Sociology of Religion: Study Guide 2 Instructor: Bruce Mork

I. Multiple choice. Alan Wolfe, Aimee Semple McPherson, John Wesley, Adam Smith, Joseph Smith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer,Phillip Berrigan, Ruth Youngdahl Nelson, Richard Niebuhr, Karl Marx, Max Weber, church/sect theory, new religious movements, cults, exclusive vs nonexclusive religions, open vs. closed networks, denomination, denominationalism, congregation, congregationalism, secularization, revitalization movement, nondenominational churches, Book of Mormon, night of broken glass, Barmen declaration, confessing church, rational choice theory, theodicy, soteriology, Weber: material interests and ideal interests, status groups, Marx on social class, alienation, WASP(White Angle Saxon Protestants), religious growth by contagion, religion economy and religious firms, pre-existing networks, cognitive dissonance, Vatican II

Videos: "The Mormons," "Mother of the Year," "Bonhoeffer," "Sister Aimee"

II. Essay Questions
1. Stark argues that although Christianity was more demanding than other religions then available in the Roman Empire, it was ultimately more valuable, so that the cost/benefit ratio was favorable. How does he support that argument?

2. What are the major trends with religion in the United States in the early 21st century? Which denominations are growing or shrinking and why? How would you assess Alan Wolfe's argument that ultimately American culture seems to shape religion more than religion shapes culture?

3. How did Mormonism originate, how did the early Mormons cope with persecution, and why is it currently the fastest growing religion in the United States (in percentage terms)?

4. What does Stark see as the role of women in the growth of Christian churches in the first several centuries of the Christian era? What kind of evidence does he use to support his arguments?

5. What is the distinction between churches and sects? What is church/sect theory, and how well do you see it supported by course materials?

6. Stark makes an argument about the relationship between social class and membership in cults or sects? Summarize that argument and evaluate Stark's evidence.

7. The largest religious denomination in the United States is Catholicism. What are trends in the Catholic church, what are its particular challenges, and why is it continuing to grow despite those challenges?

8. Stark tries to build a case showing that growth rates in the early Christian church did not require miraculous holy intervention. How does he support his case and how would you evaluate the strength of his arguments? Is there any kind of additional evidence you think would be important to evaluating those arguments?

9. An argument can be made that before Jesus's crucifixion, he was leading what amounted to a sect movement within Judaism, and that afterwards we might see it as more of a cult movement, at least in its early stages. How would you support that argument? Do you see anything that doesn't seem to fit?

10. What about religion and social class? In what ways does the American experience support the Marxian view of religion as a means of consolation for the working class? In what ways does it support a more Weberian analysis, in which White Anglo Saxon Protestants are viewed as a status group?

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