Publisher's Synopsis
In its original form, these studies were grouped together under the somewhat provocative title: Oppositional Religion in Finland. The project brought together Finnish researchers with foreign colleagues from the United States, Great Britain, Belgium, Estonia, the Scandinavian countries and Russia. As this research evolved, however, the contributions of academic experts, representatives of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, and members of the New Religious Movements currently active in Finland, made it clear that a change of the original, rather contentious title to the more accurate Beyond the Mainstream: the Emergence of Religious Pluralism in Finland, Estonia and Russia was appropriate. This anthology thus represents the most thorough and wide ranging account of the Finnish religious milieu which flourishes beyond the Evangelical Lutheran mainstream as it exists today, and it includes as well a section on the contemporary Russian religious milieu. This book should be seen, however, as only a beginning in what will surely be in the years to come a vital area of study in the academic life of Finland.
