Home›Sources›Encyclopedia of American ReligionsSourcesEncyclopedia of American ReligionsCitation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Encyclopedia of American Religions." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/encyclopedia-of-american-religions.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of American Religions. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/encyclopedia-of-american-religionsCopy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-encyclopedia-of-american-religions, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Encyclopedia of American Religions}, year = {2026}, url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/encyclopedia-of-american-religions}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXJ. Gordon Melton built this catalogue from decades of his own direct correspondence with American religious groups, collecting each denomination's own account of its history, beliefs and organization rather than relying solely on outside academic description. That firsthand documentary method, gathering primary material directly from the groups themselves across a very wide and often under-studied range of small American religious movements, is the real basis for its standing, not the fact that Gale is a reference publisher. It reports each group largely in its own terms, so this atlas treats an entry as evidence of what a group says about itself, not as independent outside verification of a group's claims. Use it for a specific American religious group's own recorded history and self-description; a claim needing outside critical assessment needs a separate scholarly source.FactsClaims Backed By This Source (555 claims)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)FactsAssessmentReliability TierWell-attested2A reference catalogue built from decades of the author's own direct correspondence with American religious groups, collecting each denomination's own account of its history and beliefs, a reputable reference compilation rather than independent outside scholarship.NotesWell-attestedStandard reference catalog of religious groups, denominations and movements active in the United States, giving each group's history, beliefs and organization. Use for established facts about a specific American religious group's founding, teaching and history.CitationAuthorWell-attestedJ. Gordon MeltonPublisherWell-attestedGalePublication YearWell-attested2009URLWell-attestedhttps://www.gale.com/ebooks/9781414406879/meltons-encyclopedia-of-american-religionsSource TypeWell-attestedreferenceClaims Backed By This Source (555 claims)This source backs 555 claims across the atlas. As facts: 358 well-attested, 2 scholarly debate, 1 open question. As cited relationships: 88 holds, 12 connected, 2 critiqued Here, 1 held Differently. Plus 91 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.Disposition By TopicDenominations, 166 claims: 94 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 48 holds, 23 general references.Articles, 120 claims: 89 well-attested, 2 holds, 11 connected, 18 general references.Historical Figures, 97 claims: 78 well-attested, 8 holds, 11 general references.Secret Societies, 45 claims: 32 well-attested, 1 open question, 5 holds, 7 general references.Figures, 22 claims: 18 well-attested, 1 holds, 3 general references.Doctrines, 21 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 3 holds, 2 critiqued Here, 1 held Differently, 8 general references.New Religious Movements, 16 claims: 7 well-attested, 5 holds, 4 general references.Religious Events, 14 claims: 4 well-attested, 7 holds, 3 general references.Scriptures & Texts, 12 claims: 8 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.Organizations, 10 claims: 6 well-attested, 2 holds, 2 general references.Open Questions, 9 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 connected, 1 general references.Sources, 8 claims: 8 well-attested.Religious Organization & Structure, 5 claims: 3 holds, 2 general references.Religious Roles & Titles, 4 claims: 4 general references.Initiatory Grades, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.Religions, 2 claims: 1 holds, 1 general references.Years, 2 claims: 1 holds, 1 general references.Well-attested358ArticlesA Bible in Which Every Name Is a FacultyA Camp Meeting That Outgrew Its DenominationsA Federal Court Rules on Auditing, in 1971A Fifteenth Birthday Made SacramentalA Grouping of Degrees, Not a Single OrderA Ministry Built on a Founder's Own RecoveryA Predicted War That Never ArrivedA Small Body with Outsized InfluenceA Structure Built Against Rule by One PersonA Sunday Pattern Read as a Standing CommandA Teaching That Did Not Want to Be a ChurchA Widow Reorganizes Her Husband's MovementAzusa StreetBuilding an Institution Around a RecoveryEditions, Church and ControversyFive Heroines, and a History the Order Had to FaceFour Denominations Built on the Same Working PremiseFrom Mesmerism to the MindFrom Pulp Fiction to a Self Help SystemFull Communion, and the Arguments It CostGodparents, Court and CommunityHolmes's Path and a Movement's Later MergerInfluence