Jean-Francois Mayer (born 25 April 1957 in

Fribourg , neighboring_municipalities= Düdingen, Givisiez, Granges-Paccot, Marly, Pierrafortscha, Sankt Ursen, Tafers, Villars-sur-Glâne , twintowns = Rueil-Malmaison (France) , website = www.ville-fribourg.ch , Location of , Location of () () o ...

, Switzerland) is a

religious historian The history of religion refers to the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BC). The prehistory of religion involves th ...

, translator in Switzerland, and Director of the Institute Religioscope. He has a doctorate degree in History at the

Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 The Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 (french: link=no, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3), also referred to as Lyon 3, is one of the three public universities of Lyon, France. It is named after the French Resistance fighter Jean Moulin and specialises ...

(1984). From 1991 to 1998, he worked as an analyst on international affairs and policy for the Swiss federal government. In 1999, he founded a firm of strategic researches named JFM Recherches et Analyses, and taught at the University of Freiburg from 1999 to 2007. In 2007, Mayer founded the Institute Religioscope and became the director. He contributed in the writing of several magazines, including ''Politica Hermetica'', ''Religioscope'' and ''Religion Watch''. His writing focuses on contemporary religious movements and cults, including

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, the

Unification Church The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, widely known as the Unification Church, is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists, or "Moonies". It was officially founded on 1 May 1954 under the name Holy Spi ...

, the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...

, the

Order of the Solar Temple The Order of the Solar Temple (french: Ordre du Temple solaire, OTS) and the International Chivalric Organization of the Solar Tradition, or simply The Solar Temple, is a cult and religious sect that claims to be based upon the ideals of the ...

and the

Pilgrims of Arès The Pilgrims of Arès is a new religious movement founded in 1974 by Michel Potay. It was named after the town of Arès, Gironde, where Michel Potay received revelations. Beliefs and practices are based on the ''Revelation of Arès'', written by ...

. He also published works about

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

and links between religion and the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

Bibliography

This is a partial list of Mayer's works: * ''La Nouvelle Église de Lausanne et le mouvement swedenborgien en Suisse romande des origines à 1948'', Zürich, Swedenborg Verlag, 1984. * ''Sectes nouvelles. Un regard neuf'' ; preface by

Émile Poulat Émile Poulat (; June 13, 1920 – November 22, 2014), was until 1954 a Catholic priest, associated with the Prêtres Ouvriers movement, and thereafter a French historian and sociologist. Director of Studies at the École des hautes études en sc ...

, Paris,

Éditions du Cerf ''Éditions du Cerf'' (French: "Editions of the Deer") is a French publishing house specializing in religious books. It was founded in 1929, and operated by the Dominican Order. The name is a reference to Psalm 42 (41): As the hart panteth ...

, 1985. * ''Les sectes. Non-conformismes chrétiens et nouvelles religions'', 2nd edition, Paris, Éditions du Cerf/Saint Laurent (Québec), Fides, 1988. * ''L'Évêque Bugnion ou les Voyages extraordinaires d'un aventurier ecclésiastique vaudois'', Lausanne, Éditions 24 heures, 1989. * ''Les mythes du Temple solaire'', Genève. Georg, 1996. * ''Confessions d'un chasseur de sectes'', Paris, Éditions du Cerf, 1990. * ''Les fondamentalismes'', Genève, Georg, 2001. * ''La naissance des nouvelles religions'', with Reender Kranenborg, Georg Editeur, Geneva, 2004, * ''Internet et religion'', Gollion, Infolio, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Jean-Francois 1957 births Living people Swiss historians of religion Swiss male writers Researchers of new religious movements and cults People from Fribourg