Colleen McDannell is a professor of religious studies and history at the University of Utah. She is the author of Sister Saints: Mormon Women Since the End of Polygamy and Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. 

John Lofland is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Davis, and author of Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization and Maintenance of Faith, which stemmed from research among the Unification Church’s U.S. members in the 1960s.

Steven Hassan has written several books about cult experiences, including Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs. Hassan lives in the Boston area.

Michael Breen is the founder of a public relations firm in South Korea. He calls himself a lapsed member of the Unification Church and is the author of Sun Myung Moon: The Early Years 1920-53.

Greg Laurie is pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif. He preached that the Japanese earthquake/tsunami disaster was a sign of the end times, but he declined to name a date. Laurie has preached several other sermons focused on the end times. He is a nationally known evangelist and serves on the board of directors for the […]

Grant Underwood is a professor of history at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He has written about Mormon millennialist thought and history.

John W. Morehead is director of the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies and director of the Evangelical Chapter of the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy. He is also co-founder and editor of Sacred Times Journal, an online journal focusing on New Religious Movements, and has posted there about the Mayan calendar and end-times fascination. Morehead lives in Salt Lake […]

Mark Hitchcock is pastor of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Okla. He is the author of Could the Rapture Happen Today?

The Rev. Meg Barnhouse is a Unitarian Universalist pastor in Austin, Texas. She once preached a sermon titled “The Rapture in America.”