According to new research in the sociology of religion, secularization has increased rapidly in the past ten years, even in countries that were previously strongly Christian. “We are observing a rapid ...

The idea of secularization is fundamental to contemporary debates over the sociology of religion. As sociologist Steve Bruce puts the issue succinctly, “The basic proposition is that modernization ...

Scholars studying religion as a social institution have struggled to explain two contradictory trends. Secularization theory posits America as increasingly less religious, yet religious participation ...