Another Gospel - Contents

Contents

Another Gospel discusses a wide range of groups, including Mormonism, Seventh-day Adventism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, New Thought and Unity, the Worldwide Church of God, the Way International, the Children of God, the Unification Church, Hare Krishnas, Bahá'ís, and Scientology. Other groups, including Rosicrucianism and Swedenborgianism, are described in appendices. Tucker discusses some of the controversies as related to these groups, while adding that frequently new religions maintain an "ability to reach out and meet the needs of people who are suffering and dejected."

Tucker writes about the New Age movement, "The most popular and widely publicized new religion in recent years has been the New Age movement, a difficult-to-define variety of mystical, spiritualistic, and occultic groups that above all else are not new. From channeling crystals to harmonic convergence, celebrities and ordinary citizens have been captivated by this increasingly popular religious trend." Tucker asks: "Is New Age merely an age-old form of the occult that will taper off in popularity as the fad loses its luster, or is it truly a movement that has only barely begun to make its all-encompassing mark on the world?" and warns that "every individual concerned about maintaining traditional Christian values should be apprehensive about the potential negative effect the New Age may have on the coming generations."

In discussion of the Unification Church, Tucker writes that the organization has used controversial recruitment tactics which subsequently resulted in college students dropping out of universities in order to join it. "The recruitment strategy of the Unification Church was widely criticized for utilizing tactics that sometimes were compared to brainwashing techniques," writes Tucker. Another Gospel describes how Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon stated that he was told by Jesus Christ to complete a task in which Jesus had not succeeded, and carry out the desires of God on the earth.

Tucker notes a disparity between approaches to religious movements abroad compared to within a person's own cultural milieu. "In cross-cultural evangelism overseas, missionaries are admonished not to ridicule other religious beliefs or practices. ... Yet, these 'cross-cultural' courtesies are often blatantly ignored when they pertain to situations within our own culture. We often ridicule or mock the unorthodox religious beliefs of people in our own communities, because cultists do not deserve respect," writes Tucker.

Another Gospel delves into the difficulty in defining cults. Tucker says that a cult is "a religious group that has a 'prophet'-founder called of God to give a special message not found in the Bible itself". She comments on the defining characteristics utilized by sociologists, who "have tended to define cults more in terms of lifestyle, proselytizing practices, and authoritarian leadership, rather than in terms of belief or by any standard of orthodoxy". According to Tucker cults often have a "prophet-founder" who serves as a "legalistic, authoritarian leader". In her given definition of a cult, Tucker writes, "In deference to this charismatic leader ... the style of leadership is authoritarian and there is frequently an exlusivistic outlook supported by a legalistic lifestyle and persecution mentality. ... It is the attribute of a prophet-founder that very distinctly separates cults from denominations."

According to the description of the book from the publisher, Tucker "explains how ... alternative religious movements appear to meet people's needs." Tucker concludes that "the increase in cult membership is a direct result of a failure on the part of the church."