Strange Sects and Curious Cults

by Marcus Bach

Book Overview

""Strange Sects And Curious Cults"" by Marcus Bach is a fascinating exploration of various religious and spiritual movements that have emerged throughout history. From the ancient Gnostics to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0006AWZVG
• Release Date: January 1961
• Publisher: Dodd, Mead & Company
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

dated but still interesting

Marcus Bach's book was written in 1961, and therefore the information on some cults still active is out of date; not to mention that so many others Bach did not address have since flourished. Nonetheless, for a quick overview of religious cults ancient and more modern, this volume is both informative and absorbing, if certainly not encyclopedic or definitive or even always completely accurate. Bach breaks down his book into three broad categories - the sex sects, conscience cults, and utopianists. The first group includes ancient Baalism of Mesopotamia, Osirism of Egypt, Shivism of India, and modern (well, more modern) Voodoo of Africa and imported partially into the New World. The Conscience Cults include the Penitentes, Apocalypticists, Father Divine of Harlem, the Oxford Groupers, Psychiana (of Moscow, Idaho!); and under the grouping of Utopians you have the old Russian Doukhobors, now I believe extinct, the Shakers, Amanas, and Hutterites, all still tottering along, and finally the Mormons, who are doing quite a bit better. Each of the sections also contains a general introduction from Bach, and the book has a conclusion, "Faith is a Feeling". Throughout the volume Bach is respectful and concise. The writing sometimes can be a little annoying; Bach seems more interested in catching the feelings, emotions, and motivations behind the followers than of the leaders, and one one wishes he had taken a more journalistic approach to his material. Dates and exact initiatory techniques are often omitted, frustratingly, and where he does not have information he is vague. The best chapters are on the more modern cults (contrast Father Divine with, say The Rev Al Sharpton!), though again here the book is over 40 years old and there is much to update. Psychiana is making a comeback over the Internet, for example. There are no illustrations, which is a terrible shame. If you are seriously interested in any of these cults or religious sects, there are more in-depth treatments elsewhere. If you would like a review of the origins and general development of some lesser-known movements, and the invariably unusual personalities that drove them, this book is not the worst place to start.

This Book Answers Questions For The Curious

Very Interesting! This book examines some of the lesser know religious faiths and rituals such as Shakers, Doukhobors, Hutterites, Voodooism, Baalism and others.