Without a BookLetters, and the Practical Half of a PartnershipNature as Scripture, and the First American Reading of Asian TextsNorthampton, and a Narrative That Taught a Movement How to Read ItselfOrigins in a Healing TestimonyPhilanthropy in a FezSilent Unity and the Wider MovementThe 2022 Separation From the United Methodist ChurchThe Apostolic Faith, and a Movement That DividedThe Census That Recorded a Division It Did Not CreateThe Divinity School Address, and a Quarrel About MiraclesThe Healing That Started UnityThe Hospitals Are the PointThe Institution Behind the TeachingThe Largest Fraternal Order That Women Can Actually JoinThe One Practice Neither Side Gave UpThe Question Asked in San FranciscoThe Quimby QuestionThe Room Full of LightThe Teacher of TeachersThe Teaching of the TextbookThree Bodies, and the Christian RequirementThree Churches Into OneTwenty Two Bodies From Consultative Fellowship to Binding AuthorityTwo Founders, One TeachingTwo Frontier Movements That Chose to Stop Being TwoTwo Origins, One NameDenominationsAdvent Christian ChurchShowing 1 to 50 of 96 entities carrying this claim. NextScholarly debate2DenominationsEvangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaDoctrinesTranscendentalismOpen question1Secret SocietiesAurum SolisHolds88ArticlesFour Denominations Built on the Same Working PremiseTwenty Two Bodies From Consultative Fellowship to Binding AuthorityDenominationsAmerican Baptist Churches USAAssemblies of GodChristian and Missionary AllianceChristian ScienceChurch of God in ChristCongregationalistsDivine ScienceEvangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaHistorically Black Protestant TraditionMainline ProtestantismNation of IslamNational Baptist Convention USA IncorporatedPentecostalismPresbyterian Church (U.S.A.)Religious Science (Centers for Spiritual Living)Southern Baptist ConventionUnited Church of ChristUnity (Unity School of Christianity)DoctrinesEcumenismTranscendentalismFiguresGeorge WhitefieldHistorical FiguresCharles FillmoreEmma Curtis HopkinsErnest HolmesNona L. BrooksNew Religious MovementsChurch of ScientologyChurch Universal and TriumphantThe Millerite MovementOrganizationsGeneral Conference of Seventh-day AdventistsReligionsNew ThoughtReligious EventsThe Azusa Street RevivalThe Cane Ridge RevivalThe First Great AwakeningReligious Organization & StructureCongregationScriptures & TextsScience and Health with Key to the ScripturesSecret SocietiesAurum SolisYork RiteYears1926Connected12ArticlesA Federal Court Rules on Auditing, in 1971A Ministry Built on a Founder's Own RecoveryA Predicted War That Never ArrivedA Sunday Pattern Read as a Standing CommandA Widow Reorganizes Her Husband's MovementFrom Pulp Fiction to a Self Help SystemHolmes's Path and a Movement's Later MergerThe 2022 Separation From the United Methodist ChurchThe Census That Recorded a Division It Did Not CreateThe One Practice Neither Side Gave UpTwo Frontier Movements That Chose to Stop Being TwoOpen QuestionsDid the Aurum Solis exist before its officers began publishing in the 1970s, and were Charles Kingold and George Stanton real men?Critiqued Here2DoctrinesMental and Spiritual HealingRoyal Supremacy and National EstablishmentHeld Differently1DoctrinesApostolic successionGeneral References91ArticlesA Camp Meeting That Outgrew Its DenominationsA Federal Court Rules on Auditing, in 1971A Ministry Built on a Founder's Own RecoveryA Predicted War That Never ArrivedA Sunday Pattern Read as a Standing CommandA Widow Reorganizes Her Husband's MovementFour Denominations Built on the Same Working PremiseFrom Pulp Fiction to a Self Help SystemHolmes's Path and a Movement's Later MergerHow the Messenger Doctrine Set the Nation of Islam Apart From Sunni OrthodoxyOmnipresence Taken Without QualificationSilent Unity and a Ministry That Never StopsThe 2022 Separation From the United Methodist ChurchThe Census That Recorded a Division It Did Not CreateThe Oldest Denomination and the Movement It SharesThe One Practice Neither Side Gave UpTwenty Two Bodies From Consultative Fellowship to Binding AuthorityTwo Frontier Movements That Chose to Stop Being TwoDenominationsAdvent Christian ChurchAmerican Baptist Churches USAAssemblies of GodChristian and Missionary AllianceChristian ScienceChurch of God in ChristCongregationalistsDivine ScienceEvangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaGlobal Methodist ChurchGrace Communion InternationalHistorically Black Protestant TraditionMainline ProtestantismNation of IslamNational Baptist Convention USA IncorporatedPentecostalismPresbyterian Church (U.S.A.)Religious Science (Centers for Spiritual Living)Seventh-day AdventismSouthern Baptist ConventionThe Episcopal ChurchUnited Church of ChristUnity (Unity School of Christianity)DoctrinesApostolic successionEcumenismMental and Spiritual HealingRoyal Supremacy and National EstablishmentThe Chicago-Lambeth QuadrilateralThe Divinity of Master Fard MuhammadTranscendentalismFiguresGeorge WhitefieldJonathan EdwardsShowing 1 to 50 of 90 entities carrying this claim. NextComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year