Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1995, page 69
The book is unashamedly biased but useful for that reason alone. Unless questions are
raised about treatment, there is the danger that programs become fixed, stagnant, and
impersonal. AA is more a self-help organization than a cult. A lay organization without
charismatic leaders and with clearly stated goals toward improved mental health, AA lacks
the features of a cult. AA‟s slogans and mottos may be simplistic, but they have helped
thousands to stay dry. AA has nothing to fear from this book and much to gain from its
criticisms. Alcoholism is a continuing major problem and anything that helps drinkers to
sobriety --AA and Ken Ragge included --is worthy of further study.
Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
Center for the Study of the Self
Gloucester, Virginia
When the New Age Gets Old: Looking for a Greater Spirituality. V.
Mangalwadi. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1992, 287 pages.
This paperback book is arranged in 9 chapters, with a preface and a prologue, epilogue,
appendix, and 11 pages of notes keyed to chapters. The author was “born and raised in
India” and now lives in northern India where he is active advocating for the untouchables,
India's minority population. The book is a critique of the New Age movement which he
traces to California, later spreading to Europe and Asia. The book is objective and with
much sympathy for those swept up in a sometimes radical search for deeper meaning and
self-actualization. He concedes that traditional secular approaches may not fully satisfy
these needs. “It is,” he observes, “the despair of Western humanism which has given birth
to the New Age” (p. 237).
There are specific chapters on astrology, spiritism, UFOs, tantric sex, vegetarianism, and
reincarnation. The chapters are easily read and contain valuable information and direct
quotes. The book concludes with an appendix comparing religion and science. He offers
constructive criticism of both: “Scientism has failed to provide a satisfying philosophy of
science, and mysticism is a blind alley which destroys the possibility of science” (p. 272).
They are, for better and for worse, all we have as road maps to full awareness and
becoming. The author considers the diversity of the maps more worthy of study than mystic
unity: “the real marvel in the universe is not the oneness of creation,” but rather “why the
lone appears as separate entities” (p. 274).
This book is highly recommended as an objective overview of both New Age and traditional
approaches. It is provocative but fair to these two major routes to the same destination. It
should strengthen the reader's own faith, yet still provide light on the richness and variety
of paths to spiritual truth.
Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
Center for the Study of the Self
Gloucester, Virginia
Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult. George A. Mather and
Larry A. Nichols. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1993, 384 pages.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults.
Benjamin Beit-Hallahni. Rosen Publishing Group, New York, NY, 1993, 341 pages.
To compare these two resource volumes, I looked up Eckankar in each. Beit-Hallahni
reports concisely in 23 lines (3 page) what it is (Occultist Sikh inspired), where it was
The book is unashamedly biased but useful for that reason alone. Unless questions are
raised about treatment, there is the danger that programs become fixed, stagnant, and
impersonal. AA is more a self-help organization than a cult. A lay organization without
charismatic leaders and with clearly stated goals toward improved mental health, AA lacks
the features of a cult. AA‟s slogans and mottos may be simplistic, but they have helped
thousands to stay dry. AA has nothing to fear from this book and much to gain from its
criticisms. Alcoholism is a continuing major problem and anything that helps drinkers to
sobriety --AA and Ken Ragge included --is worthy of further study.
Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
Center for the Study of the Self
Gloucester, Virginia
When the New Age Gets Old: Looking for a Greater Spirituality. V.
Mangalwadi. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1992, 287 pages.
This paperback book is arranged in 9 chapters, with a preface and a prologue, epilogue,
appendix, and 11 pages of notes keyed to chapters. The author was “born and raised in
India” and now lives in northern India where he is active advocating for the untouchables,
India's minority population. The book is a critique of the New Age movement which he
traces to California, later spreading to Europe and Asia. The book is objective and with
much sympathy for those swept up in a sometimes radical search for deeper meaning and
self-actualization. He concedes that traditional secular approaches may not fully satisfy
these needs. “It is,” he observes, “the despair of Western humanism which has given birth
to the New Age” (p. 237).
There are specific chapters on astrology, spiritism, UFOs, tantric sex, vegetarianism, and
reincarnation. The chapters are easily read and contain valuable information and direct
quotes. The book concludes with an appendix comparing religion and science. He offers
constructive criticism of both: “Scientism has failed to provide a satisfying philosophy of
science, and mysticism is a blind alley which destroys the possibility of science” (p. 272).
They are, for better and for worse, all we have as road maps to full awareness and
becoming. The author considers the diversity of the maps more worthy of study than mystic
unity: “the real marvel in the universe is not the oneness of creation,” but rather “why the
lone appears as separate entities” (p. 274).
This book is highly recommended as an objective overview of both New Age and traditional
approaches. It is provocative but fair to these two major routes to the same destination. It
should strengthen the reader's own faith, yet still provide light on the richness and variety
of paths to spiritual truth.
Frank MacHovec, Ph.D.
Center for the Study of the Self
Gloucester, Virginia
Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult. George A. Mather and
Larry A. Nichols. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 1993, 384 pages.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults.
Benjamin Beit-Hallahni. Rosen Publishing Group, New York, NY, 1993, 341 pages.
To compare these two resource volumes, I looked up Eckankar in each. Beit-Hallahni
reports concisely in 23 lines (3 page) what it is (Occultist Sikh inspired), where it was
