The new (old) age movement: Assessing a Vatican assessment
This article examines the recent Vatican document "Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the 'New Age' ". This official Catholic response to a diverse and polycentric religio-spiritual phenomenon reveals problematic conditions and core institutio...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Carfax Publ.
[2004]
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In: |
Journal of contemporary religion
Year: 2004, Volume: 19, Issue: 3, Pages: 273-288 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) |
Summary: | This article examines the recent Vatican document "Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the 'New Age' ". This official Catholic response to a diverse and polycentric religio-spiritual phenomenon reveals problematic conditions and core institutional concerns surrounding religion in the culture of postmodernity. These concerns-which are both cause and effect of the diffusion of Catholic identity-include pollution motifs, the impact of relativism, pluralism, privatized religiosity, and waning institutional control of religious symbols. Attention is also directed to the efficacy of doctrinal formulations as a boundary maintenance mechanism and to the way in which the Vatican response to the New Age movement exemplifies church/sect dynamics within contemporary Catholicism. |
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ISSN: | 1469-9419 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of contemporary religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1353790042000266318 |