Religion and Society

Sociology has long used Western Christianity as a model for all religious life. As a result, the field has tended to highlight aspects of religion that Christians find important, such as religious beliefs and formal organizations, while paying less attention to other elements. Rather than simply criticizing such limitations, James V. Spickard imagines what the sociology of religion would look like had it arisen in three non-Western societies.

Militant atheists often mirror the worst kind of ignorance and hostility that they condemn in traditional believers. Writing both as a philosopher and an Anglican Christian, Professor Clark explores this initial perception, considering such topics as the alleged openness of 'scientists' compared with the 'dogmatism' of 'believers'; the difficulty of reading 'scripture' outside 'the community of faith' that has selected and elaborated it; the problems of moral realism; and more