Ronald Enroth, Ph.D | |
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Born |
Weehawken, New Jersey |
October 28, 1938
Occupation | Sociologist, researcher, author, professor) |
Ronald M. Enroth (born October 28, 1938) has been a Professor of Sociology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, prominent evangelical Christian author of books concerning what he defines as "cults" and "new religious movements" and important figure in the Christian countercult movement.
Enroth is a graduate of Houghton College and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky. He began his career in teaching sociology during his doctoral studies, and held the post of an instructor at Westmont College from 1965-67. He was appointed as an assistant professor (1967–71), and then associate professor (1971–76) at Westmont. He became a full professor in 1976.
Although Enroth's doctoral work was in the field of medical sociology, he has pursued research and teaching in the sociology of religion, new religious movements, social problems, and the sociology of deviant behavior. He holds memberships within four professional organizations: American Sociological Association, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion, and the Association for the Sociology of Religion.
Enroth won the Leo J. Ryan commemorative award in 1982. He was the Social Science editor for the periodical the Christian Scholar's Review (1987–1990). He has also served on the editorial advisory board of the secular anti-cult movement periodical the Cultic Studies Journal. He also served for a number of years on the board of reference for the ministry the Spiritual Counterfeits Project in Berkeley, California. In 1987 he delivered the Tanner Annual Lecture at the Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois. In 1994, Westmont College awarded Enroth twice for both Faculty Researcher of the Year and also Teacher of the Year in Social Sciences.