Acts of Faith : Explaining the Human Side of Religion

Stark, Rodney/ Finke, Roger

University of California Press（2000/08発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 343 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780520222021
• DDC分類 306.6

Full Description

Finally, social scientists have begun to attempt to understand religious behavior rather than to discredit it as irrational, ignorant, or foolish--and Rodney Stark and Roger Finke have played a major role in this new approach. Acknowledging that science cannot assess the supernatural side of religion (and therefore should not claim to do so), Stark and Finke analyze the observable, human side of faith. In clear and engaging prose, the authors combine explicit theorizing with animated discussions as they move from considering the religiousness of individuals to the dynamics of religious groups and then to the religious workings of entire societies as religious groups contend for support. The result is a comprehensive new paradigm for the social-scientific study of religion.

Contents

Introduction: Atheism, Faith, and the Social Scientific Study of Religion

PART ONE • PARADIGMS IN CONFLICT
1. A New Look at Old Issues
2. Rationality and the "Religious Mind"
3. Secularization, R.I.P.

PART TWO • THE RELIGIOUS INDIVIDUAL
4. The Micro Foundations of Religion
5. Religious Choices: Conversion and Reaffiliation

PART THREE • THE RELIGIOUS GROUP
6. Religious Group Dynamics
7. Catholic Religious Vocations: Decline and Revival

PART FOUR • THE RELIGIOUS ECONOMY
8. A Theoretical Model of Religious Economies
9. Religious Competition and Commitment: An International Assessment
10. Church-to-Sect Movements

Appendix: Propositions and Definitions
Notes
References
Index