BIOGRAPHY
Bryan Ronald Wilson, Ph.D., (1926–2004) was reader emeritus in sociology at the University of Oxford. From 1963 to 1993 he was also a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and in 1993 was elected an emeritus fellow. For more than fifty years he conducted research into minority religious movements in Britain, the United States, Ghana, Kenya, Belgium, Japan and other countries. Dr. Wilson earned his doctorate in sociology from the London School of Economics in 1955, authored dozens of articles, and wrote or edited dozens of books, including: Sects and Society: The Sociology of Three Religious Groups in Britain (1961); Patterns of Sectarianism (edited, 1967); Religious Sects (1970, also published in translation in French, German, Spanish, Swedish and Japanese); Magic and the Millennium (1973); Contemporary Transformations of Religion (1976, also published in translation in Italian and Japanese); The Social Impact of the New Religious Movements (edited, 1981); Religion in Sociological Perspective (1982); The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism (1990); and A Time to Chant: the Soka Gakki Buddhists in Britain (1994). In 1984, the University of Oxford recognized the value of his published work by conferring upon him the degree of D.Litt. In 1992, the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, awarded him the degree of doctor honoris causa. In 1994, he was elected a fellow of the British Academy.
EXPERTISES
Scientology: An Analysis and Comparison of its Religious Systems and Doctrines
In this piece originally published in 1999, Professor Bryan Ronald Wilson systematically analyzes Scientology’s religious systems and doctrines and places them in comparative context with Buddhism, Hinduism, Christian Science, Judaism, and Catholic and Protestant forms of Christianity. His analysis is made on the basis of academic study that commenced in 1968, including interviews with Scientologists and visits to Church sites in England. Differing definitions of religion have existed across time...
Social Change and New Religious Movements
In this article, originally published in 1995, Professor Bryan Ronald Wilson surveys social challenges facing new religious movements, in particular the problem of intolerance. As a new religion becomes older, it tends to attain a greater degree of acceptance within society because it is considered less different or deviant. In the case of the Church of Scientology, Dr. Wilson contends that it “may arouse suspicion” because its theology, practices and culture are sometimes at odds with forms of...
Religious Toleration & Religious Diversity
In this article from 1995, Professor Bryan Ronald Wilson surveys methodological issues that arise in defining a religion, especially when problematized by the fact that new religions, such as Scientology, emerged in the modern era to meet modern spiritual needs. This means that some new religions may express their theologies and practices in ways that differ from traditional or otherwise normalized forms of religious expression. However, this does not mean that they are in any way less genuine forms...
The Congregational Services of The Church of Scientology
In this legal statement from 2002, Professor Bryan Ronald Wilson evaluates whether the Church of Scientology’s congregational services merit the label of religious worship and compares them with other traditions. He concludes that Scientology services constitute worship but points out that worship in the Judeo-Christian sense of that term is not universally present in all religions, such as Buddhism and Unitarian Universalism. As Dr. Wilson writes: “Given that Scientologists do believe...
Apostates and New Religious Movements
In this article from 1994, Professor Bryan Ronald Wilson briefly describes the history of apostasy—for instance in Roman Catholic and Protestant Christian churches—as a means to compare and contrast contemporary understandings of apostasy with respect to new religious movements. According to Dr. Wilson, apostates (ex-members) of new religious movements ought to be viewed with suspicion by academics and media outlets. “The apostate,” he explains, “is generally in need of self-justification....