Prophecy in the New Millennium

Sarah Harvey, MSc is a Research Officer at Inform where she has worked since 2001. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Manchester in Comparative Religion and Social Anthropology and a Masters degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science in Social Research Methods (Sociology). She is also currently a PhD student at the University of Kent researching the natural childbirth movement. At Inform, her research focuses on Pagan religions, new Christian movements, the 'new age' milieu and 2012 prophecies. She has recently guest edited a special issue of The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. Dr. Suzanne Newcombe is a Research Officer at Inform where she has worked since 2002. She is also an Associate Lecturer for the Open University in the East of England and has lectured in the field of new and alternative religious movements at Kingston University. Her PhD research at the University of Cambridge explored the popularization and development of yoga and Ayurvedic medicine in Britain. She continues to be active in research networks in this area and has published articles in the Journal of Contemporary Religion, Religion Compass and Asian Medicine, as well as contributing chapters to a number of edited books.

• Chapter 1 From the Extraordinary to the Ordinary: An Overview of Prophecy, Suzanne Newcombe, Sarah Harvey; Part 1 Perspectives on Prophecy; Chapter 2 Messages from Beyond: Prophecy in the Contemporary World, Michael Barkun; Chapter 3 Prophecy: Social Scientific Perspectives and Lubavitch, Simon Dein; Chapter 4 Prophecy on the Margins: A Case Study of the Apocalypse in Later Seventeenth-Century England, Warren Johnston; Chapter 5 Prophecy: A Perspective from the Early Church and the Contemporary Experience of a Methodist Minister, Andrew Maguire; Part 2 Perennial Prophecy in Mainstream Traditions; Chapter 6 The New Apostolic Reformation: Main Street Mystics and Everyday Prophets, Margaret M. Poloma, Matthew T. Lee; Chapter 7 The Mahdi and the End-Times in Islam, Hugh Beattie; Chapter 8 The Coming Golden Age: On Prophecy in Hinduism, Luis González-Reimann; Chapter 9 Divination, Prophecy and Oracles in Tibetan Buddhism, Christopher Bell; Chapter 10 Chasing the Horizon: Prophecy in Secular Contexts, Wendy M. Grossman; Part 3 Contemporary Case Studies; Chapter 11 Living in the Time of the End: A Personal Commentary from My Experiences with the Children of God and the Family International, Abi Freeman May; Chapter 12 Mormonism and The Family International: Toward a Theory of Prophecy in the Development of New Religious Movements, Gordon Shepherd, Gary Shepherd; Chapter 13 The Dispensation of Providence: Growing Up as a Blessed Child in the Unification Church, Hani Zaccarelli; Chapter 14 Waco: Living Prophecy, Livingstone Fagan; Chapter 15 (Always) Living in the End-Times: The ‘Rolling Prophecy’ of the Conspiracy Milieu, David G. Robertson; Part 4 2012 Prophecies; Chapter 16 From Mushrooms to the Stars: 2012 and the Apocalyptic Milieu, Andrew Fergus Wilson; Chapter 17 Viral Email and the 2012 Apocalypse Contagion: Seven Reasons Why the World WON’T End in 2012, Kristine Larsen; Chapter 18 Remembering the Future: 2012 as Planetary Transition 1 This paper is based on a talk given at the Inform Seminar, New Religions and Prophecy, held at the London School of Economics, 22 November 2008 and has been supplemented with material taken from a www.dkfoundation.co.uk web-page, ‘The Particular: Where We Are Now’, written for web site readers June 2011., Suzanne Rough; Chapter 19 2012 and the Revival of the New Age Movement: The Mayan Calendar and the Cultic Milieu in Switzerland, Jean-François Mayer; Chapter 20 Looking into the Future: Why Prophecies Will Persist, J. Gordon Melton;

’This is a rich text full of significant insights for both new comers to the field of study and established experts. Uniquely combining the views of scholars and participants in prophetic movements, the essays in this volume make important contributions to our theoretical and empirical grasp of why and how prophecies generate, sustain, and sometimes strain religious movements, ranging from the lengthy legacy of Christian apocalypticism to the recent preoccupation with the Mayan 2012 prophecy and many other contemporary revelations.' Lorne Dawson, University of Waterloo, Canada ’Seasoned scholars are joined by new researchers in this rich and lively collection. Coverage is broad and comparative, chapters are written in an accessible yet scholarly style, and a sure editorial hand is evident throughout. The volume as a whole makes a persuasive case for restoring prophecy to a central place within the comparative study of religion.’ Steven J. Sutcliffe, University of Edinburgh, UK 'One of the many strengths of the text is the diversity and multiplicity of its perspectives. ... any religious studies student or scholar should add this text to his/her collection.' Nova Religio '[This is] a rich and ground-breaking study that should stimulate a fresh interest in this enigmatic phenomenon.' Review of Religious Research 'As in the other volumes of this series, the editors offer a rich mix of approaches and include fascinating insider perspectives in the form of case studies ... offering an essential insider perspective that complements the empirical research and theoretical models put forward in the other chapters.' Fieldwork in Religion