,000 churches, missions, related organizations,
groups and activities span the globe and minister the religion to more than
eight million people in 159 countries in over 66 languages." 1
Additionally,
Churches of Scientology support more than a thousand social betterment groups,
which utilize L. Ron Hubbard's methods in the fields of education, drug and
criminal rehabilitation, and moral rejuvenation.
The total number of Scientologists in the world
is extremely difficult to estimate, for a variety of reasons. Estimates range
from 100 thousand to 10 million.
The Church has expanded more in the last five years than in the preceding fifty.
In the last year alone, new Scientology groups, missions and churches have
opened at the rate of three per day.
Product description (shared by Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble):
Scientology is arguably the most persistently controversial of all
contemporary New Religious Movements. The Church of Scientology has been
involved in battles over tax issues, a ten-year conflict with the Food and Drug
Administration, extended turmoil with a number of European governments, and has
even been subjected to FBI raids in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.
Negative publicity, however, has not prevented the Church from experiencing
remarkably steady growth. Official national census figures indicate that the
number of Scientologists grew significantly in Canada, New Zealand, and
Australia throughout the 1990s, and studies show that the Church gained 10,000
members in the United States during that decade. This has led Scientology to
begin referring to itself as "The World's Fastest Growing Religion." But despite
its highly public profile, recently enhanced by celebrity spokespersons like Tom
Cruise and Isaac Hayes, little has been published about the Church, its history,
theology, and mission.
The present volume brings together an international group of top scholars on New
Religious Movements to offer an extensive and even-handed overview and analysis
of all of these aspects of Scientology, including the controversies to which it
continues to give rise. The book's six parts take a detailed look at the Church
through its similarities to and differences from other religions, conflicts with
various groups, overseas missions, and its theology, history, and sociology.
James R. Lewis has assembled an unusually comprehensive anthology, incorporating
a wide range of different approaches. This volume is a welcome and long-overdue
resource for scholars, students, and others interested in this controversial and
little-understood religious movement.
James R. Lewis,
"Scientology," Oxford University Press, 2009-MAR, 464 pages.
