Patterns and Determinants of Religious Change in the Modern Period

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Functional Differentiation ◽  
Market Model ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
State Spending ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Determining Factors

Chapter 14 does not design a general theory of religious change, but develops a multiple theoretical perspective including various theoretical elements, which are instrumental for explaining religious changes and which can be combined flexibly. In brief, they are: 1. Functional differentiation as a rule stands in a strained relationship to the integrational capacity of religious communities and churches. If, however, religious identities are linked with non-religious, for example, political, national, or economic interests, religion and church are strengthened. 2. Processes of individualization mostly have an erosive impact on religious ties. 3. In contrast to the assumptions of the market model, religious pluralism does not foster religious vitality, but actually inhibits it. In the case of conflict, though, religious diversity can fuel religious passions. Other determining factors such as government regulations of the religious sector, state spending on the welfare system, social inequality, immigration, and path dependency are also taken into account.

Between Dechurchification and Religious Persistence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Protestant Churches ◽  
The Church

The analysis conducted in this chapter of the religious changes undergone by the Federal Republic since its founding considers the religious losses as well as the sometimes astonishing resistance of religious and church entities, but also the observable small religious increases. It addresses the following questions among others: Is it really the case that there has occurred a break in tradition in terms of people’s ties to the church? In which periods was religious change particularly dynamic, and in which periods was it less so? Did this change occur in the Catholic and Protestant churches in parallel? Are there counter-movements when it comes to free churches and small religious communities such as the charismatic churches? How have individualized forms of religiosity developed, especially those of non-church religiosity? The chapter not only describes religious changes in West Germany, but by referring to contextual conditions also explains the main tendencies observable there.

Coda: Repositioning Early Modern Prague on the Global Stage

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Suzanna Ivanič
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Musical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Moment ◽  
The City

The question that sparked this forum was to what extent we can see Prague as an important stage for Renaissance and Reformation exchange and as an internationally connected city. It is striking, though not unexpected, that all the authors have been drawn to some extent to sources and subjects in Rudolfine Prague. It must be stressed, however, that the emphasis of each of these studies is somewhat different to an older field of “Rudolfine studies.” The researchers here do not focus on the emperor's court but use it as context. It is tangential to their main focal points—on Jewish communities, religious change, and the exchange of scientific and musical knowledge—and these are first and foremost historians not of Prague but of social and cultural history, music, art, material culture, and religion. This indicates a marked shift from the historiography. For this generation of scholars, Prague is not only a city that is home to a fascinating and intriguing art historical moment but is also a city of early modern international connections. It provides a unique context for understanding communities, everyday experiences, religion, and culture in early modern Europe—a multilingual, multiconfessional, and multicultural mixing pot whose composition changed dramatically across the early modern period. Rudolf's court was certainly a catalyst for these crossings and encounters, but they did not fade away after his death in 1612, nor were they limited to the confines of the castle above the city.

RELIGIOUS CHANGE AND THE TIMING OF BAPTISM IN ENGLAND, 1538–1750

2009 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. M. KITSON
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Public Performance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Medieval Church ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Common Prayer

ABSTRACTThe religious reforms of the sixteenth century exerted a profound impact upon the liturgy of baptism in England. While historians' attention has been drawn to the theological debates concerning the making of the sign of the cross, the new baptism liturgy contained within the Book of common prayer also placed an innovative importance on the public performance of the rite in the presence of the whole congregation on Sundays and other holy days. Both religious radicals and conservatives contested this stress on ceremony and publicity throughout the early modern period. Through the collection of large numbers of baptism dates from parish registers, it is possible to measure adherence to these new requirements across both space and time. Before the introduction of the first prayer book in 1549, there was considerable uniformity among communities in terms of the timing of baptism, and the observed patterns are suggestive of conformity to the requirements of the late medieval church. After the mid-sixteenth century, parishes exhibited a range of responses, ranging from enthusiastic adoption by many communities to complete disregard in religiously conservative parts of Lancashire and Cheshire. Additionally, the popularity of saints' festivals as popular days for baptism fell markedly after 1660, suggesting a decline in the observance of these feasts.

