Johnstone, Ronald L. : Ball State University

Having observed the sociology of religion landscape over a period of four decades, I find that three observations continually surface. First, the number of scholars who have adopted this as the field of their major scholarly interest continues to increase and both the volume and quality of research keeps growing in noticeable ways. Second, a great many events and movements that fall under the sociology of religion umbrella continue to bombard our field of vision: abortion, ecumenism, religion-based ethnic cleansing, Northern Ireland and East Timor, ordination of women, prayer in public schools, Heaven's Gate group suicide, and on and on. Another way of saying this is that our contemporary world keeps the reservoir of subject matter that begs for review and analysis full to overflowing. Still another way of saying this is that religion in its variety of forms is not about to disappear.

We have included many of these developments in this new edition--some as new topics, some as expansions and revisions of subjects included in earlier editions. Notable changes are:

1. a modestly expanded section on the anthropological exploration into the beginnings of religion
2. replacement of the lengthy case study of Northern Ireland as an example of contemporary religious conflict with very brief descriptions of the Northern Ireland conflict, the Israelis and Palestinians in the Near East, the Eastern Orthodox Serbs against the Muslim ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the Muslims in Indonesia against the Roman Catholic citizens of East Timor, and a more extensive treatment of the Indian Sikhs' protracted religio-political conflict with Indian and Pakistani Muslims
3. updated and expanded discussion of the ongoing religious conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention
4. updated church-state issues with recent data on U.S. Supreme Court rulings
5. updating on American fundamentalism
6. expansion for the tradition-affirming women's religious response by introduction of the Women's Aglow Fellowship
7. significant expansion of the ordination of women issue, particularly as an issue in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Southern Baptist Convention
8. expanded treatment on differences in "style" between female and male clergy
9. a new substantial section on contemporary revolutionary expressions of women's religion in the forms of goddess worship, neopaganism, wicca, spiritualism, witchcraft, and Gaia
10. added discussion of the phenomenon "defecting in place" and various forms of spiritual feminism that preserve much of traditional women's religion
11. added information on female rabbis and seminarians and the recent decline of diocesan priests in the Roman Catholic Church
12. added information on female parish administrators in the Catholic Church
13. a discussion of the diaconate in the Catholic Church
14. expanded discussion of the Black Muslims in America
15. general updating of Judaism and Roman Catholicism, particularly attempts by Pope John Paul 11 to return members to traditional Catholicism
16. update on three major ecumenical developments in the late 1990s-Lutherans and several Reformed denominations in 1997, Lutherans and Episcopalians in 1999, and the joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Roman Catholics and Lutherans in 1999
17. updated discussion of church membership trends
18. expanded discussion of secularization as specialization, not annihilation

The number, structure, and sequence of chapters have remained the same as in the fifth edition. Part I (Chapters 1-4) is an introduction to the sociological perspective on religion. It grapples with the problem of defining religion and considers the fascinating but ultimately unanswerable question of the origins of religion. Part II (Chapters 5-6) focuses on sociology's distinctive perspective on religion as a social phenomenon: how general laws and principles of social and group life impinge on religion as it organizes itself into groups and carries on its activities. The chapters in Part II also look closely at the classic church-sect continuum of religious organization and evolution and consider how conflict figures so commonly in the life of religious organizations. Part III (Chapters 7-11) examines the relationship of religion to major social institutions and structural features of society: religion and politics; religious fundamentalism; religion and the economy; religion and social class; and, finally, religion and the role and perception of women in society. Part IV (Chapters 12-15) covers some of the major features of religion in the United States-the social environment and experience of a majority of the readers of this text. After exploring several highly important sociohistorical developments within American religion, the chapters in Part IV pay particular attention to American socioreligious developments, namely, the African-American church, Native American religion, and the phenomenon of denominationalism. Part IV concludes by focusing on primary sociological factors that will significantly affect the future of religion.

In this progression, the reader will experience firsthand some of the problems inherent in the enterprise we call the sociology of religion and will become involved and somewhat expert in the process of applying the sociological perspective. The reader will also develop insight into the place of religion in society that will supplement her or his prior understanding, whether gained from the inside as a believer or from the outside as an observer of the religious scene.

I want to express my deep appreciation to the following reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions: Rhoda V Carr, Tulane University; Kathleen S. Lowney, Valdasta State University; and Robert A. Wortham, North Carolina Central University. And, finally, my thanks to Merrill Peterson for his insightful and vigilant editorial work.

Ronald L. Johnstone

Using an unbiased, balanced approach, this book offers a sound analysis of religion as a social institution that is interdependent and in constant interaction with other societal units. It helps readers understand the role and function of religion in society which occur regardless of anyone's claims about the truth or falsity of religious systems. The focus is on American religious institutions, but the book includes many examples of the interaction of religion and society in other cultures, both historic and contemporary. The Sociological Perspective. The Sources of Religion. Religion as a Group Phenomenon. Becoming Religious. The Church-Sect Continuum of Religious Organization. Religious Conflict. Religion and Politics. Religious Fundamentalism. Religion and the Economy. Religion and the Class System. Women and Religion. Major Historical Developments. Black and Native American Religion in America. Denominational Society. The Future of Religion.

For anyone interested in religion as a social institution.

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION.

II. RELIGION AS SOCIAL ORGANIZATION.

III. RELIGION IN SOCIETY.

IV. RELIGION IN AMERICA.

Index.