Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion

Finke, Roger, Stark, Rodney

ISBN 10: 0520222024 / ISBN 13: 9780520222021

Published by University of California Press, 2000

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520222024
• ISBN 13: 9780520222021
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

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.