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Series:   Elements in New Religious Movements

The Christian Countercult Movement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 July 2023

Douglas E. Cowan
Douglas E. Cowan
Affiliation:
Renison University College, Ontario

Summary

Many seemingly strange questions on yoga, salvation, religious pluralism, and so forth have been actively debated among members of a small but influential group of evangelical apologists known as the Christian countercult movement. This Element explores the history of this movement from its origins in the anti-heresy writings of the early church to its modern development as a reaction to religious pluralism in North America. It contrasts the apologetic Christian countercult movement with its secular anticult counterpart and explains how faith-based opposition both to new religious movements and to non-Christian religions will only deepen as religious pluralism increases. It provides a concise understanding of the two principal goals of Christian countercult apologetics: support for the evangelization of non-Christian believers and maintenance for the perceived superiority of the evangelical Christian worldview.
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Keywords

countercultapologeticscultsnew religionsanticult
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in New Religious Movements
Online ISBN: 9781009053419
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 24 August 2023

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The Christian Countercult Movement
  • Douglas E. Cowan, Renison University College, Ontario
  • Online ISBN: 9781009053419
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The Christian Countercult Movement
  • Douglas E. Cowan, Renison University College, Ontario
  • Online ISBN: 9781009053419
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