I am currently a Professor of Sociology at George Mason University, a Research I Institution, and have now published 9 books. Until I wrote the book Christianity and Sociological Theory, I was a traditional sociologist, one who abided by the tenet of the discipline to profess neutrality in one’s scholarly work. My book, The Not So Outrageous Idea of a Christian Sociology, is not only my most controversial book, given its criticism of contemporary sociology, but also my most personal book.
I wrote...
The Not So Outrageous Idea of a Christian Sociology
My book provides a rationale for a Christian Sociology that can challenge the materialistic foundation of contemporary sociology, which, as constituted, provides only a limited understanding of humans and their relationship to society. Developing a history of the origins of sociology that recognizes the centrality of Christianity to the discipline’s development, The Not So Outrageous Idea Of A Christian Sociology argues that a Christian approach provides a better explanation of contemporary events than secular paradigms.
Additionally, the book introduces the concept of “shadow nihilism,” which depicts the condition of modern society as not yet achieving but being well on the road to nihilism, where relativity is the norm. The book should have special appeal to students in Christian colleges and seminaries.
When I first read this book, even though I hold a Ph. D in sociology, it changed my whole view of the discipline.
I was very disappointed in graduate school at first. Then I read some of Peter Berger’s works, who until his recent death, was the most well-known sociologist of religion. He wrote about making the case for a supernatural reality. This was something that was, and, still is, considered heretical in sociology.
I met Peter a few years ago and told him how he changed my view of sociology. He smiled.
With unparalleled creativity & impeccable scholarship, this path-breaking classic confronts head-on the thesis that "God is dead." The new essays include discussions on religious politicization & the dilemmas of hardline morality. Preface The alleged demise of the supernatural The perspective of relativizing the relativizers Theological starting with man Theological confronting the traditions Concluding a rumor of angels Notes
Since the recent passing of Peter Berger, Christian Smith is arguably the most well-known and influential sociologist working in the field of religion.
In this book, Smith lays the groundwork for his vision of what it means to be a person, something so often overlooked in the social sciences. Smith claims that humans have a particular set of capacities and proclivities that distinguish them from animals. Despite the vast differences in humanity across cultures and historical eras, Smith offers the possibility that human beings have a universal human personhood. Humans, who, though part of the animal kingdom, are spiritual beings that have a moral and spiritual dimension.
This is something that I have been struggling with for years, and Smith simplified it.
What kind of animals are human beings? And how do our visions of the human shape our theories of social action and institutions? In Moral, Believing Animals, Christian Smith advances a creative theory of human persons and culture that offers innovative, challenging answers to these and other fundamental questions in sociological, cultural, and religious theory.
Smith suggests that human beings have a peculiar set of capacities and proclivities that distinguishes them significantly from other animals on this planet. Despite the vast differences in humanity between cultures and across history, no matter how differently people narrate their lives and histories, there…
This book argues that Christianity provided the foundation for reason which led to the beginnings of science. It makes the case that Christianity alone embraced logic and deductive thinking as the basis for freedom and progress and is responsible for the most significant intellectual, political, scientific, and economic breakthroughs of the past millennium.
Additionally, it is a very well-written book, which is usually not the case for academic works.
Many books have been written about the success of the West, analyzing why Europe was able to pull ahead of the rest of the world by the end of the Middle Ages. The most common explanations cite the West’s superior geography, commerce, and technology. Completely overlooked is the fact that faith in reason, rooted in Christianity’s commitment to rational theology, made all these developments possible. Simply put, the conventional wisdom that Western success depended upon overcoming religious barriers to progress is utter nonsense.In The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark advances a revolutionary, controversial, and long overdue idea: that Christianity and…
The International Handbook of Christian Sociology brings together, under one cover, the latest in Christian scholarship. It’s truly an international work, in that it incorporates scholars from all over the world. It is invaluable as a reference book for understanding how Christian scholars understand the changing world.
In particular, the introductory essay by its editor, Dennis Hiebert, is, in my opinion, the best introduction to post-secularism and Christianity. Besides having a chapter in the book, I’m proud to have recommended Hiebert to Routledge when they asked for someone who could edit this book.
The Routledge International Handbook of Sociology and Christianity examines the intersection of the sociology of religion - a long-standing focus of sociology as a discipline - and Christianity - the world's largest religion. An internationally representative and thematically comprehensive collection, it analyzes both the sociology of Christianity and Christian approaches to sociology, with attention to the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant branches of Christianity. An authoritative, state-of-the-art review of current research, it is organized into five inter-connected thematic sections, considering the overlapping emergence of both the Christian religion and the social science, the conceptualization of and engagement with Christianity by…
This book presents an alternative history of sociological theory. Sociological theory is usually seen as either emerging from the British and French philosophers of the 18th century or from the writings in the 19th century of Auguste Comte, generally considered to be the “father of sociology.” Beginning with the 12th century Scholastics, the influence of Christianity on science and social theory is discussed, and its influence is carried through today.
This book is so important to me because it represented the first time in print that I had declared I was a practicing Christian, something that is usually not done in sociology, which is one of the most, if not the most, secular of all the social sciences.
This book offers a history of sociological theory from a Christian perspective, tracing the origins of sociology from the beginnings of Western science as introduced by the Scholastics of the twelfth century, which, when combined with their emphasis on rationality, led to the Enlightenment "science of man"-an emphasis that eventually resulted in sociology, which combined empiricism and a Christian moral philosophy. With chapters focusing on the Scholastics, the Enlightenment, the rise of sociology in France, Germany, and the United States, and the legacy of Positivism, Christianity and Sociological Theory shows how the emphasis on moral philosophy was eventually lost as…
Susan Tate Ankeny left a career in teaching to write the story of her father’s escape from Nazi-occupied France. In 2011, after being led on his path through France by the same Resistance fighters who guided him in 1944, she felt inspired to tell the story of these brave French patriots, especially the 17-year-old- girl who risked her own life to save her father’s. Susan is a member of the 8th Air Force Historical Society, the Air Force Escape and Evasion Society, and the Association des Sauveteurs d’Aviateurs Alliés.
The first and only full-length biography of Hazel Ying Lee, an unrecognized pioneer and unsung World War II hero who fought for a country that actively discriminated against her gender, race, and ambition.
This unique hidden figure defied countless stereotypes to become the first Asian American woman in United States history to earn a pilot's license, and the first female Asian American pilot to fly for the military.
Her achievements, passionate drive, and resistance in the face of oppression as a daughter of Chinese immigrants and a female aviator changed the course of history. Now the remarkable story of a fearless underdog finally surfaces to inspire anyone to reach toward the sky.
One of WWII’s most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot’s license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.
Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women’s and WWII history books.…
