Cultic Studies Journal, Vol. 15, No. 2, 1998, page 80
inferno that eventually killed David Koresh and 80 of his followers, including 22 children.
The author provides a factual account of the Waco siege, which he acknowledges at the end
of the book. He does not provide any literature references or bibliography, however, the
book reads of his own investigation. The author does not imply conclusions or insights of his
own, but stays with providing information that he collected. His book is an accumulation of
evidence provided by ex-cult members, court and official documents compiled to tell the
story of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. This book would provide a novice cult
reader with an exploration of how a cult is a danger to society and individuals. It does not
provide a critical analysis of the issues or factors that centered around the controversy of
what happened at Waco.
Kimberly Salow, BS, RSW
Therapist, Grad Student
Kalamazoo, MI
Understanding New Religious Movements. John A. Saliba. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995, 240 pages. Paperback, $18.00
ISBN 0-8028-4226-7
This is a book for students of the new religions that have sprung up amid the controversy
surrounding ―cults‖ since the early 1970s. The author, John A. Saliba, a Jesuit priest, is
professor of religious studies at the University of Detroit Mercy. He took part in a study of
new religious movements conducted for the Vatican, and he has written two major
bibliographies on new religious movements, Psychiatry and the Cults and Social Science and
the Cults. Saliba begins by giving the reader an overview of the cults in contemporary
Western culture followed by a history of new religious movements in the West. In separate
chapters he covers new religions in four perspectives: psychological, sociological, legal, and
theological. He finishes with a chapter on counseling as it pertains to the new religions. The
book has extensive footnotes and a useful index. The lower portion of the elegant front
cover shows a photo of the Branch Davidian Compound at Waco going up in flames.
Saliba is careful to define his terms. Cult proves especially problematical as he prefers ―new
religious movement.‖ Nevertheless, he uses cult throughout in its popular function to
indicate strange, extremist or non-orthodox Christian sects. In his overview Saliba relies
heavily on J. Gordon Melton‘s typology but recognizes that different scholars categorize the
same group in different ways. Although he attempts a balanced approach-and succeeds
remarkably in most of his presentation-Saliba tends to denigrate the ―anti-cult‖ camp.
History shows, he says, that the new religions repeat old patterns as he briefs us on
Gnostics, Cathars, Flagellants, Ranters, Mormons and the ever fascinating Shabbatean
movement of the seventeenth century. The modern anti-cult movement seems to him to be
a reactionary, clumsy if not unethical effort to suppress religious experimentation. This is
not to say that he is an ―apologist‖ for new religions.
Saliba offers studied overviews of the psychological, sociological and theological approaches
to new religions. He contends that the mental health ―experts‖ offer ―an overall negative
psychiatric assessment of new religions‖ (p. 83), but does a fair comparison of the
―brainwashing‖ verses the ―drift‖ models of conversion to cults.
Saliba is most comfortable with the sociological approach that attempts an evenhanded,
non-judgmental observation of facts surrounding new religions. He complains that anti-
cultists, the media, and sometimes the courts ignore the sociological research. ―The
sociological approach to the new religions is based on well-established academic principles
and, in spite of some weaknesses, has many advantages‖ (p. 129). In his chapter on the
law and cults, he tackles the thorny issues surrounding what constitutes a religion in the
inferno that eventually killed David Koresh and 80 of his followers, including 22 children.
The author provides a factual account of the Waco siege, which he acknowledges at the end
of the book. He does not provide any literature references or bibliography, however, the
book reads of his own investigation. The author does not imply conclusions or insights of his
own, but stays with providing information that he collected. His book is an accumulation of
evidence provided by ex-cult members, court and official documents compiled to tell the
story of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. This book would provide a novice cult
reader with an exploration of how a cult is a danger to society and individuals. It does not
provide a critical analysis of the issues or factors that centered around the controversy of
what happened at Waco.
Kimberly Salow, BS, RSW
Therapist, Grad Student
Kalamazoo, MI
Understanding New Religious Movements. John A. Saliba. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995, 240 pages. Paperback, $18.00
ISBN 0-8028-4226-7
This is a book for students of the new religions that have sprung up amid the controversy
surrounding ―cults‖ since the early 1970s. The author, John A. Saliba, a Jesuit priest, is
professor of religious studies at the University of Detroit Mercy. He took part in a study of
new religious movements conducted for the Vatican, and he has written two major
bibliographies on new religious movements, Psychiatry and the Cults and Social Science and
the Cults. Saliba begins by giving the reader an overview of the cults in contemporary
Western culture followed by a history of new religious movements in the West. In separate
chapters he covers new religions in four perspectives: psychological, sociological, legal, and
theological. He finishes with a chapter on counseling as it pertains to the new religions. The
book has extensive footnotes and a useful index. The lower portion of the elegant front
cover shows a photo of the Branch Davidian Compound at Waco going up in flames.
Saliba is careful to define his terms. Cult proves especially problematical as he prefers ―new
religious movement.‖ Nevertheless, he uses cult throughout in its popular function to
indicate strange, extremist or non-orthodox Christian sects. In his overview Saliba relies
heavily on J. Gordon Melton‘s typology but recognizes that different scholars categorize the
same group in different ways. Although he attempts a balanced approach-and succeeds
remarkably in most of his presentation-Saliba tends to denigrate the ―anti-cult‖ camp.
History shows, he says, that the new religions repeat old patterns as he briefs us on
Gnostics, Cathars, Flagellants, Ranters, Mormons and the ever fascinating Shabbatean
movement of the seventeenth century. The modern anti-cult movement seems to him to be
a reactionary, clumsy if not unethical effort to suppress religious experimentation. This is
not to say that he is an ―apologist‖ for new religions.
Saliba offers studied overviews of the psychological, sociological and theological approaches
to new religions. He contends that the mental health ―experts‖ offer ―an overall negative
psychiatric assessment of new religions‖ (p. 83), but does a fair comparison of the
―brainwashing‖ verses the ―drift‖ models of conversion to cults.
Saliba is most comfortable with the sociological approach that attempts an evenhanded,
non-judgmental observation of facts surrounding new religions. He complains that anti-
cultists, the media, and sometimes the courts ignore the sociological research. ―The
sociological approach to the new religions is based on well-established academic principles
and, in spite of some weaknesses, has many advantages‖ (p. 129). In his chapter on the
law and cults, he tackles the thorny issues surrounding what constitutes a religion in the
