Religion in the contemporary west is undergoing rapid change. In Predicting Religion twenty experts in the study of religion present their predictions about the future of religion in the 21st century - predictions based on careful analysis of the contemporary religious scene from traditional forms of Christianity to new spiritualities. The range of predictions is broad. A number predict further secularization - with religion in the west seen as being in a state of terminal decline. Others question this approach and suggest that we are witnessing not decline but transformation understood in different ways: a shift from theism to pantheism, from outer to inner authority, from God to self-as-god, and above all from religion to spirituality. This accessible book on the contemporary religious scene offers students and scholars of the sociology of religion and theology, as well as interested general readers, fresh insights into the future of religion and spirituality in the west. Published in association with the British Sociological Association Study of Religion group, in the Ashgate Religion and Theology in Interdisciplinary Perspective series.

The cognitive science of religion is a new discipline that looks at the roots of religious belief in the cognitive architecture of the human mind. This book deals with the philosophical and theological implications of the cognitive science of religion which grounds religious belief in human cognitive structures: religious belief is ‘natural’, in a way that even scientific thought is not. Philosophers and theologians from North America, UK and Australia, explore the alleged conflict between truth claims and examine the roots of religion in human nature.

Why is religion still important? Can we be fully modern and fully religious? In this new edition, Davie follows up her discussion of the meaning of religion in modern society and considers how best to research and understand this relationship. Exploring the rapid movements within the sociology of religion today, this revised and updated 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 The Sociology of Religion has already proved itself as one of the most important titles within the field; this edition will ensure that it remains an indispensable resource for students and researchers alike.

Religion is a major force in contemporary society. It is also one of the least understood social and political influences on individuals and communities. In this innovative collection of original essays and classic readings, experts explore the significance of contemporary religiosity: as a source of meaning and motivation, how it unites and divides us, and how it is used politically and culturally. Readers will be introduced to the broad debates in ways that will equip them to analyze, discuss, and make their own judgments about religion and society. This book should be read by anyone interested in understanding religion as a central source of meaning and politics, and is ideally suited for undergraduate teaching on religion and social issues and from a global perspective.

The material symbol has become central to understanding religion in late modernity. Overtly theological approaches use words to express the values and faith of a religion, but leave out the 'incarnation' of religion in the behavioural, performative, or audio-visual form. This book explores the lived experience of religion through its material expressions, demonstrating how religion and spirituality are given form and are thus far from being detached or ethereal. Cutting across cultures, senses, disciplines and faiths, the contributors register the variety in which religions and religious groups express the sacred and numinous. Including chapters on music, architecture, festivals, ritual, artifacts, dance, dress and magic, this book offers an invaluable resource to students of sociology and anthropology of religion, art, culture, history, liturgy, theories of late modern culture, and religious studies.

Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (RSSSR) publishes reports of innovative studies that pertain empirically or theoretically to the scientific study of religion, including spirituality, regardless of their academic discipline or professional orientation. RSSSR is published annually with the kind support of Loyola College, Maryland, USA. This volume of RSSSR contains several articles on spiritual development among adolescents, spiritual transcendence, Jung and pastoral counseling and spirituality and religiosity. In addition to this, a special section of nine articles is devoted to several aspects of positive psychology and its usage in practice.

In this provocative and engaging book, Lee Kirkpatrick establishes a broad, comprehensive framework for approaching the psychology of religion from an evolutionary perspective. Kirkpatrick argues that religion is a collection of byproducts of numerous psychological mechanisms and systems that evolved for other functions.

Religion in the 21st century is a phenomenon that cannot be taken for granted, and is undergoing transformations that present us with new challenges both from a scholarly and societal perspective. The nuanced and multifaceted way in which these features are analyzed in this book should be welcomed by all who are interested and concerned with the role of religion on the contemporary scene. The combination of accessible scholarship and challenging positions makes this a book for everyone who is interested in religion in the secularized parts of the world. The volume contributes to an understanding of how it is not, after all, a contradiction to be both fully modern and religious. Jan-Olav Henriksen, Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, Norway --

This book considers whether recent theories from Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) undermine the epistemic status of religious belief. After introducing the key theories in the growing area of CSR, Hans Van Eyghen explores some of the epistemic questions surrounding CSR, including: Is CSR incompatible with the truth of religious belief? How might CSR show that religious belief is unreliably formed? And, finally, does CSR undermine the justification of religious belief by religious experiences? In addressing these questions, he demonstrates how CSR does not undermine the epistemic bases for religious belief. This book offers a clear and concise overview of the current state of cognitive science of religion and will be of particular interest to scholars working in philosophy and epistemology of religion.

Preparing pupils to engage with religious and cultural heterogeneity is increasingly seen as a key task for school education. This book presents research on religion-related dialogue in European schools and addresses the complex intersection of various factors supporting or hindering it. The volume offers findings of the international research project ‘Religion and Dialogue in modern societies’ (ReDi). The chapters present analyses of school case studies in five European cities London (England), Hamburg and Duisburg (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden), and Stavanger (Norway), to empirically answer the question: What are possibilities and limitations of religion-related dialogue in schools? Possibilities and Limitations of Religion-Related Dialogue in Schools in Europe will be a key resource for practioners and researchers of religious education, education studies, educational research, religious studies, and sociology. It was originally published as a special issue of the Religion & Education.