Ronald M. Enroth

Ronald Enroth

Professor of Sociology
Phone: (805) 565-6776
Email: enroth@westmont.edu
Office Location: Deane Hall 206

Office Hours
By appointment

Specialization
Sociology of Religion

Education:

  • Ph.D. Sociology,University of Kentucky, 1967

Selected Professional Positions:

  • Professor of Sociology, Westmont College, 1965-present
  • Social Science Editor, Christian Scholar’s Review, 1987-90
  • Adjunct Faculty Member, Fuller Theological Seminary

Other Professional Experience:

  • Expert witness in various court cases involving modern cults
  • Appearances on numerous television and radio broadcasts, including “Oprah,” “NBC Nightly News,” and “Day of Discovery,” as expert cult consultant
  • Worldwide seminar leader on new religious movements

Areas of Expertise:

  • Sociology of Religion
  • New Religious Movements
  • Sociology of Deviant Behavior
  • Social Problems

Awards:

  • Faculty Researcher of the Year, Westmont College, 1994
  • Teacher of the Year for the Social Sciences Division, Westmont College, 1994

Books:

  • “A Guide to New Religious Movements (ed.), InterVarsity, 2005.
  • “Recovering From Churches That Abuse,” Zondervan, 1994.
  • “Churches That Abuse,” Zondervan, 1992.
  • “Evangelizing the Cults” (ed.), Servant, 1990.
  • “The Lure of the Cults and New Religions,” InterVarsity, 1987.
  • “Why Cults Succeed Where the Church Fails,” with J. Gordon Melton, Brethren, 1985.
  • “A Guide to Cults and New Religions,” (ed.), InterVarsity, 1983.
  • “Youth, Brainwashing and the Extremist Cults,” Zondervan, 1977.
  • “The Gay Church,” with Gerald Jamison, Eerdmans, 1974.
  • “The Jesus People,” with Edward E. Ericson and Calvin B. Peters, Eerdmans, 1972.

Selected Articles:

  • “The Kingdom of the Cult-Watchers,” Books & Culture, November/December 1998.
  • “Stress-Making Churches,” Christian Counseling Today, Summer 1996.
  • “In the Wake of Waco,” Christian Research Journal, Summer, 1993.
  • “Caution: Abusive-Church Syndrome,” Group Magazine, March, 1992.
  • “How Can You Reach a Cultist?” Moody, November, 1987.