"... solid scholarship.... [It] will not only serve as a model for
those studying the New Religious Movements of the late twentieth century, but will
offer help to mainline and other religious institutions who are struggling with
problems of identity and change in our complex society today." -- Church
History
"... a thoroughly enjoyable book that would fit well
into a graduate readings seminar on new religious movements....The book deserves a
wide reading." -- Nova Religio
"Lucas's study provides a
model of how best to combine the methodologies and analyses of the history of
religions and sociology. He has provided the groundwork for continued tracking of
developments in this new religious movement for comparative purposes." --
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"... a carefully
researched and well-written history of one of the important new religious movements
to appear in the United States during the 1960s... the volume can be heartily
recommended to all students of American religion." -- American Historical
Review
"Lucas has written one of the best informed studies of
the evolution of a metaphysical cult into mainline eastern orthodoxy."Â -- The
Reader's Review
"This is an important book for libraries with
holdings in American religion." -- Choice
"... a
fascinating narrative... a rich feast for the investigator of the subculture of
esoteric religion... " -- American Studies
International
"... especially welcome. It offers an in-depth,
meticulously documented history of a church, the Holy Order of MANS, that arose from
the Christian esoteric mystery tradition and then metamorphosed into a
traditionalist Orthodox Christian sect. This unlikely tale has more twists and turns
than a whodunit... this volume is that rarest of finds: an academic book that is a
delight to read." -- Gnosis Magazine
Traces the journey of a
new religious movement from its start as a monastic-style New Age order to its
transformation into the more conventional Christ the Savior Brotherhood, an Eastern
Orthodox sect. A remarkable story of social and spiritual change in contemporary
America.
