The latest it is viable for a new religion born in the US

[Peg Leg Pom]

There is no latest time for a new religion. All religions start as a cult, and new cults spring up all the time. After that it's just a case of convincing a sufficient number of people that your cult has "THE TRUTH".

 

[Jurgen Wullenwever]

Perhaps you have the wrong angle here, limiting the field. Some people instead class the various -isms as religions, modern secular religions, with holy scriptures and condemned apostates and so on, and some of these creeds are very much alive, I think.

 

[Hvalrossen]

We sort of do already. The Sedevacantists, St. Pius X Society, and other “Traditional Catholic” are growing quickly in America, and quite a few of the members (I didn’t say all or even most) are just that “zealous.”

Why are these catholic organisations growing quickly? Is it mostly becouse of conversion or natural growth, by percentage?

 

[Hvalrossen]

I notice that most of the new religions that are discussed here are related to the timelines of past relgions. The discussion have mostly talked about new sects and slpinter groups in Christianity. But are Jehovas Witnesses a new religion or just a sect of Christianity? Is a sect or splinter group of a religion, itself a relgion? To me it seems that new religious societies are for the most part syncretism of the past or small twists in current docrtrine.

What if a religion that is compleatly independant of any past religions, atleest according to the new religion, could such a relgion form?

One intresting new religous movements is the vissarionites in Siberia. I put some links down below that you can look int
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vissarion
https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...9/russian-siberian-sect-vissarion-in-pictures
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/may/24/russia.iantraynor

(VICE News visits a Vissarionites community in Siberia)
https://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/22/world/asia/vice-jesus-of-siberia/index.html
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/1...us-former-traffic-cop-turned-cult-leader.html
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/a-visit-with-the-vissarionites
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/siberian-jesus-vissarion-russian-cult_n_3612265.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_ob...rgest_religious_reservation_in_the_world.html
https://prezi.com/3vu5vlsnwhkh/the-church-of-the-last-testament-followers-of-vissarion/
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/jesus-siberia

 

[Hvalrossen]

Perhaps you have the wrong angle here, limiting the field. Some people instead class the various -isms as religions, modern secular religions, with holy scriptures and condemned apostates and so on, and some of these creeds are very much alive, I think.

Do these modern "isms" have some sort of priesthoods?

 

[CalBear]

Folks, if you are going to debate about the Mormons it goes to Chat.

 

[EnglishCanuck]

-As to what goes on in LDS Temples; yes. I've been through, or personally seen everything that happens in a Temple. It's not viewed as "secret" so much as "sacred". As such, yes. Anyone can find out what happens in there via google in less time than it takes to type it out. But I'm not going to talk about it. That being said, I WILL say that everything there is HIGHLY symbolic. As such, when taken out of context, it definitely would seem weird. But then, so to the rites of other Christians eating what they believe to be the literal flesh of someone, while bowing in front of an ancient torture device, with a bleeding body attached.
It's all about the symbolism.

When you put it that way Christianity sounds pretty metal

 

[Mark E.]

I think we are debating the definition of "new sect" as opposed to "new religion." I am more inclined to use the terms more interchangeably. What one person considers a different sect (Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, etc.) another might consider different Christian religions. It's all semantics.

 

[GeographyDude]

like in biological taxonomy, if we’re splitters instead of than lumpers, then

The Nation of Islam,

Father Divine,

multiple New Age movements,

evangelical churches self-consciously using the language of “born again” (maybe 1930s?)

Unity Church (positive thinking writ large),

the prosperity gospel,

specifically Joel & Victoria Osteen (books, tapes, TV shows, make them plenty big enough),

mega-churches in general, almost like mini-cities,

the marriage of evangelical and political conservatism dating from around 1978,

Wicca becoming more mainstream,

other neo-pagan movements,

and probably a bunch more besides!

 

[Empress Ryzal]

Depending on how you define religion, it has already occured in the form of Sports.

It has its own mythos, its own practitioners, its own hall of saints, its own relics, its own rules and doctrines, its own traditions, its own holy books, even its own clergy.

Why, one can even say that Sports has its own riots Holy Wars whenever each sects' champions clash.

 

[Jürgen]

This is your problem - most mainstream Christian churches regard adhering to the Nicene creed in particular as the absolute minimum standard required to qualify as Christian. There's an interesting article on the Vatican's website which, although confined to the narrow question of the validity of Mormon baptism, nevertheless sums up the situation as a whole.



Although the Vatican is at pains not to say so, when you consider this conclusion alongside that of the groups the church does consider can provide valid baptism - heretics, schismatics, pretty much anybody who accepts fundamental Trinitarian doctrine - I think the conclusion is fairly obvious, as far as the Catholic Church is concerned Mormons are not Christians (and I suspect most Protestant and Orthodox denominations would agree with the fundamental logic).

