Acts of Faith

Rodney Stark is Professor of Sociology and Comparative Religion at the University of Washington. Among his many books are The Rise of Christianity (1996), The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult Formation (California, 1985), and, with Roger Finke, The Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy (1992). Roger Finke is Professor of Sociology at Pennsylvania State University.

• Introduction: Atheism, Faith, and the Social Scientific Study of ReligionPART ONE • PARADIGMS IN CONFLICT1. A New Look at Old Issues2. Rationality and the “Religious Mind”3. Secularization, R.I.P.PART TWO • THE RELIGIOUS INDIVIDUAL4. The Micro Foundations of Religion5. Religious Choices: Conversion and ReaffiliationPART THREE • THE RELIGIOUS GROUP6. Religious Group Dynamics7. Catholic Religious Vocations: Decline and RevivalPART FOUR • THE RELIGIOUS ECONOMY8. A Theoretical Model of Religious Economies9. Religious Competition and Commitment: An International Assessment10. Church-to-Sect MovementsAppendix: Propositions and DefinitionsNotesReferencesIndex