IAFOR Chairman Professor Stuart D.B. Picken sits down for an interview with fellow religious scholar, Dr George Chryssides. Their discussion centers on the emergence of new religions and cultism. Dr Chryssides offers his insights on recent and tragic examples of cults, including Jim Jones and Heaven's Gate. He also explains the draw and fascination people experience with new religions.
Dr George D. Chryssides
Dr George D. Chryssides is Honorary Research Fellow in Contemporary Religion at the University of Birmingham, after being Head of Religious Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, UK, from 2001 to 2008. George Chryssides obtained a First Class Honours M.A. degree in philosophy at the University of Glasgow, and a First Class Honours Bachelor of Divinity in systematic theology. He subsequently undertook postgraduate research at the University of Oxford, obtaining his doctorate in 1974.
From the 1980, George Chryssides’ main interest has been new religious movements, on which he has authored numerous books and scholarly articles. Recent publications include Historical Dictionary of Jehovah’s Witnesses (2008), Heaven’s Gate: Postmodernity and Popular Culture in a Suicide Group (2011), Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements (2012), The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements (co-edited with Benjamin E. Zeller,2014), and Jehovah’s Witnesses: Continuity and Change (2015). He is a regular presenter at national and international conferences.
Dr Chryssides was a Keynote Presenter at The European Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy 2015 (ECERP2015) in Brighton, England.
