Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach

In the last century. new religious movements (NRMs) have sprung up around the world This book’s contributors propose that the most effective way to reach these groups is to view them missiologically as different people groups—and thus to approach them with a cross-cultural mindset—instead of following more traditional methods that focus on biblical heresies and doctrinal aberrations.

In this book, top missiologists present biblical and historical considerations, methodology and practical advice for reaching out to groups such as the Latter-day Saints, New Spirituality, Wicca, Mother Goddess, and Satanism.

“An important ‘breakthrough’ book. Exactly what we need for an effective presentation of the gospel to folks seduced by the false promises of non-Christian worldviews.”

—Richard J. Mouw President and Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary

“At last, apologetics and missiology meet! Proactive in intent and positive in tone, it . . . [charts] a new way forward.”

—Ken Mulholland Former president, Evangelical Missiological Society

“This resource is not merely a valuable compilation of strategic thinkers in the fields of Christian apologetics and missiology; it synthesizes the two disciplines and offers practical strategies for evangelism in a new day!”

—Rudy Gonzalez Director, North American Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention

Irving Hexham, professor of religious studies at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is the author of seven books, including Understanding Cults and New Religions and The Pocket Dictionary of Cults and New Religions.

Stephen Rost, pastor of Grace Fellowship of Dixon in Dixon, Cal., has served as president of the Society for the Study of Alternative Religions study group in the Evangelical Theological Society.

John W. Morehead II, associate director of Watchman Fellowship in Sacramento, Cal., is the cofounder and coeditor of Sacred Tribes: Journal of Christian Missions to New Religious Movements, an e-journal that focuses on reaching adherents of new religions.

This groundbreaking work showcases a new approach for reaching new religious movements, cults, and sects. Countless new religious movements (NRMs) have sprung up across the United States and around the world in the last century. The many scholars and pastors contributing to this book have found that the best way to approach these groups is not to point out Biblical heresies and doctrinal aberrations, but instead to view NRMs as mission fields, much like we view foreign people groups. The authors of this volume demonstrate that the gospel needs to be contextualized for NRMs and that evangelists will want to be incarnational in their approaches. Using historical accounts and biblical basis, these top missiologists present their methodology and practical advice for reaching out to groups such as the Latter-day Saints, New Age, New Spirituality, Wicca, Mother Goddess, and Satanism.

• Cutting-edge scholarship
• Showcases some of the finest evangelical missiologists
• Provides methods that are both biblical and practical
• A pioneering work which argues for a more successful method of reaching followers of new religious movements

Stephen Rost, pastor of Grace Fellowship of Dixon in Dixon, California, has served as presisdent of the Society for the Study of Alternative Religions, an ETS study group.