“ An extensively published scholar in the fields of New Religious Movements and Religion & Violence. He is currently Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø (Norway). Prof. Lewis edits the Elements series on Religion and Violence for Cambridge University Press, co-edits Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion with Carole M. Cusack, co-edits Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities with Henrik Bogdan, and Ashgate New Religions with George D. Chryssides. He was a co-founder of the International Society for the Study of New Religions and founder of the Journal of Religion and Violence. Prof. Lewis also currently serves as general editor for the Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review. Recent publications include: Sects & Stats: Overturning the Conventional Wisdom about Cult Members (2014); (with Jesper Aagaard Petersen) Controversial New Religions (2nd edition 2014); (with Carole M. Cusack) Sacred Suicide (2014); (with Bengt-Ove Andressen) Textbook Gods (2014); (with Siv Ellen Kraft and Trude Fonneland) Nordic Neoshamanisms (2015); (with Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen) Nordic New Religions (2015); (with Asbjørn Dyrendal and Jesper Aagaard Petersen) The Invention of Satanism (2015); (with Kjersti Hellesøy) The Brill Handbook of Scientology (2016); The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Terrorism (2016); and (with Inga Bårdsen Tøllefsen) The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements (2nd edition, 2016). “
