2010/10/11 by Eugene V. Gallagher · 2 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Biblical Studies and Interpretation #Media, Religion, Digital Communication #Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
paper · doi:10.1525/nr.2010.14.2.14
openalex publication_date 2010/10/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/03
Interpretation of the Bible has played a central role in the origins and development of the Raëlian movement. Claude Vorilhon's first encounter with the "Elohim" was immediately followed by an intensive week of Bible study that gave him a new identity as the messianic prophet "Raël," a new direction for his life as the earthly ambassador of the Elohim, and a new doctrine that would serve as the intellectual foundation of a new religious movement. The Raëlian movement and other new religions in which interpretation of the Bible figure prominently do not originate one-sidedly in a "cultic milieu" or "occulture" that is divorced from the broad biblical tradition. Rather, they represent creative blendings of biblical and other sources. Part of the attractiveness of the Bible for new religions is that it contains and legitimizes multiple examples of successful religious innovation.