The apostles of Jesus had personal religious experiences (speaking in tongues, for example) before Christianity was an organized religion. My Lyft driver in Washington, D.C. this past week told me of his personal conversionary experience. Born to…read more.

The sociologist Max Weber saw the origins of secularization, that is, the loss of religious beliefs underpinning certain values and human activity, in the increasing rational organization of human labor and industrial bureaucratization of society. The sociologist Emile Durkheim claimed…read more.

The exclusive nature of monotheistic religions gives them a competitive edge in the religion market. As world data on religious affiliation shows, the largest religions in the world are Christianity and Islam (monotheistic religions). The fastest growing…read more.

Beliefs in heaven and hell of the major world religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam--provide different incentives for performing economic activities. Hinduism and Buddhism tend to emphasize positive incentives (carrots) for economic…read more.

Hypothesis One: Advances in scientific knowledge and technological innovation in a society contributes to the decline of religiosity (a secularizing trend). Hypothesis Two: A society lacking in scientific advancement and technological innovation is…read more.

Disestablishment in the American colonies happened over a fifty to sixty-year period--from1774 to the 1830s—when relations between church and state underwent a transformation toward a new and decidedly non-European approach. What was one of…read more.