Blackwell Reference Online

‘If a single theme runs through this anthology, it is an appreciation of the process of secularization. Here, however, secularization does not turmpet the demise of religion but provides a lens through which to scrutinize the shifting location and function of religion in urban, industrial, complex societies. Of value as a reference tool at al readership levels.’ Choice

The volume takes the reader immediately to the most interesting issues currently debated in the discipline. International Review of Biblical Studies.

This companion, edited by one of the best known and most widely respected sociologists of religion, provides essential reading for sociologists and religion scholars. The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion is presented in three comprehensive parts. Written by a range of outstanding academics, the volume explores the current status of the sociology of religion, and how it might look in future.

Contributors discuss the major social trends which will affects, or be affected by, religion in the near future, encompassing all aspects of the sociology of religion. Expertly edited by Richard Fenn, the Companion concludes with a section affirming statements and connections made previously in the book, and tracing the boundaries between sociology and other closely related discioplines, such as theology and social anthropology.