Course aims:

to know and understand the mission’s exigencies;
to apply theories and methods to the missionary practical realities;
to know and understand the concept of Trinity and missions;
to explain the mission’s effects upon the Church;
to define and apply the concept of missionary exigency from a theoretical standing point.

Course Entry Requirements:

n/a

Course contents:

1. The expansion of new religious movements; 2. Brief history of the heretical and sectarian phenomenon. Explanatory notions: Church, religious cult, denomination, heresy, schism and sect; 3. The causes of the emergence of neo-Protestant cults; 4. The emergence of neo-Protestant cults in Christianity; 5. The Baptists: new considerations on Baptist missionary work; 6. The Baptist denomination; 7. The Pentecostal denomination or the Apostolic Church of God; 8. Seventh-day Adventists - "Seventh-day Adventist Church"; 9. Seventh-day Adventists in Romania. Expressions of the Adventist denomination; 10. The Mormons - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; 11. Jehovah's Witnesses; 12. New syncretistic religious movements; 13. Occultism and Satanism; 14. Magic, witchcraft and pseudo-medical practices. Seminar: 1. Syncretism. Features and typologies; 2. New Age syncretism; 3. The anti-calendar movement; 4. The Maglavit phenomenon; 5. The Vladimirești movement; 6. M.S.I.A.- "Movement for Spiritual Integration in the Absolute"; 7. Dowsing; 8. Oriental religious movements: Zen and Ananda Marga ("The Path of Bliss"); 9. Transcendental Meditation and Sahaja Yoga; 10. Osho Meditation and Sathya Sai Baba; 11. The Secret (Hidden) Church of the Mother of God; 12. Reincarnation in the New Age movement; 13. Orthodox mission facing the proselytism of certain Oriental groups; 14. Missionary remedies to fight occult phenomena

Teaching methods:

Lecture, exemplification, conversation, debate, PowerPoint presentation, video-projections.

Learning outcomes:

critical, selective and systematic attitude towards missiological information; ability of applying the principles for understanding a patristic document in an appropriate manner, respectively, to take into account all elements involved (linguistic, socio-cultural, religious).

Learning outcomes verification and assessment criteria:

Written paper-interpretative essay – 30%. Frontal evaluation / Oral exam: 70%

Recommended reading:

Petre I. David, Invazia sectelor în România, Europolis Publishing House, Constanța, 2000, x.
Gheorghe Petraru, Dimensiunea penitențială și euharistică a vieții creștine, Doxologia Publishing House, Iași, 2015, x.
Dan Bădulescu, Împărăția răului: New Age. Originile, istoricul, doctrinele și consecințele sale din perspectivă ortodoxă, Christiana Publishing House, București, 2001, x.
David Pestroiu, Martorii lui Iehova, Reîntregirea Publishing House, Alba Iulia, 2013, x.
Jean Vernette, Les Sectes et l'Eglise catholique. Le document romain, Editions du Cerf, Paris, 1993, x.
Radu Petre Mureșan, Alternative spirituale în România - secolul XXI - perspectivă ortodoxă, Agnos Publishing House, Sibiu, 2011, x.
Arsenie Vliangoftis, Ereziile contemporane - o adevărată amenințare, Evanghelismos Publishing House, București, 2006, x.