Sociology of Religion References & Bibliography
Sociology of Religion Bibliography Books Papers   Details of Models Limited Enthusiasm  Births, Deaths & Reversion    Details of Results Summary of Results Short Term Revival  Long Term Growth Long Term Decline   References & Bibliography  Mathematics of Church Growth Church Growth  Revival  System Dynamics  Sociology of Religion Epidemics  Social Diffusion Publications Articles	Books The book by Kelley proved controversial in sociology of religion and has sparked off much work to prove or disprove the thesis. That thesis is that conservative churches are strong and hence grow. The works by Berger and Wallace represent the older paradigm of sociology of religion, embracing secularisation theory - that as society advances religion becomes less important. The works by Stark are representative of the new paradigm which seeks to understand why religion succeeds even in "advanced" countries. Berger P. (1969), The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion, Anchor NY. Berger P. (1970), A Rumour of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural, Anchor NY. Fink R. and Stark R. (1992), The Churching of America 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in our Religious Economy, Rutgers University Press. Kelley D. (1986), Why Conservative Churches are Growing: A Study in the Sociology of Religion. Mercer University Press. Within his theory that strict churches are strong and hence more likely to grow. One of the attributes of a strong church is missionary zeal, thus support the thesis that churches grow through the subset of people who have missionary zeal - the enthusiast. Also supports that missionary zeal, the enthusiasm, is limited in time. He called this Wesley's Law of the Decay of Pure Religion. Stark R. (1996), The Rise of Christianity, Princeton University Press. Gives support for the spread of early Christianity through personal contact including word of mouth and the attractive lifestyle of the believers. Stark R and Bainbridge W.S. (1987), Theory of Religion, Rutgers University Press. Stark R. and Bainbridge W.S. (1985), The Future of Religion, University of California Press. Gives significant support for the spread of Christianity through personal contact and thus supports the concept of the enthusiasts. Develops a theory that distinguishes church from sect and cult. Wallace A.F.C. (1966), Religion: An Anthropological View, New York Random House. Papers The paper by Inskeep gives an account of the two strands of church growth: the academic side relying on sociology; and the practitioners side pursued within the churches for their own advancement. The paper by Warner spells out the new paradigm in the sociology of religion taking it away from secularisation theory. Iannaccone L.R. (1992) Religious Markets and the Economics of Religion, Social Compass, 39 (1), 123-131. Iannaccone L.R. (1994), Why Strict Churches are Strong, American Journal of Sociology, 99(5), 1180-1211. Supports Kelley's thesis. Develops the link between commitment, participation, growth and lack of free-riding, thus gives a different type of support to the concept of the enthusiast. Also clear that participation, involves activity that does not directly lead to conversion but is important for the strength of the church. Has the second tail of Kelley's thesis, i.e. if a church is too strict it is less likely to grow. Iannaccone L.R., Olson P. and Stark R. (1995), Religious Resources and Church Growth, Social Forces, Vol 74(2), 705-731. Links growth to the time and money resources of church members. Because greater participation leads to more growth it supports the concept of the enthusiast, although supports more than this as participation goes beyond recruitment. Inskeep K.W. (1993), A Short History of Church Growth Research, in "Church and Denominational Growth'', edited by Roozen D.A. and Hadaway C.K., (1993), 135-148. Olson D.V.A. (1989), Church Friendships: Boon or Barrier to Church Growth?, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 28(4), 432-447. Using data from 5 churches shows that friendship networks strongly influence growth. Gives strong support for Limited Enthusiasm principle. Goes further in showing that friendships can develop cliques and can deter growth. However newer members are less prone to this and have better outside contacts. Supports the principle that new converts are the best candidates for enthusiasts in the church. Stark R. and Iannaccone L.R. (1994), A Supply Side Reinterpretation of the "Secularisation'' of Europe. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 33 (3), 230-252. Has the thesis that the decline in Christianity in Europe is not so much due to lack of demand as lack of supply due to organizational weakness of churches in countries where Christianity is established. In terms of the Limited Enthusiasm model this claim would be that churches are declining due to very weak enthusiasts in the churches being unable to reproduce themselves fast enough to counter balance the losses. Their thesis and the Limited Enthusiasm model thus both have the claim that decline is due to a lack of the people in the church. Warner R.S. (1993), Work in Progress toward a New Paradigm for the Sociological Study of Religion in the United States, American Journal of Sociology 98 (5), 1044-93. An excellent overview of how the new paradigm in religion differs from secularisation theory. Return to Top