Monastic Burials of Non-Patronal Lay Benefactors

1996 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 620-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Postles
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Burial Practices ◽  
Lay Persons ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
High Middle Ages ◽  
The Middle Ages

Choice of place of burial in the Middle Ages was perhaps the most poignant indicator of belief in the efficacy of different sorts of religious intercession. Ariès concluded that the pre-modern response to death was public and communitarian, becoming only latterly private and individualistic. Most recent reconsiderations of notions of death and burial have concentrated on the early modern period. For this period, the distinction made by Ariès between modern, private, individualistic burial practices and earlier public, communitarian rites, has been revised, both in the sense that this change occurred earlier than Ariès would allow and that other influences were at work, in particular the formative consequences of the Reformation. Research into death and burial in the later Middle Ages has tended to confirm the communitarian nature of the rites surrounding death and burial. Burial in the high Middle Ages has been reviewed from a much more pragmatic rather than theoretical perspective, as a consequence of which the wholly communitarian picture depicted by Ariès has hardly been challenged. Presented here, however, is some modification to the Ariès thesis, supported by some very particular evidence, burials of lay persons who were not of patronal status, in religious houses, within the wider context of burial practices in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in England.

Deconversion and Disaffiliation in Contemporary US Roman Catholicism

Horizons ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Beaudoin
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Spiritual Identity ◽  
Classroom Teaching ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
Evangelical Church ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Roman Catholics ◽  
The Church

Disaffiliation—when members of religious communities leave—has recently become a popular topic for theological and social scientific investigation. Today, fewer Roman Catholics than in recent memory describe themselves as strong members of their church. Many have left to seek other spiritual paths, and many of those who remain do not believe and practice as the Church teaches that they should. These essays propose that the theoretical framework of “deconversion” provides a broader and more effective way to understand forms of religious change that are occurring in contemporary America. In the classroom, teaching theology can take on a specific productive shape when the surrounding culture challenges theologians to take deconversion seriously as an element of, and larger context for, spiritual identity today. Theology remains vital when patient curiosity about the current adventure of religious identity is foregrounded pedagogically. Concluding thoughts sketch some important characteristics of an evangelical church, more concerned with its mission and witness in the world than with maintaining its internal life.

Systems Theory and Journalism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Scholl ◽  
Maja Malik
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Systems Theory ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Functional Differentiation ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Niklas Luhmann ◽  
External Observer

Observing, describing, and analyzing journalism as part of society requires theories on a macro level. Unlike normative theories, which criticize journalism with respect to its achievements and failures within society, systems theory operates with the concept of function in a non-normative sense. Based on the groundwork of Talcott Parsons’ theory of social systems, Niklas Luhmann developed systems theory further and radicalized it by strictly avoiding any kind of structural conservatism. His approach is built on the assumption that social systems operate autonomously on the basis of the functional differentiation to their environment. Macro-level systems, i.e., societal systems, fulfill unique functions for and within society. Functional autonomy and singularity make a modern society highly efficient but force each system to rely on the functional performances of all other societal systems. Hence, societal systems are structurally coupled and interdependent. Epistemologically, systems do not exist as ontological units but are strictly observer-related, be the observer the system itself or an external observer, such as the scientific community is. In journalism research, Luhmann’s systems theory has been applied to journalism as a societal system. Several competing approaches with different perspectives on the system observed (journalism, the mass media, or the public sphere) have been developed with respect to identifying the basic characteristics on which the system operates. Despite their differences they have this in common: journalism is not considered the sum of individual journalists and their (individual) way of working, instead, the systems-theoretical perspective is holistic. However, compared to theories of professionalism, which is also a holistic concept, systems theory neither identifies journalism with the profession of journalism, nor commits it to professional journalism. Instead, the structure of journalism is flexible, i.e., functionally equivalent, as long as its function is fulfilled. This function can be specified: journalism provides society periodically with current, independent, factual, and relevant information. Empirically, systems theory helps defining the population of journalists by deducing it from its function. Unlike mere empirical approaches, which arbitrarily draw samples from an unknown population, it is possible to clearly draw distinctions between journalism and other forms of public communication, such as public relations, advertising, propaganda, or lay communication. Still, it is challenging to operationalize such an abstract theory, as it is not specially made for hypothesis-driven research.

