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Post by unkleE on Sept 26, 2013 11:20:59 GMT
There are several books by Rodney Stark in our local library - Cities of God and Discovering God at least.
Stark is clearly a qualified academic and has written many popular books with some strong supporting comments from other academics on the jackets. But I am aware that he is criticised, sometimes even mocked, by some.
Can anyone tell me how he would be regarded by the academic consensus, and whether anyone here has an opinion about him please. Discovering God looks interesting, but I'm wondering whether (1) it is a competent history of religion, and (2) his hypothesis about the development of religion (which is a little different to what I imagine is the most common view) is considered reasonable or not.
Thanks.
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Post by evangelion on Sept 26, 2013 12:15:02 GMT
Can anyone tell me how he would be regarded by the academic consensus, and whether anyone here has an opinion about him please. Discovering God looks interesting, but I'm wondering whether (1) it is a competent history of religion, and (2) his hypothesis about the development of religion (which is a little different to what I imagine is the most common view) is considered reasonable or not. I don't know about his other works, but The Rise of Christianity has been cited approvingly by academics and appears on the recommended reading list issued by my church history lecturer. |
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Post by timoneill on Sept 26, 2013 18:32:46 GMT
Can anyone tell me how he would be regarded by the academic consensus, and whether anyone here has an opinion about him please. Discovering God looks interesting, but I'm wondering whether (1) it is a competent history of religion, and (2) his hypothesis about the development of religion (which is a little different to what I imagine is the most common view) is considered reasonable or not. I don't know about his other works, but The Rise of Christianity has been cited approvingly by academics and appears on the recommended reading list issued by my church history lecturer. Whereas God's Battalions was the second worst pile of utter crap I've ever reviewed on my blog. Complete pants. He's an apologist of the worst kind. |
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Post by ignorantianescia on Sept 26, 2013 18:56:57 GMT
I'll drop in to add something about Stark's own field, sociology of religion, though note that I have not read his relevant book. Stark is, together with Bainbridge, the grandmaster of the rational choice theory. This basically argues that human beings are rational actors on a religious market, seeking to maximise their religious rewards (afterlife, blessings in this life, card-carrying Thetan) while minimising their costs. 'Conservative' sects have stronger appeal, and as they demand higher investments from believers, these adherents are less likely to fall away (the last part is to a degree apparently correct, though of course the most demanding movements tend to remain very small). This is one theory among many, so it is not carried by an academic consensus. Personally, the lack of an intellectual component is unconvincing to me.
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Post by evangelion on Sept 27, 2013 0:33:00 GMT
Whereas God's Battalions was the second worst pile of utter crap I've ever reviewed on my blog. Complete pants. He's an apologist of the worst kind. He was agnostic when he wrote The Rise of Christianity in 1997, but by the time he wrote God's Battalions 10 years later, he'd become a Christian. That may account for some of the bias. |
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Post by merkavah12 on Sept 27, 2013 5:54:52 GMT
I don't know about his other works, but The Rise of Christianity has been cited approvingly by academics and appears on the recommended reading list issued by my church history lecturer. Whereas God's Battalions was the second worst pile of utter crap I've ever reviewed on my blog. Complete pants. He's an apologist of the worst kind. OK Tim, then really what was the worst? I'm curious. Was it Freeman's "Closing of the Western Mind" or Fitzgerald's "Nailed"? ...or was it something else? |
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Post by timoneill on Sept 28, 2013 3:04:15 GMT
Whereas God's Battalions was the second worst pile of utter crap I've ever reviewed on my blog. Complete pants. He's an apologist of the worst kind. OK Tim, then really what was the worst? I'm curious. Was it Freeman's "Closing of the Western Mind" or Fitzgerald's "Nailed"? ...or was it something else? . Though Freeman's tendentious droning comes a close third to Stark's silly book. It's just that Stark's has more howler's on top of a stupid thesis. |
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