Rodney Stark
Rodney Stark
Rodney William Starkis an American sociologist of religion who was a long time professor of sociology and of comparative religion at the University of Washington. He is presently the Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University, co-director of the university's Institute for Studies of Religion, and founding editor of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTheologian
CountryUnited States of America
impact innovation atheism
No other single innovation had so much impact on history.
people atheism cost
People value religion on the basis of cost, and they don't value the cheapest ones the most. Religions that ask nothing get nothing.
religious people atheism
... One thing about religious truths is that we have to take them on faith, and faith needs reassurance. What's more reassuring than noticing that some other people, whom you admire, are so certain that it's all true that they're willing to go the ultimate mile?
civilization atheism done
... All questions concerning the rise of Christianity are one: How was it done? How did a tiny and obscure messianic movement from the edge of the Roman Empire dislodge classical paganism and become the dominant faith of Western civilization? Although this is the only question, it requires many answers - no one thing led to the triumph of Christianity.
allow cares codes generating god humans image moral power prohibit questions scope serious sixth theology thereby unlimited war
Theology necessitates an image of God as a conscious, rational, supernatural being of unlimited power and scope who cares about humans and imposes moral codes and responsibilities upon them, thereby generating serious intellectual questions such as: 'Why does God allow us to sin?' 'Does the Sixth Commandment prohibit war?'
attend classical likely music newspapers regular symphony
Regular church-goers are substantially more likely than non-attenders to read, to take newspapers and magazines, to listen to classical music, to attend symphony concerts, operas, and stage plays.
churches decided met
Most churches are run by preachers who went to seminaries, who decided to be preachers when they were 18, 19, 20 years old. These preachers never met a payroll. They don't know how the world works.
attend belong display high level
Those who belong to megachurches display as high a level of personal commitment as do those who attend small congregations.
guys harder knows minister ought women
Every minister knows it's harder to get the guys to church than the women. We ought to be asking why this is.
anyone kids maybe raise society stable state
Can anyone seriously imagine a society without stable families? Maybe we should raise all the kids in state orphanages.
bring churches hard people reaching work
American churches work very hard at reaching out to people to bring them in.
met
A whole lot of Americans have never met a Mormon.
act catholics decline miss sin vatican
There was only one decline in church attendance, and that was in the late 1960s when the Vatican said it was not a sin to miss Mass. They said Catholics could act like Protestants, and so they did.
state
Wherever you've got a state church, you have empty churches.