Sociology of Religion

Kevin J. Christiano is an associate professor of sociology and a faculty affiliate of the Monsignor George G. Higgins Labor Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame.Peter Kivisto is the Richard A. Swanson Professor of Social Thought Emeritus at Augustana College.William H. Swatos, Jr., was a sociologist of religion and senior priest and Canon Theologian of the Anglican diocese of Quincy, Illinois.

• About UsAbout the BookPart One: The BasicsBy Way of IntroductionBackgroundThe Definitional ProblemExploring the Dimensions of ReligionSocial RelationshipsEthical ConsiderationsA Definitional RevisionThe Plan of the BookSuggestions for Further ReadingStudying ReligionWhy Study Religion?How Do We Study Religion?Survey ResearchParticipant ObservationHistorical ResearchTheory in the Study of ReligionFunctionalist TheoriesConflict TheoriesA Paradigm ShiftRational Choice TheoriesSociologie ReligieuseImplicit ReligionSuggestions for Further ReadingThe “Religion” of Secularization and the History of ReligionsThe “World” of ReligionThe ArgumentsThe CritiqueThe “Religions” of SecularizationCivil ReligionInvisible ReligionThe Myth of the Age of FaithPluralismSuggestions for Further ReadingReligion in the United States: Denominationalism and BeyondChurches and SectsWeber’s Sociology and Troeltsch’s EthicsElaboration, Reaction, and RevisionNeo-Weberian AnalysesDenominationalismTypologyDenominations TodayCongregationalismAmerican Religious RenewalMainlines and Sidelines in Religion in the United StatesEvangelicals and Fundamentalists: Alike and DifferentSuggestions for Further ReadingPart Two: Religion and Social DifferentiationSocial Class, Religion and Power: A Classic Field of InquirySociological ClassicsMarx: The Permanent Exile and ProphetWeber: Theodicy, Religious Ethics, and Social ClassReligion and the U.S. Class StructureU.S. Classes and Religion in the Industrial Age: 1870–1970The Class/Religion Nexus in the Neo-Liberal Era: 1970–Suggestions for Further ReadingReligion and Ethnicity: A Complex RelationshipClarifying Terms: Ethnic, Nationality, and Racial GroupsDefining Ethnic GroupsNationality Groups and TerritorialityThe Specter of RaceRelational Patterns between Religion and EthnicityEthnicity in the “Righteous Empire”The Ethnic Factor in the Formative Period of U.S. CatholicismThe Jewish DiasporaHerberg’s Thesis and the “Triple Melting Pot”The African-American Religious ExperienceFrom Different Shores: The New ImmigrantsThe New Ethnics as Protestants, Catholics, and JewsBeyond Protestant, Catholic, JewSuggestions for Further ReadingGender, Sexuality, and Religion: Spirituality in Different Voices?The Ordination DebateWomen in Clerical and Lay RolesCulture Wars: Gender, Religion, and Family ValuesAbortion and the Politics of the BodyFamily MattersGays, Lesbians, and ReligionImages of God and Gendered SpiritualitySuggestions for Further ReadingPart Three: Religion, Culture, and ChangeReligious Change: The Case of Catholicism in the United StatesChurch with a Capital CChange: From Breeze to TornadoCommitment: Loyalty, but Not ObedienceDevotion: A Collapse of AuthorityGovernance: Guiding the People of GodLeadership: Failures at the TopMembership: Problems in the PewsAfrican-American CatholicsHispanic / Latino CatholicsWomen in the ChurchPersonnel: People without PriestsFinances: Expanding Mission, Declining ResourcesSuggestions for Further ReadingPoliticized Religion and Conflict: National and Global DimensionsFundamentalismThe Religious Right in the United StatesIslamizationUltraorthodox JudaismHindutva: Hindu NationalismMilitant Buddhism in Sri LankaConclusionSuggestions for Further ReadingMediating Meaning: Religion in—and as—Contemporary CultureMass Faith: The Media of ReligionReligion in Material Culture: Faith in the FleshReligious Publishing: Words and The Word“That Old-Time Religion”: Broadcast Faith in the United States“In the Beginning . . .”The Message: “His Master’s Voice”?The Messengers: The Return of Elmer Gantry?The Audience: Preaching to the Converted?Cyber-Faith: Religion on the InternetSuggestions for Further ReadingBoundary Issues: Church, State, and New ReligionsReligious NoveltyCult and Anticult: Social Science and Social MovementsAsceticism and MysticismThe Attraction of the MarginIllustrations of NRM DynamicsUnificationism (with Eileen Barker)“Satanism” and Anti-SatanismNeopaganism: Of Gods and GoddessesSuggestions for Further ReadingReferencesIndex