Editing Jesus Christians (section)

====Academic Interest====
On December 7, 2017, at the annual conference of ''The Australian Association for the Study of Religion''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aasr.org.au/|title=The Australian Association for the Study of Religion|website=The Australian Association for the Study of Religion|access-date=2019-10-28}}</ref> in Sydney, Australia, Geraldine Smith<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sydney.academia.edu/GeraldineSmith|title=Geraldine Smith {{!}} The University of Sydney - Academia.edu|website=sydney.academia.edu|access-date=2019-10-28}}</ref> presented an academic paper accompanied by formal discussion about the [[new religious movement]] that Dave and Cherry McKay founded in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aasr.org.au/conference-program/|title=The Millenialists Project: A Comparative Study Between the End of Time Survivors and Survivalism in Western Modernity|last1=Smith|first1=Geraldine|publisher=The Australian Association for the Study of Religion|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208070555/https://www.aasr.org.au/conference-program/|archive-date=2017-12-08|accessdate=17 December 2017}}</ref> 

In 2018, after considerable research, interviews and observations made while visiting and participating in activities with the group, Smith submitted a thesis to the [[University of Sydney]] in partial completion of the requirements for her degree of [[Bachelor of Arts]] (Honours), called: ''Voices In The Wilderness: An Ethnography Of The Endtime Survivors.''<ref name="EthnographySmith" /> Along with the history and controversies related to the Jesus Christians, Smith reveals an intimate look at how members live their day to day, and how the group restructured internationally in 2010.

In May 2019, a shortened excerpt of Geraldine Smith's longer thesis<ref name="EthnographySmith" /> was published on the [[World Religions and Spirituality Project]] web site.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Religions and Spirituality Project - Jesus Christians |url=https://wrldrels.org/2019/05/19/jesus-christians/ |website=World Religions and Spirituality Project |access-date=4 May 2023}}</ref>

In May 2025, [[Massimo Introvigne]] and María Vardé published an in-depth academic article on the group titled: ''The Jesus Christians: History, Theology, Controversies'' which was published in [[CESNUR|The Journal of CESNUR]]<ref name="IntrovigneVarde" /> The article expands on some key topics covered by Smith's ethnography along with detailed information on controversies that occurred after 2018, including two failed deprogramming attempts and false accusations of human trafficking by anti-cultists. 

A series of articles based on this work was also published in the religious liberty and human rights magazine ''Bitter Winter''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Articles on The Jesus Christians |url=https://bitterwinter.org/tag/jesus-christians/ |website=Bitter Winter |access-date=9 May 2025}}</ref>