The Diffusion of New Age Practices and Beliefs among Australian Church Attenders

Authors

  • Adam Possamai University of Western Sydney
  • John Bellamy University of Western Sydney
  • Keith Castle University of Western Sydney

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/fiel2007v2i1.9

Keywords:

church attendance

Abstract

Analysing the results of a 2001 survey of a random sample of churchgoers in Australia, this article discovers that if all churchgoers are analysed as one single category, Australian churchgoers do not have much affinity with the New Age, a result which fits with the current literature. However, when looking more closely at the sample, it is discovered that Catholics do have the highest affinity with the New Age among all Christian groups, and evangelical groups have the least affinity. It is also found that churchgoers in their teens are more inclined to these alternative ideas.

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Author Biographies

  • Adam Possamai, University of Western Sydney

    Adam Possamai is senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Western Sydney. He is the past President of the Australian Association for the Study of Religions and the co-editor of the Australian Religion Studies Review. He is the author of Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper- Real Testament (2005a), In Search of New Age Spiritualities (2005b), and of a book of short stories in French, Perles Noire (2005c).

  • John Bellamy, University of Western Sydney

    John Bellamy is a senior researcher with NCLS Research and Research Associates of the Edith Cowan University Centre for Social Research.

  • Keith Castle, University of Western Sydney

    Keith Castle is a senior researcher with NCLS Research and Research Associates of the Edith Cowan University Centre for Social Research.

References

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Published

2007-09-20

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Possamai, A., Bellamy, J., & Castle, K. (2007). The Diffusion of New Age Practices and Beliefs among Australian Church Attenders. Fieldwork in Religion, 2(1), 9-26. https://doi.org/10.1558/fiel2007v2i1.9