Item Detail
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18732
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0
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0
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English
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Testing Stark's Thesis : Is Mormonism the First New World Religion Since Islam?
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The Worlds of Joseph Smith : A Bicentennial Conference at the Library of Congress
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Provo, UT
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Brigham Young University Press
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271-292
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McDermott evaluates Rodney Stark's proposal that Mormonism is the first new world religion since Islam. He concludes that it is in fact a new religion, but that the Church is not the first significant religious group since Islam; it is not even the fastest growing new American religion. Mormonism can roughly be compared with groups such as True Pure Land Buddhism, Sokka Gakkai, Baha'I, and Sufism. McDermott compares Mormonism extensively with the Jehovah's Witness movement using Stark's ten criteria for church growth. He concludes that while the LDS church has many advantages which suggest further growth, the Church is only one among many growing religious communities. Unless the Church changes its American character and comes more into harmony with traditional Christian theology, current growth patterns will be difficult to maintain.