Régis Dericquebourg (born 1947) is a French

sociologist of religion Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods (surveys, ...

s. He wrote his thesis on

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

under the direction of Jean Seguy. He holds a doctorate in psychosociology and a postgraduate degree in clinical psychology from the Institute of Paris 7. He is a member of the Group for the Study of Religions and Secularity at the National Center for the Scientific Studies in Paris, and a professor at the

Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III The Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III (french: Université Lille 3 Charles-de-Gaulle) was a French university. Since 1974, the main campus of University of Lille III was located in Villeneuve d'Ascq in eastern Lille, at ''Pont de Bois'' me ...

. He published five books, many sociological articles in collective books, encyclopedias and journals and regularly participated in conferences of sociology. His contributions are mainly on Jehovah's Witnesses, healing in religion and

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

Healing-oriented religions

One of Dericquebourg's main contributions to the sociology of religions is the creation of a new category of religions, “religions de guérison” (healing-oriented religions). This category should avoid the debates about which movements are genuine religions and which are

cults In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

by focusing on healing as the main feature, and reason of success, for a number of religions very different between each other. In his 1988 book ''Les Religions de guérison'', Dericquebourg proposed the category based on his analysis of

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

Scientology Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...

Antoinism Antoinism is a healing and Christian-oriented new religious movement founded in 1910 by Louis-Joseph Antoine (1846–1912) in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Seraing in Belgium. With a total of 64 temples, over forty reading rooms across the world and thou ...

and Invitation to Life, claiming that seeking healing is the main motivation for joining all these four groups.Mentel, Deirdre and Mossière, Géraldine, ”Tendances actuelles des rituels, pratiques et discours de guérison au sein des groupes religieux contemporains. Quelques réflexions,” ''Ethnologies'', vol. 33, no. 1, 2011, pp. 5-18.

Main works

* ''Les Religions de guérison'', 1988, Paris : Cerf * ''Les Antoinistes'', 1993, Paris-Turnhout : Brépols () * ''La Christian Science'', 1999, Leumann, Torino: Elledici * ''Croire et guérir — Quatre religions de guérison'', 2001, Paris : Dervy * ''Ces protestants qu’on dit Adventistes'', with Fabrice Desplan, 2008, Paris : L'Harmattan * ''Georges Roux dit "le Christ de Montfavet". Ecologisme, ésotérisme et guérison'', 2012, Bruxelles: E.M.E.

References

External links

*
Official site
*
Curriculum and list of publications by Dericquebourg
on the site of the Observatoire Européen des religions et de la laïcité 1947 births Living people French sociologists Sociologists of religion Researchers of new religious movements and cults French male writers {{reli-sociologist-stub