The phenomenon of new religious movements: transformation of religiousness in a modern sociocultural situation

In the modern complex and evolving world, religion still plays a significant role. There are new religious movements that demonstrate changes in religiousness and religious consciousness evident in novel religious images and their forms. The authors compare the contemporary religious movements to the traditional religious organizations. Modern religious movements are of an informal nature and dependent on the activity of a social group rather than a historical tradition. The intelligent component in such movements recedes into the background, is simplified and schematized. The emotional and psychological factor of the religious act gains ground, and the transformation of religiousness is regarded as an adaptation to the individual needs. The authors believe that common views on this issue should be developed to analyze religiousness from the historical and sociocultural perspective.