Believing Without Belonging

Drawing on empirical research exploring mainstream religious belief and identity in Euro-American countries, Abby Day explores how people 'believe in belonging', choosing religious identifications to complement other social and emotional experiences of 'belongings'.

This study examines an indigenous phenomenon of the Hindu devotees of Jesus Christ and their response to the gospel through an empirical case study conducted in Varanasi, India. It analyzes their religious beliefs and social belonging and addresses the ensuing questions from a historical, theological, and missiological perspective. The data reveals that the respondents profess faith in Jesus Christ; however, most remain unbaptized and insist on their Hindu identity. Hence, a heuristic model for a contextualized baptism as Guru-diksha is proposed. The emergent church among Hindu devotees should be considered, from the perspective of world Christianity, as a disparate form of belonging while remaining within one's community of birth. The insistence on a visible church and a distinct community of Christ's followers is contested because the devotees should construct their contextual ecclesiology, since it is an indigenous discovery of the Christian faith. Thus, the "Christian" label for the adherents is dispensable while retaining their socio-ethnic Hindu identity. Christian mission should discontinue extraction and assimilation; instead, missional praxis should be within the given sociocultural structures, recognizing their idiosyncrasies as legitimate in God's eyes and in need of transformation, like any human culture.

'Grace Davie is one of the best analysts of religion in contemporary sociology. This book caps a distinguished record of studies of religion - first of Britain, then of Europe, then globally. This is a magisterial work, which should be read by anyone interested in the place of religion in the modern world' -Peter L. Berger, Boston University 'This book offers both an expert survey of contemporary sociology of religion and the personal reflections of one of the leading scholars in the field. Grace Davie is a good model for students and their teachers: she is clear, engaging and fair minded but unafraid to express a point of view' -David Voas, University of Manchester Why is religion still important? Can we be fully modern and fully religious? The Sociology of Religion works at two levels. First it sets out the agenda - covering the key questions in the sociology of religion today. At the same time, it interrogates this agenda - asking if the sociology of religion, as we currently know it, is 'fit for purpose'. If not, what is to be done? This book: " describes the origins of the sociology of religion " demystifies secularization as a process and a theory " relates religion to modern social theory " unpacks the meaning of religion in relation to modernity and globalization " grasps the methodological challenges in the field " provides a comparative perspective for religions in the west " introduces questions of minorities and margins " sets out a critical agenda for debate and research. In a single volume, Grace Davie captures the nature and forms of modern religion, the current debates in the field and the prospects for future development.

Religion in Britain evaluates and sheds light on the religious situation in twenty-first century Britain; it explores the country’s increasing secularity alongside religion’s growing presence in public debate, and the impact of this paradox on Britain’s society. Describes and explains the religious situation in twenty-first century Britain Based on the highly successful Religion in Britain Since 1945 (Blackwell, 1994) but extensively revised with the majority of the text re-written to reflect the current situation Investigates the paradox of why Britain has become increasingly secular and how religion is increasingly present in public debate compared with 20 years ago Explores the impact this paradox has on churches, faith communities, the law, politics, education, and welfare

This book is intended for scholars and students of Sociology, Religion, Politics, European Studies, and Philosophy.

Christian Atheist examines the growing religious phenomenon of those who are drawn to Christianity without accepting its metaphysical claims or dogma. Throughout the history of the Church there have been many people like this who have sat differently to the central creedal claims, but in the contemporary 'god delusion' culture, more are coming out to claim acceptance for their views. The key to the book is a set of interviews with people who fall broadly into the 'Christian Atheist' category; some are more agnostic and less sceptical than others, but what they have in common is the rejection of traditional belief in God, counterbalanced by an admiration for the aesthetic genius of Christianity (leading to a sense of deeper value), the Christian moral compass, and in some cases the community aspect of Christian life.

This important book describes as accurately as possible the religious situation of Great Britain at the end of the twentieth century, and evaluates this evidence within a sociological framework.

The place of religion in society has changed profoundly in the last few centuries, particularly in the West. In what will be a defining book for our time, Taylor takes up the question of what these changes mean, and what, precisely, happens when a society becomes one in which faith is only one human possibility among others.