Ronald M Enroth was a professor of sociology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, and an evangelical Christian author of books concerning what he defined as "cults" and "new religious movements" and important figure in the Christian countercult movement.
13 Facts About Ronald Enroth
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Ronald Enroth began his career in teaching sociology during his doctoral studies, and held the post of an instructor at Westmont College from 1965 to 1967.
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Ronald Enroth was appointed as an assistant professor, and then associate professor at Westmont.
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Ronald Enroth held memberships within four professional organizations: American Sociological Association, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion, and the Association for the Sociology of Religion.
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Ronald Enroth was the Social Science editor for the periodical the Christian Scholar's Review.
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Ronald Enroth served on the editorial advisory board of the secular anti-cult movement periodical the Cultic Studies Journal.
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Ronald Enroth served for a number of years on the board of reference for the ministry the Spiritual Counterfeits Project in Berkeley, California.
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In general, Ronald Enroth's writings were acknowledged in Christian circles as significant contributions on the subject of "cults".
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Unlike most of the apologists who concentrate on doctrinal questions, Ronald Enroth was distinguished as one of the few writers in the movement to both hold credentials in sociology and to apply sociological tools in his analyses.
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In 1993, Ronald Enroth's book Recovering from Churches That Abuse set off a "firestorm of debate among religious scholars," centered around a chapter on the group Jesus People USA which included several stories of alleged abuse within the group.
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Furthermore, there is virtually no recognition of the considerable scholarly research that might be used to counter the apparent thesis of Ronald Enroth, who seems to believe that religious groups that require heavy discipline and commitment should be avoided in favor of less demanding mainstream groups.
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Ronald Enroth himself responded to the controversy in the book itself, in part with:.
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Ronald Enroth retired from Westmont College after forty-seven years of teaching and moved to Hawaii, where he passed away on February 3,2023.