What Is Happening to Religion? - by James V Spickard (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Analyzes six major sociological approaches to religion's role in contemporary society

Sociologists have spent considerable effort analyzing religion's place in today's world, yet they have come to no consensus on what is happening to it. Depending on whom you consult, religion is either declining or becoming militantly conservative, is increasingly a matter of individual choice or is one of the few remaining sources of local community, is shaped by market forces or is increasingly international in scope. While there is evidence for each of these trends, no single story explains everything that is going on. Each presents a partial picture of an extremely complex reality. Rather than just presenting raw facts, What Is Happening to Religion? shows how each of these stories involves a leap of imagination that shapes sociologists' interpretations of those facts and thus shapes their theories about religions' future.

The volume explores the six major stories that sociologists tell about religion's role in our contemporary world. It provides an overview of each story, considers what makes it plausible, reviews its major flaws, and introduces recent promising work that addresses those flaws. Moreover, the volume offers key insights to help readers to make sense of how these stories, and ones like them, emerge. And it explains how to critically assess new theories that may arise in the future.

What Is Happening to Religion? provides expert guidance about how to see what our stories about religion are not telling us, and how to expand our vision.

Review Quotes

"Jim Spickard has written an engaging and enlightening book showing different understandings of contemporary religion and how those differences came to be. He reminds us that no one "story" can give the full picture. These richly told examples, many from outside of the United States, provide ways to assess each story's strength and weaknesses. Spickard clearly models generous scholarship, pointing to how we can learn from those who are different from us."--Mary Jo Neitz, editor of The Handbook on Gender and Religion

"Not all stories are theories, but all theories are stories. This book is a brilliant tour of the key stories sociologists of religion have told in the last half a century. Like all of Spickard's writing, it is infused with wisdom, wit, and wonder."--Titus Hjelm, author of Peter L. Berger on Religion

"Spickard achieves something rare: comprehensiveness without sacrificing readability. Integrating canonical and recent scholarship, he evaluates each major approach with critical maturity, showing where each succeeds and where it falls short. An honest, well-grounded reckoning that rewards students, scholars, and serious readers alike. Highly recommended."--Gerardo Martí, co-author of The Church Must Grow or Perish: Robert H. Schuller and the Business of American Christianity

"From one of sociology's most astute interpreters, this book invites readers to listen to six stories that have shaped how we understand the presence of religion in the world. Rich in a diverse array of data, Spickard shows us what those stories help to explain and what they miss. This is a magnificent introduction to the ways sociologists see religion."--Nancy T. Ammerman, author of Studying Lived Religion: Contexts and Practices