Acknowledgments / vii
Introduction: Ungodly “Theories” and Scurrilous Metaphors / 1
Chapter 1: The Elements of Faith / 17
Chapter 2: Monotheism and Morality / 49
Chapter 3: Religious Experiences, Miracles, and Revelations /
71
Chapter 4: The Rise and Fall of Religious Movements / 103
Chapter 5: Church and Sect: Religious Group Dynamics / 131
Chapter 6: Ecclesiastical Influences / 161
Chapter 7: Religious Hostility and Civility / 181
Chapter 8: Individual Causes and Consequences of Religiousness /
211
Chapter 9: Meaning and Metaphysics / 231
Appendix: Propositions, Definitions, and Deductions / 237
Notes / 261
Bibliography / 267
Index / 281
Rodney Stark is the distinguished professor of the social sciences
and codirector of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor
University. He also is an honorary professor of sociology at Peking
University in Beijing, China. He was previously professor of
sociology and of comparative religion at the University of
Washington, and a research sociologist at the University of
California, Berkeley. His PhD is from UC, Berkeley. Many of his
previous books have won national and international awards, and many
have been translated into a total of seventeen foreign
languages.
Rodney Stark is the distinguished professor of the social sciences
and codirector of the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor
University. He also is an honorary professor of sociology at Peking
University in Beijing, China. He was previously professor of
sociology and of comparative religion at the University of
Washington, and a research sociologist at the University of
California, Berkeley. His PhD is from UC, Berkeley. Many of his
previous books have won national and international awards, and many
have been translated into a total of seventeen foreign languages.
"Why God? is a dazzling answer to the question of religion’s
persistence in the world despite one premature obituary after
another. Everyone who wonders what the future holds for
Christianity should read this book—and for that matter, every other
book by the essential Rodney Stark."
–Mary Eberstadt, author of How the West Really Lost God: A New
Theory of Secularization
"Stark makes a strong case that the main causal power of religion
comes from belief in a conscious supernatural being with whom
humans can communicate, and that other conceptions of the
supernatural greatly weaken churches and their social effects. The
book effectively synthesizes a lifetime of Stark’s religious theory
and research."
–Randall Collins, author of Interaction Ritual Chains
"With his usual combination of insight and brio, Rodney Stark
demonstrates why most of the prevailing theories of religion in the
social sciences are inadequate—or simply worthless—because they
fail to take seriously the role played by the divine. Drawing on a
lifetime of work which has shown the centrality of the supernatural
in the social scientific study of religion, Stark reveals why the
search for explanations and rewards shapes the faith in and guides
the exchanges that people seek with supernatural beings."
–Steve Pfaff, PhD, professor of sociology, University of Washington
– Seattle
"Professor Stark returns to theory construction in a domain—the
study of religion—that tends to avoid it. He has no patience for
the ‘least common denominator’ approach to understanding religious
belief. Stark is not afraid of being wrong, and that makes him far
more apt than his peers of getting it right."
–Mark Regnerus, PhD, associate professor of sociology, University
of Texas at Austin
"Another milestone publication in the scientific study of religion,
Rodney Stark explains the nature and values of religion under
modernization and globalization through his exceptional logic and
latest data. Readers all over the world will be inspired and deepen
their understanding of religion in twenty first century."
–Dedong WEI, professor of studies of religion, Renmin University of
China
“Religion is alive and well across the globe, and Why God?
presented an excellent theory as to how and why religious belief is
an enduring aspect of human life. In the book, Stark suggested that
his ideas are a sociological theory of religion, and he encouraged
further research to prove him wrong and develop an even more
nuanced understanding of religion. . . . As long as humans
have hearts to demand moral goodness and minds to wonder at the
universe, they will also have a need for God, Stark suggested.
Religion, it seems, is as unavoidable as death and taxes.” – Tyler
O’Neil, PJ Media “Sociologist of religion Rodney Stark offers a
sympathetic explanation of why people might come to believe in God
that is refreshingly free of jargon and a corrective to more
hostile accounts of belief, and which will still illuminate much
for those of us within the walls of churches.” – Nick Mattiske,
Journey “Starks book is worth reading. . . There is plenty of
helpful information and food for thought in here.” –Nick Peters,
Deep Waters “An informed and informative, thoughtful and
thought-provoking guide for anyone who wants a thorough
understanding of religion and our relationship to it, as well as a
firm refutation to those who think religion can exist without the
divine, will find Why God? to be an absorbing read from
beginning to end. A masterpiece of seminal scholarship” – Able
Greenspan, Midwest Book Review
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