Faith Matters. Does Yours?
Yesterday, I reviewed Rodney Stark's latest book: The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World’s Largest Religion (2011). Throughout the book he offers considerable sociological insight, including the following paragraph on the shortcomings of low commitment religious groups: The conclusion that competition among faiths will favor "low cost" religious organizations mistakes price for value. As is evident in most consumer markets, people do not usually rush to Read More …
Meet the Author Since 2004, Rodney Stark has been a University Professor in Social Sciences and the Co-Director of the Institute of Studies of Religion at Baylor University. Stark is an American sociologist of religion who previously taught for over thirty years at the University of Washington. He has published 30 books and more than 140 scholarly articles, mostly on religion. One of his recent books, What Americans Really Believe (2008), has been reviewed on this blog (click here to Read More …
Baylor University recently released the findings of its latest Baylor Religion Survey, which is characterized as "one of the most extensive surveys ever conducted on the religious practices, attitudes, beliefs and values of the American public." The 2011 survey is a follow-up to those released in 2006 and 2008 by Baylor's Institute for Studies of Religion. (For more on the results of earlier surveys consider reading Rodney Stark's What Americans Really Believe. My review is available here Read More …
Meet the Author Mark Chaves is professor of sociology, religion and divinity at Duke University. In addition to teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, Chaves directs the National Congregations Study. He is the author of three books: American Religion: Contemporary Trends (2011), Congregations in America (2004), and Ordaining Women: Culture and Conflict in Religious Organizations (Harvard, 1997). While most of his recent articles and book chapters are not Read More …
When I was a young adult, I learned that religion and business were independent spheres. Since that time, I have, thankfully, learned that any such division is necessarily artificial. One does not cease being guided by one's faith because one enters the marketplace any more than one is only guided by it while on the campus of her or his religious gathering space (e.g. mosque, synagogue, church, etc.) or in some other space set aside for religious purposes. A person must, however, Read More …
Robert D. Putnam and David E. Campbell. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. Simon & Schuster, 2010. ISBN: 9781416566717. Meet the Authors Robert D. Putnam (shown in the yellow shirt) is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has written a dozen books, translated into seventeen languages, including the best-selling Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community Read More …
Who Reads the Bible? Considerable research has been done regarding Bible reading. Most research focuses on the percentages of people who read it and how often they engage in that behavior. In What Americans Really Believe, Rodney Stark reports that 28% of Americans (24% of women and 32% of men) read the Bible at least once a week (p.64). Very little research has been done regarding those who have read the entire Bible. Earlier this week, New Testament scholar Scot McKnight wrote Read More …
Many denominations and local congregations worry about the increasing age of their members. Differing sources provide a variety of explanations for why fewer young people attend church or choose to affiliate with a religion. According to the graphic below, provided by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life, the youngest generations have the highest level of religious non-affiliation. By generation the numbers for those who claim no religious affiliation climb from Read More …
I Quit! (Text: I Corinthians 1:10-17) Let us pray. Holy One, you are still speaking God – enable us to be a still listening people. May my words and the conversations they produce draw us closer to Jesus and to all who seek to follow him. Amen. Church fights happen more often than we like to admit and can do more harm than a damage assessment report might suggest. Arguments can begin with something as routine as choosing new carpet for the fellowship hall or as theological as Read More …
Let's Connect