New religious movements (NRMs) are relatively new forms of religion and spiritual practices that have arisen in the past few centuries. Though some NRMs have ancient roots, they often combine elements from existing religions with more modern influences. NRMs can be extremely diverse, but all share a common characteristic: they encourage individuals to explore their own personal spirituality and develop their own connection to the divine or supernatural. There are a variety of ways in which these new religious movements arise, including stories of miracles, prophetic revelations, social media outreach, and reformations within existing religious traditions.
Explain three ways in which new religious movements arise.
The first way in which new religious movements come about is through miraculous stories. Miracles can take many forms- healings, visions, prophecies- but all involve phenomena that cannot be explained by natural means and require some kind of supernatural intervention. This type of event has been known to spark a fervor among its witnesses that then spreads beyond its original confines. For example, in 1844 Joseph Smith founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after he reported having an angelic visitation where God told him to restore the lost church established by Jesus himself during his earthly ministry. Many other NRMs started as well after reports spread about miraculous events experienced by founders or prophets involved with them such as John Alexander Dowie’s healing services at Christian Catholic Apostolic Church or Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s “heavenly vision” while praying on Easter Sunday morning in 1936 at Young Hoon Lee’s home church where he was given instructions on how to found what would become The Unification Church.
Another way that new religious movements arise is through prophetic revelations from individuals claiming divine inspiration for their teachings either directly from God or through intermediaries like angels or other spirit beings . Again Smith’s case serves as an example here; however there are numerous others such as Madame Blavatsky who claimed she had received secret teachings from mysterious Tibetan ‘Masters’ when establishing Theosophy and Elihu Benjamin Washburn who published Divine Science based on his claim he had been inspired by heavenly visions . These types of figures often act as catalysts for the emergence of NRMS since people seeking spiritual guidance flock around them bringing potential devotees into their fold thus providing these organizations with much needed support structure necessary for survival even if only temporarily until another leader arises or organization splinters off due to internal disputes
Finally one last core factor influencing the rise of new religious movements is reformations within older established religions . What makes this different than what we previously discussed is instead members coming together around an external charismatic figurehead reforming partaking instead involves those faithful actively participating within said tradition reinterpreting core concepts while adding newer ones so as to arrive at something completely novel though still keeping similar aesthetic outward presentation allowing it pass without notice comparatively easier versus attempting large scale public evangelization efforts which could attract unwanted attention leading persecution and/or oppression depending upon jurisdiction . One classic example would be Protestantism arising out 16th century England originally forming Protestant Reformation movement against abuses occurring Roman Catholicism back then yet eventually evolving over centuries into multiple independent denominations each having distinct beliefs values even rituals despite maintaining shared origin story being regarded under same umbrella term ‘Protestantism’ today .
In conclusion there are many ways through which New Religious Movements arise -from miraculous stories told about founders ,to prophetic visions received ,on down incorporating reformist thinking existing belief structures ultimately resulting idea something entirely fresh albeit familiar enough not appear too foreign unfamiliar eyes – illustrating just wide range possibilities when comes shaping spiritual experiences both individually collectively prompting us contemplate further why these particular methods chosen formulating our answers accordingly help expanding collective understanding universe we inhabit ever greater degree!