Women’s Religious Actions in the German Sectors of the Early Modern World

Daphnis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 603-619
Author(s):  
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Holy Roman Empire ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Political Boundaries ◽  
Global Connections

Germans were active in constructing transcultural experiences on a global scale – for better or worse – from Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 map on. Most of those who have been studied were men, but women traveled and migrated as well, and they supported those who did financially, institutionally, and emotionally. Their movements and actions have left fewer and more shadowy records than those of men, but a more gender-balanced account of global connections in the early modern period is emerging. This essay examines three ways in which German women’s actions shaped the early modern world in the realm of religion: women’s establishment of religious communities, women’s patronage of overseas missions, and women’s proselytizing, particularly that undertaken by Moravians. All of these built on networks and traditions established in Europe, but ones that already reached across political boundaries in the splintered world of the Holy Roman Empire, or beyond it to co-religionists in Prague, Paris, or Copenhagen.

Still Looking for Liberation? Lutherans in El Salvador and Nicaragua

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-70
Author(s):  
RICHARD M. CHAPMAN
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Central American ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Important Addition ◽  
Progressive Religion

AbstractLiberationist Christianity in Central America has faced considerable challenges adjusting to changing circumstances since 1990. Yet the political concerns and economic conditions that animated religious movements for liberation in the region have not disappeared, nor have adherents of progressive religion. Central American Lutherans embody a distinctive dialogue with liberationist religion, one not adequately treated or understood in existing studies focused on religious change and the state. In El Salvador and Nicaragua, Lutherans adapted perspectives from liberation theology through the resources of their own theological inheritance, but both this heritage and they themselves were equally shaped and transformed by their efforts to counter, survive and redeem the inhumanity and political violence of the societies they inhabited. The Lutheran story is an important addition to the current understanding of the diverse ways in which religious communities interacted with theologies and movements of liberation, and engaged with processes of social change in the Central American context.

scholarly journals THE DETERMINING FACTORS OF STUDENT INTENTION TO DONATE IN SOCIAL CROWDFUNDING MEDIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Cynthia Ayu Manggarani ◽  
Zulfikar Ali Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Social Activities ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
The People ◽  
Determining Factors

The issue of social crowdfunding has been widely discussed in various countries. In Indonesia, social crowdfunding media platforms are frequently used for social activities such as the donation for the victims of natural disasters or donation for people who suffer from financial deficiency. However, empirical research on social crowdfunding is finite. Even though the platform has been extensively used by the society, the lack of interest towards study in social crowdfunding is evident due to the obscureness of government regulations regarding the fundraising media. Considering the enormous contribution of social crowdfunding media for the people in need, the enthusiasm of the society to participate in the donation activities thus need to be elevated. This study aims to determine the degree of one’s motivation in trying to try to donate through social crowdfunding media. The data of this research was collected using survey method with a total of 300 respondents.

Key Questions and Methodological Preliminaries

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Detlef Pollack ◽  
Gergely Rosta
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Functional Differentiation ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
The Social ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
Special Case ◽  
Key Questions

Chapter 3 outlines the key questions of the book and the methodology that the book uses to deal with these questions. The questions are as follows: 1. To what extent are functional differentiation and religion compatible? 2. How does vertical differentiation affect the religious landscape? 3. Does the increasing diversity of the religious have a positive or a negative effect on the vitality of religious communities, organizations and markets? Is there a connection here at all? Can we understand the effects of religious pluralization as the relativization of religious claims to validity? Or does the competition between different religious and ideological providers trigger particular efforts to preserve and expand customer bases? In its methodology, the book relies on special case studies and comparative analyses; it integrates studies from the social sciences and history; it uses statistics and representative survey data; and it includes archival research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document