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Title: Spiritual, but Not Religious: Understanding Unchurched America by Robert C. Fuller ISBN: 0-19-514680-8 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: January, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Do Americans Still Believe in Religion?
Comment: Quite frequently, when someone talks about religious life in America, it is common to hear news that sounds somewhat negative. "America is not quite as religious as was in the past", experts say. "They don't have the commitment to religious places of worship like they once did and they don't follow the strict moral code of their ancestors".
Author Robert Fuller is a professor of Religious Studies at Bradley University and he has studied extensively about this "flight" away from traditional religion. But what Fuller has found is that Americans are still believers in a higher being and they still consider themselves moral beings. The difference between now and then is that today, Americans tend to express their religious feelings in a more inward way, and they don't participate actively in organized religion. This is the new face of religion in America, and it is examined in this book, "Spiritual, but not Religious: Understanding unchurched America".
Fuller points out some revealing statistics that shows the movement of Americans away from tradition houses of worship and over to a more personal relationship with God. Americans don't like the standardized formula that is so prevalent in most churches. They want to express themselves in their own, unique way. And they want to rely more on the power of their own minds to get in touch with spiritual feelings.
Fuller writes mostly about the history of spirituality in America and the trends of the past two centuries that have gotten us where we are today. He doesn't dwell much on the present state of spirituality and why Americans are increasingly attracted to this as an alternative to traditional religion. This is one of the drawbacks of the book, in my opinion. It's good to know about the history and how we got where we are. But I would like to know more about the present- day spiritualists and why they feel so strongly about their mode of practice.
Fuller presents some good, thought- provoking material on the history of spirituality in America and what we can expect in the future. The nation is becoming more and more diverse all the time, and that includes diversity in religious beliefs as well as in cultural backgrounds. Churches will need to find more and more ways to accommodate these "drifters" who prefer their own method of religious practice to that of customary churches. If churches ignore this, Fuller predicts that they will continue to lose more and more members. Something must be done if American churches hope to grow and thrive in the new century.
Rating: 4
Summary: Very interesting
Comment: Fuller provides readers with a fascinating survey of spiritual movements through American history that took place largely beyond the pale of "organized religion." He presents a convincing case that the spiritual seeking and experiementation that we see in our own day is nothing new. Particular attention is given to common themes such as the pantheism and other Eastern influences, mesmerism and other psycological experiences, and individualism.
Fuller clearly has a point of view that will irk Christian readers - he certainly seems to applaud spirituality divorced from orthodox Christianity. But Christians who want to seriously engage their culture will find this book terribly interesting. We should be challenged to remember that our own faith should not be conventional and enslaved to the culture, but should be counter-cultural, life-changing, and authentic. Perhaps those who know Christ and have the SPirit within them should be more often characterized as spiritual but not religious.
Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent resource
Comment: This book is an excellent resource for congregations reaching out to a wider community than their own worship community. Often it provides more questions than answers, but the book forces the reader to analyze how her or his congregation is responding to the needs of the 40% of Americans who have no connection with organized religion.
The author provides a comprehensive history of alternative spiritual practices, which many of us believe erroneously are new
to our society. For those of us who find our spirituality based in community worship, this book provides thought-provoking challenges to our beliefs while also providing insights into how people reach a mature level of spirituality outside conventional religions.
I read the introduction and first chapter, "The Emergence of Unchurched Traditions," in order, and then chapter subtitles such as,"The New Ecclecticism in American Religion," and "Psychological Spirituality," piqued my interest, and I skipped around in the book for further reading. I borrowed the book from a friend, but then I ordered my own copy so I could highlight sections and make notes on pages.
I recommend this book to anyone looking for ways to broaden their own spirituality and understanding of how and why people pursue a particular style of spirituality. I also recommend it to members of congregations who have a strong spirit of reaching out in unconventional ways to the larger community--possibly even to the unchurched.
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Title: Spiritual Marketplace: Baby Boomers and the Remaking of American Religion. by Wade Clark Roof ISBN: 0691089965 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation by Diana L. Eck ISBN: 0060621591 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 28 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: After Heaven: Spirituality in America Since the 1950s by Robert Wuthnow ISBN: 0520222288 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: The Next American Spirituality: Finding God in the Twenty-First Century by Timothy Jones, George, Jr. Gallup ISBN: 0781433169 Publisher: Chariot Victor Pub Pub. Date: May, 2000 List Price(USD): $18.99 |
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Title: Surveying the Religious Landscape: Trends in U.S. Beliefs by D. Michael Lindsay, George Gallup Jr. ISBN: 0819217964 Publisher: Morehouse Publishing Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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