Melton, J. Gordon 1942–

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Melton, J. Gordon 1942–

(John Gordon Melton)

PERSONAL: Born September 19, 1942, in Birmingham, AL; son of Burnum Edgar (a construction worker) and Inez (Parker) Melton; married Dorothea Dudley, March 19, 1966 (divorced, 1979); children: Melanie Merri. Education: Birmingham-Southern College, A.B., 1964; Garrett Theological Seminary (now Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary), M.Div. (with distinction), 1968; Northwestern University, Ph.D., 1975.

ADDRESSES: Office—Institute for the Study of American Religion, P.O. Box 1311, Evanston, IL 60201.

CAREER: Ordained United Methodist minister, 1968; Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship, Evanston, IL, field representative, 1970–73; pastor of United Methodist churches in Wyanet, IL, 1974–75, and Evanston, 1975–80; Institute for the Study of American Religion, Evanston, director, 1980–. President of Senior Action Services, Inc., 1978–80. Visiting lecturer at University of San Francisco, summer, 1971, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, summer, 1981, and Loyola University, Chicago, IL, summer, 1982.

MEMBER: American Academy of Religion, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, American Society of Church History.

WRITINGS:

The History of the Churches of the Bowling Green Yoked Charge, Clay City News (Clay City, IN), 1967.

Log Cabins to Steeples, Commissions on Archives and History of the Northern, Central, and Southern Illinois Conferences of the United Methodist Church (Chicago, IL), 1974.

A Directory of Religious Bodies in the United States, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1977, revised edition published as Religious Bodies in the United States: A Directory, 1992.

The Encyclopedia of American Religions, Consortium Books (Wilmington, NC), 1978, seventh edition, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2003.

Magical Religion in the United States, Institute for the Study of American Religion, 1979.

Magic, Witchcraft, and Paganism in America, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1982, second edition, 1992.

(With Robert L. Moore) The Cult Experience: Responding to the New Religious Pluralism, Pilgrim Press (Long Island City, NY), 1982.

(With Karl Pruter) The Old Catholic Sourcebook, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1983.

Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1984, revised and updated edition, 1992.

Dictionary of Cult and Sect Leaders, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1984.

(With Ronald M. Enroth) Why Cults Succeed Where the Church Fails, Brethren Press (Elgin, IL), 1985.

Biographical Dictionary of American Cult and Sect Leaders, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1986.

The Encyclopedia of American Religions and Religious Creeds, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1988.

(Editor and author of introduction) The Peoples Temple and Jim Jones: Broadening Our Perspective, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1990.

(Editor and author of introduction) Annie Wood Besant, The Origins of Theosophy: Annie Besant—The Atheist Years, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1990.

(Editor and author of introduction) Rosicrucianism in America, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1990.

(With Jerome Clark and Aldan A. Kelly) New Age Almanac, Visible Ink (Canton, MI), 1991.

Religious Leaders of America: A Biographical Guide to Founders and Leaders of Religious Bodies, Churches, and Spiritual Groups in North America, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

(With Michael A. Koszegi) Religious Information Sources, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1992.

(Editor, with Michael A. Koszegi) Islam in North America: A Sourcebook, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1992.

(Editor, with James R. Lewis) Perspectives on the New Age, State University of New York Press (Albany, NY), 1992.

(Editor, with Larry G. Murphy and Gary L. Ward) Encyclopedia of African American Religions, Garland Publishing (New York), 1993.

National Directory of Churches, Synagogues, and Other Houses of Worship, four volumes, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1993.

(Editor, with James R. Lewis) Church Universal and Triumphant: In Scholarly Perspective, Center for Academic Publication (Stanford, CA), 1994.

(With Phillip Charles Lucas and Jon R. Stone) Prime-Time Religion: An Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting, Oryx Press (Phoenix, AZ), 1997.

(With the Transylvanian Society of Dracula) Videohound's Vampires on Video, Visible Ink (Canton, MI), 1997.

Finding Enlightenment: Ramtha's School of Ancient Wisdom, Beyond Words Publishing (Hillsboro, OR), 1998.

The Vampire Gallery: A Who's Who of the Undead, Visible Ink (Canton, MI), 1998.

The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, Visible Ink (Canton, MI), 1999.

American Religions: An Illustrated History, ABCCLIO (Santa Barbara, CA), 2000.

The Church of Scientology, Signature Books in cooperation with the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) (Salt Lake City, UT), 2000.

(Editor, with David G. Bromley) Cults, Religion, and Violence, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, NY), 2002.

