Research has shown the important role of religious social networks in fostering benevolence, but some questions have remained: Why are people who frequently pray or attend church more generous with their time and money? Why does one religious group rather than another get involved in certain forms of outreach? Drawing on an extensive survey of 1,200 Christian men and women across the United States, as well as 120 in-depth interviews, Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma, and Stephen G. Post offer a deeper and more nuanced study of religion and benevolence, finding that it is the experience of God as loving that activates religious networks and moves people to do good for others. Lee, Poloma and Post show that, for many Americans, love underlies both authoritative and benevolent images of God. The authors discover that encounters with God's love are frequent-eight out of ten respondents to the survey said that that they had felt God's love increasing their compassion for others-and that such experiences take on very different meanings depending on social context. These encounters can be intensely transformative, both for individuals and their communities. The book provides countless examples of how receiving God's love, loving God, and expressing this love impacted the lives of the Christians they interviewed. Some began to provide community service, others to strive for social justice, still others to seek to redefine religion and the meaning of "church " in America. Many of the interviewees discarded the judgmental image of God they knew as children in favor of a loving and accepting representation of God that is more consistent with their direct, personal, and affectively intense experiences. The Heart of Religion will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in how perceptions of God affect communities in America.
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Drawing on an extensive survey of 1,200 Christian men and women across the United States, as well as 120 in-depth interviews, Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma, and Stephen G. Post offer a deeper and more nuanced study of religion and benevolence, finding that it is the experience of God as loving that activates religious networks and moves people to do good for others.
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Acknowledgements ; List of Tables and Figures ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Why Should We Care about Godly Love? ; Chapter 2: Diversities in the Experience and Expression of Godly Love ; Chapter 3: Introducing the Exemplars of Godly Love ; Chapter 4: Partnering with the Divine: Spiritual Transformation and Godly Love ; Chapter 5: The Breath of Prayer: Energizing Godly Love ; Chapter 6: The Cup of Suffering and Joy: Divine Love and Healing ; Chapter 7: Human Partners and Godly Love: Relationships Forming Fluid Networks ; Chapter 8: Benevolence in the Eyes of the Beholder: Effects of Social Filters ; Conclusion: Cultural Grids and Biblical Holes ; Notes ; Index
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This is an important and timely text...This is among the first studies to shed real light on the processes whereby powerful experiences of divine love engender efforts to foster a more socially just world. Accordingly, this book is likely to be of interest to anyone interested in how spirituality is impacting contemporary culture.
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"This is an important and timely text...This is among the first studies to shed real light on the processes whereby powerful experiences of divine love engender efforts to foster a more socially just world. Accordingly, this book is likely to be of interest to anyone interested in how spirituality is impacting contemporary culture." --Sociology of Religion "The Heart of Religion is a compelling study of people who manifest the love of God they themselves have experienced, calling readers to a similarly full life 'thriving while serving others, loving as you have been loved, living a life of meaning.'" --PRISM "Lee, Poloma, and Post give an incisive analysis of what can be considered the core element of religious involvement: namely, love. Among the virtues of this volume are the national-level survey data and the qualitative data used to explore processes and experiences related to religiously inspired love. The Heart of Religion avoids simplistic portrayals of the subject by recognizing that godly love is often forged in the crucible of suffering, and that expressions of godly love vary across social contexts and life circumstances. This volume demonstrates that thoughtful scientific investigations can and must take seriously the dynamics and experiences that are central to religion. It will offer an important correction to a longstanding oversight in the social scientific study of religion."--John Bartkowski, Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio "God's love heals, energizes, and transforms. 'Super-charged' by divine love, people can accomplish great things. Blending sociological and spiritual perspectives, the authors provide powerful illustrations of how divine love leads people to respond to the needs of the world. In a world of hurt and brokenness, two themes especially stand out: (1) love transcends all of our differences, and (2) divine love makes it possible to love the unlovable. This is a book full of compelling and inspiring insights into the divine origins of the greatest commandment."--Robert A. Emmons, Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology
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Selling point: New national survey including important questions on religious experience and altruism/benevolence Selling point: Conclusions based on data from many different denominational and demographic groups Selling point: Bold thesis that the ''heart'' of religion in America is love
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Matthew T. Lee is Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Akron. He is co-author, with Margaret Poloma, of A Sociological Study of the Great Commandment in Pentecostalism. Margaret M. Poloma is Research Professor of Sociology, University of Akron. She is the author of Main Street Mystics, among other books. Stephen G. Post is the President of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love (www.unlimitedloveinstitute.com), the author of The Hidden Gifts of Helping, and a Professor of Medical Humanities at Stony Brook University.
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Selling point: New national survey including important questions on religious experience and altruism/benevolence Selling point: Conclusions based on data from many different denominational and demographic groups Selling point: Bold thesis that the ''heart'' of religion in America is love
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780199931880
Publisert
2013
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press Inc
Vekt
544 gr
Høyde
165 mm
Bredde
236 mm
Dybde
28 mm
Aldersnivå
U, P, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
320

Biographical note

ML: Interim Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Akron; MP: Research Professor of Sociology, University of Akron, SP: Professor of Preventive Medicine, Head of the Division of Medicine in Society, Stony Brook University