1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781441203321

Autore

Stark Rodney

Titolo

Acts of faith [[electronic resource] ] : explaining the human side of religion / / Rodney Stark and Roger Finke

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, : University of California Press, c2000

ISBN

1-283-32074-6

9786613320742

0-520-92434-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (352 p.)

Altri autori (Persone)

FinkeRoger <1954->

Disciplina

306.6

Soggetti

Religion and sociology

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-324) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Introduction: Atheism, Faith, and the Social Scientific Study of Religion -- 1. A New Look at Old Issues -- 2. Rationality and the "Religious Mind" -- 3. Secularization, R.I.P. -- 4. The Micro Foundations of Religion -- 5. Religious Choices: Conversion and Reaffiliation -- 6. Religious Group Dynamics -- 7. Catholic Religious Vocations: Decline and Revival -- 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

Sommario/riassunto

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.