(Editor, with Martin Baumann) Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, introduction by Donald Wiebe, ABCCLIO (Santa Barbara, CA) 2002.

Protestant Faith in America, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2003.

The Children of God: "The Family," Signature Books/CESNUR (Salt Lake City, UT), 2004.

(Editor) Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2005.

"THE CHURCHES SPEAK ON" SERIES

The Churches Speak on Abortion: Official Statements from Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1989.

The Churches Speak on AIDS: Official Statements from Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1989.

The Churches Speak on Capital Punishment: Official Statements from Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1989.

The Churches Speak on Pornography: Official Statements from Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1989.

The Churches Speak on Euthanasia: Official Statements from Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

The Churches Speak on Homosexuality: Official Statements from Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

The Churches Speak on Sex and Family Life: Official Statements from Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

The Churches Speak on Women's Ordination: Official Statements from Religious Bodies and Ecumenical Organizations, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1991.

OTHER

Editor of "Bibliographies on Alternative Religions," a series, Garland Publishing, 1982–. Associate editor and contributor, Encyclopedia of World Methodism, Cokebury (Nashville, TN), 1968. Contributor to books, including Alternatives to American Mainline Churches, edited by Joseph H. Fichter, Rose of Sharon Press, 1982; Handbook of Living Religions, edited by John Himmells, editor, Penguin (New York, NY), 1982; and Eerdmans' Handbook to Christianity in America, edited by Mark A. Noll and others, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1983. Contributor to religious magazines.

SIDELIGHTS: J. Gordon Melton is an author of a variety of reference works on many aspects of religion. His attention is wide-ranging, covering aspects of religion from the most traditional and best established denominations, to newly emerging religions and religious sects, to New Age spiritualism, cults, and other variant forms of belief.

In Protestant Faith in America, Melton outlines the history and diverse breadth of Protestant religion in the United States. He looks carefully at denominations such as the Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, the Church of Christ, and the Dutch Reformed churches. "Balanced, broad-minded, and inclusive of people of color and women, these historical accounts present a great deal of information on the influence of specific religious groups on American life," remarked Jonathan Betz-Zall in the School Library Journal. Melton's American Religions: An Illustrated History offers an "unbiased, even celebrative attitude toward religious diversity," observed the Library Journal reviewer C. Robert Nixon.

Other Melton works examine religious organizations that exist outside the usual Catholic/Protestant mainstream. For example, The Children of God: "The Family" recounts the history of "the most successful communal movement of the hippie era," noted Susan Bethany in Reviewer's Bookwatch, one that is still in existence in the early part of the twenty-first century. Melton assesses the movement's history and future direction as well as its internal laws and guiding principles. His The Church of Scientology examines the origins, development, and current status of the controversial church started by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Here he pinpoints the emergence of Scientology in the 1950s and tracks the growth and structure of the church, including its system of ethics and justice, its dedication to social reform, and its commitment to human rights. Melton also explores Scientology's acceptance as a religion in some countries, including the United States, and its status as a cult in other regions of the world. "Few books pack as much information into so little space," commented Derek H. Davis in the Journal of Church and State. "Anyone seeking a brief, insightful, objective, and scholarly summary of Scientology will find this book a valuable resource."

Melton also comments on the darker side of religion in Cults, Religion, and Violence, in which he examines infamous cases of murder, suicide, and violence by four religious movements in the 1990s. His subjects included the mass suicides of the Solar Temple and Heaven's Gate groups, the violent and deadly confrontations between the U.S. government and Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, and the Aum Shinrikyo cult that staged a poison gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995. Reviewer Frederick Bird, writing in the American Journal of Sociology, commended Melton's work for its "sound and thorough research, its accessible writing, its sophisticated analysis of group dynamics, as well as for a number of instructive observations about these contemporary religious."

Several of Melton's reference works take the form of directories and encyclopedias. Prime-Time Religion: An Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting contains more than four hundred entries on programs, individuals, and movements within Christian television and radio programs. "No reference work is perfect, but this encyclopedia will be an indispensable resource," commented John W. Kennedy in Christianity Today. In another reference title, Religious Leaders of America: A Biographical Guide to Founders and Leaders of Religious Bodies, Churches, and Spiritual Groups in North America, the author provides "an excellent biographical dictionary of over one thousand leaders and founders of religious groups in the United States and Canada," according to Susan L. Fales in RQ.

