Prophets and Protons
Prophets and Protons: New Religious Movements and Science in Late Twentieth-Century America
“The varied relationships between new religions and science are one of the least explored, yet most fascinating aspects of new religious emergence and development. In this captivating book, Zeller deftly expands the agenda for the study of new religions. No longer will scholars be able to ignore the intersection of worldviews he describes here.”
--Douglas E. Cowan, author of Cults and New Religions: A Brief History and Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet
“Zeller skillfully examines an often overlooked dimension of new religions, their engagement with modern science. By carefully analyzing the publications and activities of the Unification Church, Heaven’s Gate, and the Hare Krishnas over a thirty-year period, the author shows that the nuanced response of these NRMs to science mirrored in significant ways the responses offered by mainstream religions. Using insights from theology, social theory, and historical inquiry, this book adds to our understanding of how new religions both shape, and are shaped by, larger cultural trends and forces.”
--Phillip C. Lucas, Professor of Religious Studies, Stetson University
By the twentieth century science had become so important that religious traditions had to respond to it. Emerging religions, still led by a living founder to guide them, responded with a clarity and focus that illuminates other larger, more established religions’ understandings of science. The Hare Krishnas, the Unification Church, and Heaven’s Gate each found distinct ways to incorporate major findings of modern American science, understanding it as central to their wider theological and social agendas. In tracing the development of these new religious movements’ viewpoints on science during each movement's founding period, we can discern how their views on science were crafted over time. These NRMs shed light on how religious groups—new, old, alternative, or mainstream—could respond to the tremendous growth of power and prestige of science in late twentieth-century America.
There is a free review online at the Anthropology Review Database. I also gave an interview about the book that is available on the Magical Buffet Blog.
