---
title: New Religious Movements
description: This topic covers modern spiritual, religious, and philosophical groups that have emerged outside traditional mainstream faiths. Learners will understand their historical origins, social dynamics, and how scholars analyze their beliefs and practices.
category: humanities
subcategory: religious-studies
difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced
url: /subject/new-religious-movements
---

# New Religious Movements

This topic covers modern spiritual, religious, and philosophical groups that have emerged outside traditional mainstream faiths. Learners will understand their historical origins, social dynamics, and how scholars analyze their beliefs and practices.

## Available Resources

1 Books • 3 Websites

## Websites

### 1. INFORM - Information Network on New Religions

An independent charity founded in 1988 by sociologist Eileen Barker, based at King's College London, that provides research-based information on minority religions. Its enquiry service, seminars and publications help families, journalists and researchers understand specific groups and new religious movements generally.

**Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://inform.ac/

**Tags:** new-religious-movements, sociology-of-religion, minority-religions, cults, religious-studies

### 2. wrldrels.org

WRLDRELS.org is a scholarly reference site that catalogs world religious movements, with in-depth profiles focused on new religious movements. Each entry covers the movement’s history, beliefs and practices, leadership and organization, demographics, and provides bibliographies and study resources.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://wrldrels.org

**Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, religious-studies

### 3. cesnur.org

CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) is a scholarly resource dedicated to researching and analyzing new religious movements. The site hosts articles, case studies, bibliographies, news, and documents useful for researchers, students, and anyone studying NRMs and related phenomena.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free

**Link:** https://cesnur.org

**Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, religious-studies

## Books

### 1. The Church of Scientology

**Author:** Hugh B. Urban

A historical study of Scientology from L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics through its IRS tax-exemption battles and global legal disputes. Readers will understand how the group sought recognition as a religion and what its case reveals about defining religion in modern America.

**Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid

**Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/069114608X?tag=edmonddante07-20

**Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, religious-studies

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