The Encyclopedia of African American Religions includes biographical information on more than 773 African American religious leaders, plus almost 350 essays on American religious denominations and organizations. The Encyclopedia of American Religions, provides "succinct summaries of the distinguishing doctrines and histories of hundreds of churches" throughout the United States, commented Jay Kinney in Whole Earth Review. "Every public library should have a copy of Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions" Kinney stated.

In an almost whimsical move, vampire aficionado Melton turns from organized religion and catalogues the myriad members of the undead in The Vampire Gallery: A Who's Who of the Undead and The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead

Melton once told CA: "It is my hope to bring clarity to the area of research on the many and various religious traditions in America, a topic too frequently given only cursory or hostile treatment. I also wish to alert the public to the growing implications of radical religious pluralism currently emerging in America and the West. I consider myself a strong advocate of religious freedom.

"The main thrust of my writing … has been to document (as a Church historian) the many varied currents of religious expression in America. I began by merely highlighting some oversights. Gradually, as the number of religious bodies grew so dramatically in the 1970's, I became aware that a radical leap from the Protestant-Christian dominated society had occurred. America was developing a new pluralism and was becoming a microcosm of world religion. The divergent, heretical, and non-Christian religions had entered Middle America and were here to stay.

"The radical pluralism will lead us to have to redefine many social relations which have heretofore been built on an assumed but largely unconscious consensus. The breakdown of agreement is manifested in such ceremonial events as community Christmas celebrations, prayer in public schools, and the assignment of chaplains. It will soon appear in every place where humans are forced to interact on more than a formal, impersonal level.

"The multiplication of religions has highlighted the sinister role religion can have. Religion can be perverted and become the home to evil, as can any social structure. Religions should be judged by the same standards that other structures are—the law. Religions and religious persons can not, as the courts have continually ruled, break the law and get away by pleading religious freedom. Religious freedom does not include the right to illegal behavior.

"Pluralism will mean that individuals will choose religions different from that of their parents and family. That is a price we pay for social freedoms. Religions which try to separate children from parents are assum-ing rights this society does not allow. However, religions which recruit young adults (who are no longer children except in the eyes of over-protective parents) are committing no crime, and we should not penalize them for the problems created in a family because one person is religiously different.

"The development of anti-cult groups is a great threat to religious liberty. They use the time-tested techniques of bigotry which have been effectively tested against other minorities—blacks, Jews, etc. As a strong supporter of religious liberties, I feel obliged to exert efforts to defend religious groups of all persuasions against the actions of contemporary militant anticultists."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Journal of Sociology, May, 2005, Frederick Bird, review of Cults, Religion, and Violence, p. 1836.

Booklist, January 15, 1994, reviews of Encyclopedia of African American Religions, p. 960, and National Directory of Churches, Synagogues, and Other Houses of Worship, p. 971; March 1, 1995, review of The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, p. 1257; December 1, 1996, review of Prime-Time Religion: An Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting, p. 686; December 15, 2002, review of Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, p. 781; January 1, 2003, review of Religions of the World, p. 801.

Christianity Today, March 3, 1997, John W. Kennedy, review of Prime-Time Religion: An Encyclopedia of Religious Broadcasting, p. 48.

Journal of Church and State, autumn, 2000, Derek H. Davis, review of The Church of Scientology, p. 851; winter, 2004, Irving Hexham, review of Cults, Religion, and Violence, p. 160.

Library Journal, January, 1999, Patricia Altmer, review of The Vampire Gallery: A Who's Who of the Undead, p. 84; December, 2000, C. Robert Nixon, review of American Religions: An Illustrated History, p. 150.

Reference & User Services Quarterly, fall, 2003, Karen B. Rice, review of Religions of the World, p. 92.

Reference Books Bulletin, December 15, 2002, review of Religions of the World, p. 781.

Reviewer's Bookwatch, January, 2005, Susan Bethany, review of The Children of God: "The Family."

RQ, summer, 1992, Susan L. Fales, review of Religious Leaders of America, p. 576.

School Library Journal, February, 2003, Patricia D. Lothrop, review of Religions of the World, p. 90; November, 2003, Jonathan Betz-Zall, review of Protestant Faith in America, p. 161; October, 2004, review of Protestant Faith in America, p. S62.

Sociology of Religion, winter, 1993, Thomas Robbins, review of Perspectives on the New Age, p. 431.

Whole Earth Review, spring, 1987, Jay Kinney, reviews of Biographical Dictionary of American Cult and Sect Leaders, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, and The Encyclopedia of American Religions, p. 55.