Incidentally, and on the subject of OP's post, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the Nation of Islam yet. It was founded in the 1930's, has by some accounts at least as many followers as Scientology, and (in a similarity to the Mormons) whereas it claims to be Muslim this is a belief that is disputed by mainstream Islamic groups.

And then of course there are the less than serious religious groups, such as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Jediism...

Yes most Protestant groups do see Mormonism as non-Christian, sharing the Catholic view on the Mormon Church. As for the Nation of Islam I think it's a pretty good example. But there's also Rastafarianism.

 

[Jürgen]

Among some circles Scientology seems as accepted (or unaccepted) as either Mormonism or Jehova's Witness.

L.Ron Hubbard (not to offend anyone) strikes me as a very 20th century Joseph Smith.

I see the similarity, but I think modern Mormonism are a real religion, while Scientology only had the potential to become one, I expect Scientology will be dead or reduced to almost complete irrelevance in my lifetime.

 

[sloreck]

The reality is that "all" religions are cults when they start. Some go on to expand and survive, others never make the jump from a cult to something that approaches the modern concept of a religion...Only time will tell for some of these. Don't forget, once a group begins to make the jump from cult to religion you can see a lot of changes in theology. After would the Christians of say 200 A.D. recognize most of modern Christianity - some would be there, but much would not.

 

[SsgtC]

The reality is that "all" religions are cults when they start. Some go on to expand and survive, others never make the jump from a cult to something that approaches the modern concept of a religion...Only time will tell for some of these. Don't forget, once a group begins to make the jump from cult to religion you can see a lot of changes in theology. After would the Christians of say 200 A.D. recognize most of modern Christianity - some would be there, but much would not.

That would depend on which branch of Christianity they're looking at. If they're looking at the Catholic Church, they probably would think it's a pagan faith (no offense to the Catholic members here) with the veneration of saints in particular alarming them. They'd probably recognize more in a more "primitive" faith. Not sure which. It'd be really fascinating to find out though

 

[Jürgen]

That would depend on which branch of Christianity they're looking at. If they're looking at the Catholic Church, they probably would think it's a pagan faith (no offense to the Catholic members here) with the veneration of saints in particular alarming them. They'd probably recognize more in a more "primitive" faith. Not sure which. It'd be really fascinating to find out though

There's not really any more "primitive" (meant in a positive context) Christian groups than Catholicism/Orthodoxy, every splinter off are reformist not really back to the basis.

 

[Hvalrossen]

I see the similarity, but I think modern Mormonism are a real religion, while Scientology only had the potential to become one, I expect Scientology will be dead or reduced to almost complete irrelevance in my lifetime.

Why do you think that?

 

[Jürgen]

Why do you think that?

Because it get next to no new members and in general give incitaments against natural increase/replacement. Let's use Mormons as example, they had a similar early increase, after which the number of converts fell, but they lay weight on large families, which transformed from a small religion to a medium sized one. If Scientology hadn't been lead by people more busy exploiting its members for money (which was why they're against their members wasting money on other things like children) than believing in what they preach, Scientology would likely have several hundred thousand to a million member today. Whatever people think about Mormon theology and Joseph Smith, no one will claim the Mormon leadership doesn't believe in what they preach (at least no honest person), and they don't exploit their members, at least not to any greater degree than all religions does.

 

[naraht]

Whatever people think about Mormon theology and Joseph Smith, no one will claim the Mormon leadership doesn't believe in what they preach (at least no honest person), and they don't exploit their members, at least not to any greater degree than all religions does.

I don't think that anyone would claim that the current Prophet Russell M. Nelson doesn't believe what he preaches, there are certainly people who claim that Joseph Smith himself didn't believe what he preached.

 

[Thanksforallthefish]

Scientology is always talked about in these WI for some reason, but in reality they have a declining population of less than 40.000 members and virtually everyone who has a passing interesting on it knows about Xenu and their cultish behavior. I fully expect that when the most famous figures of the religion (Tom Cruise and John Travolta, I think?) fade into irrelevance, it will too. I don't think they have the potential to bounce back, and while they did seem widespread before and had some potential to become a minor religious group, most people know them as a cult deserving of mockery nowadays.

UFO religions are basically like science-fiction; they get old fast as our knowledge of science and perception of alien life advances. Not to insult anyone who actually believes in a religion involving extraterrestrial beings, since they do have spiritual elements. But it's hard to shallow a religion that has things like Galactic Federations and other 'Space Opera' elements as Scientologists themselves put it.

 

[Johnrankins]

Scientology is always talked about in these WI for some reason, but in reality they have a declining population of less than 40.000 members and virtually everyone who has a passing interesting on it knows about Xenu and their cultish behavior. I fully expect that when the most famous figures of the religion (Tom Cruise and John Travolta, I think?) fade into irrelevance, it will too.

They are already pretty much irrelevant.