Who is seeking to destroy all esoteric religious movements, starting with The Process Church of the Final Judgement? The Process was the most fascinating innovative cult of the 1960s, then vanished for four decades before being virtually reborn using information technology.

Revival seems to be fiction, yet it’s based on fact and explores the implications of the internet, and the disintegration of conventional faiths. As reported in the author’s anthropological study, Satan’s Power, the Process was polytheistic, asserting the union of Jehovah with Lucifer, and the unity of Christ with Satan. Each Process member was a fragment of a god, with a corresponding personality trait: Jehovah = Discipline, Lucifer = Liberation, Christ = Unification, Satan = Separation.

Before the first page of this book, the computer magician who resurrected the Process Church was murdered. Was this man Christ?

Christianity may be the opposite of what it seems, a Satanic plot that subconsciously preaches, “Release the fiend that lies dormant within you, for he is strong and ruthless, and his power is far beyond the bounds of human frailty. Come forth in your savage might, rampant with the lust of battle, tense and quivering with the urge to strike, to smash, to split asunder all that seek to detain you.” Can the surviving Processeans achieve the hopes expressed in their blessing: “May the life-giving water of the Lord Christ and the purifying fire of the Lord Satan bring the presence of love and unity into this assembly”?

Author William Sims Bainbridge earned his doctorate in sociology from Harvard University in 1975 and  he has published about 300 articles and written or edited 40 books in a variety of scientific fields. Currently, he is Co-Director, Cyber-Human Systems (Human-Centered Computing) at the National Science Foundation.

Lucifer’s Power: Beliefs and Practices of the Process Cult offers a riveting exploration into one of the most mysterious and influential cults of the 20th century. Founded in London in 1963 by Mary Ann MacLean and Robert de Grimston, The Process Church of the Final Judgement emerged from a scientology-inspired psychotherapy group and quickly became a cultural phenomenon before its dramatic split in 1974.

What did The Process truly believe? Their secretive nature kept many in the dark, but sociologist William Sims Bainbridge gained unprecedented access to this elusive group. As a young researcher in the late sixties, Bainbridge earned the trust of the Processians in Boston, becoming the only non-member to witness their rituals and practices firsthand. His rare and sought-after book, Satan’s Power: A Deviant Psychotherapy Cult (1978), first unveiled his groundbreaking findings.

Now, fifty years after the cult’s decline, Bainbridge revisits and expands upon his seminal work in Lucifer’s Power. This updated edition uncovers the motivations of The Process’s members, reveals their intricate beliefs and rituals, and explores the cult’s enduring legacy and influence. Packed with new material and never-before-seen historical photographs taken by Bainbridge during the height of The Process’s popularity, this book provides a comprehensive and compelling look into the world of The Process Church of the Final Judgement.