John A. Saliba is a

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

-born

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest, a professor of religious studies at the

University of Detroit Mercy The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Cath ...

and a noted writer and researcher in the field of

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part of a wider re ...

. Saliba has advocated a conciliatory approach towards new religions. He has argued that membership in such movements can serve as a temporary haven for young adults in a formative stage of their lives, and is not necessarily detrimental. He has been critical of the

brainwashing Brainwashing is the controversial idea that the human mind can be altered or controlled against a person's will by manipulative psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently ...

concept espoused by the

anti-cult movement The anti-cult movement, abbreviated ACM and also known as the countercult movement, consists of various governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals that seek to raise awareness of religious groups that they consider to be ...

Life and academic career

Saliba has been teaching at the

since 1970. Born and raised in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Heythrop College Heythrop College, University of London, was a constituent college of the University of London between 1971 and 2018, last located in Kensington Square, London. It comprised the university's specialist faculties of philosophy and theology with soc ...

before it was affiliated to the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and completed his doctorate in Religion and Religious Education at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

.Biography on th
University of Detroit Mercy Faculty page
Saliba is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest and a member of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

(Jesuits). His main teaching focus has been on

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including human migration, migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study ...

, and his research and publications have mostly been about

.Saliba, John A. ''Understanding new religious movements'', Rowman Altamira 2003, p. 293, . He presently teaches courses in

world religions World religions is a socially-constructed category used in the study of religion to demarcate religions that are deemed to have been especially large, internationally widespread, or influential in the development of human societies. It typicall ...

anthropology of religion Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. The anthropology of religion, as a field, overlaps with but is distinct from the f ...

and new religious movements as professor of religious studies at the University of Detroit Mercy. Saliba also contributed to a three-year study of new religions for the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

, conducted by the

International Federation of Catholic Universities The International Federation of Catholic Universities () is an organisation of 226 Catholic universities throughout the world. The secretariat is at the Institut Catholique de Paris. History The federation has its origins in collaboration in 192 ...

Views

In ''Understanding New Religious Movements'' (2003), Saliba advocated a conciliatory approach towards new religions: "Whatever critiques of new religions must be rendered by scholars of various disciplines, dialogue is a more useful response than diatribe". He expressed the view that "all that the heated denunciations of the new religions do is to reinforce the attitudes and beliefs of both their members and detractors. Apologetic debates rarely lead unbelievers or apostates to convert; they do not succeed in persuading renegade Christians to abandon their new beliefs to return to the faith of their birth. Harangues against the new religions do not lead their members to listen attentively to the arguments of zealous evangelizers. On the contrary, they drive them further away and elicit similar belligerent responses." In Saliba's view, new religious movements should actually be treated as forms of religion, much like those that have arisen at all times throughout history, rather than as "cults" or a social problem specific to recent decades. Noting that new religions often appeal to young people who lack spiritual grounding, he has argued that involvement in such movements is not necessarily a dangerous distraction from the path to adulthood, but can also serve as a temporary haven in a materialistic and selfish society, providing "an alternative therapy to many young adults as they are faced with making momentous decisions at important junctures in their lives".Vallely, Paul (1998-12-12)
"Spirit of the Age: Inside the cult of 'The Street'"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Retrieved 2010-07-03. He has stated that many members of new religions appear to be healthy and happy, and that in many cases they move away from alcohol and drug use, gaining "a degree of intellectual security, emotional stability and organised behavioural patterns that contrast sharply with their previously confused and chaotic existences". He also contends, based on statistical studies, that the appeal of new religious movements is often short-lived, with over 90% of members moving on within two years of joining. Given that new religions appear to fulfill a need that the mainstream churches are unable to address, he states that there is a need for "some soul-searching on the part of the mainline churches". Saliba is critical of the

and has remarked that "the neutral stance of the social sciences is a stance which has often been interpreted as favoring the NRMs". In 1985, Saliba published a two-part critique of

Margaret Singer Margaret Thaler Singer (July 29, 1921 – November 23, 2003) was an American clinical psychologist and researcher with her colleague Lyman Wynne on family communication. She was a prominent figure in the study of undue influence in social and ...

, a key proponent of the

hypothesis prevalent at the time, in the '' American Psychology Bulletin'',Saliba, John A. "Psychiatry and the New Cults", Parts I and II, ''American Psychology Bulletin'', Spring, 1985 and Winter, 1985, pp. 39–55 and 361–375. finding numerous faults with the documentation and conclusions of her research. He criticized her sources – deprogrammed ex-members and their friends and families – arguing that they lacked impartiality and objectivity and did not form a representative or

statistically significant In statistical hypothesis testing, a result has statistical significance when a result at least as "extreme" would be very infrequent if the null hypothesis were true. More precisely, a study's defined significance level, denoted by \alpha, is the ...

sample. He maintained that Singer lacked relevant academic background or even interest in the study of religion, and that she failed to consider the possibility that new religious movements might have a genuine religious or spiritual dimension. He thought that she was unaware of legitimate forms of Eastern religion, as evidenced by her including

Zen Buddhism Zen (; from Chinese: '' Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka ph ...

in a list of cults, and that she generally took a far too negative view of new religious movements.Streiker, Lowell D.; Sherry, Paul H.; Elliott, David H. ''Smith's Friends: A 'Religion Critic' Meets a Free Church Movement.'' Praeger Publishers, Westport, CT, 1999, pp. 157–158. Commenting in ''Anti-cult Movements in Cross Cultural Perspective'' on the Vatican's doctrine on new religious movements disseminated in 1991 – which according to Janet L. Jacobs writing in the academic journal ''Sociology of Religion'' "walks a fine line between condemning the new religions and recognizing the importance of religious freedom" – Saliba expressed the view that the

Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, previously named the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia, erected by Pope Paul VI on 19 May 1964 as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, and renamed by ...

