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Is a person sitting next to a grave of a loved one, talking to the
deceased person, engaging in a religious act? Many traditional
definitions of religion would probably say no. However, the
research that forms the basis of this book suggests that such
activity is very widespread in contemporary Britain and the author
aims to argue that it is probably much more typical of a
fundamental religious act than much of what happens in churches,
synagogues or mosques. Beginning with the definitions of religion
provided by a number of anthropologists and sociologists this book
claims that the large majority of these definitions have been
influenced by Christian thinking, so leading to definitions that
stress the systematic nature of religion, the importance of the
transcendental and the transformative activity of religion. Through
a detailed exploration of a number of ethnographic studies of
religious activity in various parts of England, these aspects of
traditional definitions are challenged. Martin Stringer argues,
borrowing Durkheim's language, that the most elementary form of
religious life in many Western societies today, and by implication
in many other societies around the world, is situational, mundane
and concerned with helping people to cope with their day to day
lives.
Religious diversity is an ever present, and increasingly visible,
reality in cities across the world. It is an issue of immediate
concern to city leaders and members of religious communities but do
we really know what ordinary members of the public, the people who
live in the city, really think about it? Major news items,
inter-religious violence and notorious public events often lead to
negative views being expressed, especially among those who would
not consider themselves to have a religious identity of their own.
Martin Stringer explores the highly complex series of discourses
around religion and religious diversity that are held by ordinary
members of the city; discourses that are often contradictory in
themselves and discourses that show that attitudes to religion vary
considerably depending on context and wider local or national
narratives. Drawing on examples from UK (particularly Birmingham,
one of the UK's most diverse cities), Europe and the United States,
Stringer offers some practical suggestions for ways in which
discourses of religious diversity can be managed in the future.
Students in the fields of religious studies, sociology,
anthropology and urban studies; practitioners involved in
inter-religious debates; and church and other faith leaders and
politicians should all find this book an invaluable addition to
ongoing debates.
Religious diversity is an ever present, and increasingly visible,
reality in cities across the world. It is an issue of immediate
concern to city leaders and members of religious communities but do
we really know what ordinary members of the public, the people who
live in the city, really think about it? Major news items,
inter-religious violence and notorious public events often lead to
negative views being expressed, especially among those who would
not consider themselves to have a religious identity of their own.
Martin Stringer explores the highly complex series of discourses
around religion and religious diversity that are held by ordinary
members of the city; discourses that are often contradictory in
themselves and discourses that show that attitudes to religion vary
considerably depending on context and wider local or national
narratives. Drawing on examples from UK (particularly Birmingham,
one of the UK's most diverse cities), Europe and the United States,
Stringer offers some practical suggestions for ways in which
discourses of religious diversity can be managed in the future.
Students in the fields of religious studies, sociology,
anthropology and urban studies; practitioners involved in
inter-religious debates; and church and other faith leaders and
politicians should all find this book an invaluable addition to
ongoing debates.
In this book the 2000 year history of Christian worship is viewed
from a sociological perspective. Martin Stringer develops the idea
of discourse as a way of understanding the place of Christian
worship within its many and diverse social contexts. Beginning with
the Biblical material the author provides a broad survey of changes
over 2000 years of the Christian church, together with a series of
case studies that highlight particular elements of the worship, or
specific theoretical applications. Stringer does not simply examine
the mainstream traditions of Christian worship in Europe and
Byzantium, but also gives space to lesser-known traditions in
Armenia, India, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Offering a contribution to
the ongoing debate that breaks away from a purely textual or
theological study of Christian worship, this book provides a
greater understanding of the place of worship in its social and
cultural context.
In this book the 2000 year history of Christian worship is viewed
from a sociological perspective. Martin Stringer develops the idea
of discourse as a way of understanding the place of Christian
worship within its many and diverse social contexts. Beginning with
the Biblical material the author provides a broad survey of changes
over 2000 years of the Christian church, together with a series of
case studies that highlight particular elements of the worship, or
specific theoretical applications. Stringer does not simply examine
the mainstream traditions of Christian worship in Europe and
Byzantium, but also gives space to lesser-known traditions in
Armenia, India, Ethiopia and elsewhere. Offering a contribution to
the ongoing debate that breaks away from a purely textual or
theological study of Christian worship, this book provides a
greater understanding of the place of worship in its social and
cultural context.
The Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship. In this book
Martin Stringer brings together some of the scholarship associated
with the sociological analysis of biblical texts into conversation
with liturgists and historians of the first century. He begins his
analysis of the Eucharist and other early Christian meals from a
detailed discussion of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, the
most studied text in the sociological tradition of biblical
scholarship. He proposes that the meal portrayed in chapter 11 of
that letter is more likely to have been an annual event rather than
a weekly one. He considers other texts, both biblical and those
from the first hundred and fifty years or so of Christian history
and shows that the Eucharist, that is a ritual event consisting of
the sharing of bread and wine, which are associated by the
community with the body and blood of Jesus, is most likely to have
been an invention of the Asian or Roman church in around 100-110
CE. Martin D. Stringer is Professor of Liturgical and
Congregational Studies in the Department of Theology and Religion
in Birmingham. His main book so far is A Sociological History of
Christian Worship (CUP 2005).
Exploring whether the widespread activity of sitting next to a
grave and talking to a deceased person is a religious act forms the
basis of this book, and the author argues that it is probably much
more typical of a fundamental religious act than much of what
happens in churches, synagogues or mosques. Beginning with the
definitions of religion provided by a number of anthropologists and
sociologists this book claims that the large majority of these
definitions have been influenced by Christian thinking, so leading
to definitions that stress the systematic nature of religion, the
importance of the transcendental and the transformative activity of
religion. Through a detailed exploration of a number of
ethnographic studies of religious activity, these aspects of
traditional definitions are challenged. Borrowing Durkheim's
language, Martin D. Stringer argues that the most elementary form
of religious life in many Western societies today, and by
implication in many other societies around the world, is
situational, mundane and concerned with helping people to cope with
their day-to-day lives.
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