"respects the religious freedom of individuals, even though their choices are deemed doctrinally erroneous and their behavior morally unacceptable."Jacobs, Janet L
"Anti-cult Movements in Cross Cultural Perspective – Book Reviews"
''Sociology of Religion'', Winter, 1996.

Reception

Mary F. Bednarowski, reviewing Saliba's ''Understanding New Religious Movements'' in the ''

Journal of Ecumenical Studies The ''Journal of Ecumenical Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1964 and published by the University of Pennsylvania Press on behalf of the Dialogue Institute and the North American Academy of Ecumenists. Its editor-in-c ...

'', described the book as "a significant contribution to conversations about this too-frequently-contentious subject", noting that "the author attributes to the study of new religions the complexity it deserves" and that "his overall contention is that it is more profitable to study new religions constructively than belligerently. New religions, says Saliba, should be looked upon as 'both partners and rivals in the religious quest'."Bednarowski, Mary F. "Understanding New Religious Movements", ''Journal of Ecumenical Studies'', Volume: 35, Issue: 3-4, p. 529, Gale Group 1998. She said she had used the book in one of her own courses on new religious movements and "found it very helpful for the background it offers, the multiplicity of perspectives and methodological approaches it engages, and its exploratory and nondefensive tone."

Publications

Books

*''"Homo religiosus" in Mircea Eliade: An Anthropological Evaluation'', Brill Academic Publishers 1976, *''Psychiatry and the Cults: An Annotated Bibliography'', Garland Pub. 1987, *''Social Science and the Cults: An Annotated Bibliography'', Garland Pub. 1990, *''Perspectives on New Religious Movements'', Geoffrey Chapman 1995, *''Christian Responses to the New Age Movement'', Geoffrey Chapman 1999, *''Understanding New Religious Movements'', Rowman Altamira 2003, (with

J. Gordon Melton John Gordon Melton (born September 19, 1942) is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the I ...

)

Book chapters and articles

* "The Guru: Perceptions of American Devotees of the Divine Light Mission", ''Horizons'', Volumes 7–8, College Theology Society, 1980, pp. 69–82 * "The Christian Response to the New Religions: A Critical Look at the Spiritual Counterfeits Project," ''Journal of Ecumenical Studies'' 18, 3 (Summer 1981), pp. 451–473. * "Psychiatry and the New Cults", Parts I and II, ''American Psychology Bulletin'', Spring, 1985, and Winter, 1985, pp. 39–55 and 361–375 * "Christian and Jewish Responses to ISKCON", ''ISCKON Review'' 2 (1986), pp. 76–103 * "Dialogue with ISCKON: A Roman Catholic Perspective", ''

ISKCON Communications Journal The ''ISKCON Communications Journal'' (''ICJ'') was a biannual magazine of dialogue, focussing on issues related to missionary development in ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) and with issues of communication, administrati ...

'' 4,2 (1996), pp. 1–16
"The Earth is a Dangerous Place – The World View of the Aetherius Society"
''

Marburg Journal of Religion The ''Marburg Journal of Religion'' is a peer-reviewed online academic journal that publishes articles on empirical and theoretical studies of religion. The first issue was published in April 1996. The original concept was developed by Michael Py ...

'', 1999 * "The Psychology of UFO Phenomena", in: Partridge, Christopher Hugh (ed.). ''UFO Religions'', Routledge 2003, * "UFOs and Religion: A Case Study of Unarius Academy of Science", in: Lewis, James R. (ed.). ''The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions'', Prometheus Books 2003, * "Psychology and the New Religious Movements", in: Lewis, James R. (ed.). ''The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements''. Oxford University Press 2004, * "A Christian Response to the New Age", in: Lewis, James R. (ed.). ''The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of New Age Religions'', Prometheus Books 2004,

Notes

External links

University of Detroit Mercy Jesuit Community page

* ttp://johnwmorehead.blogspot.com/2007/07/john-saliba-interview-on-dialogue-with.html John Saliba: Interview on Dialogue with New Religions {{DEFAULTSORT:Saliba, John A. American anthropologists 20th-century American Jesuits 21st-century American Jesuits American religion academics Maltese academics Maltese Jesuits Researchers of new religious movements and cults Maltese emigrants to the United States University of Detroit Mercy faculty Alumni of Heythrop College Alumni of the University of Oxford Catholic University of America alumni Sociologists of religion Living people Year of birth missing (living people)