How the West really lost God : a new theory of secularization /
Mary Eberstadt.
- West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania : Templeton Press, 2013.
- 1 online resource
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Does secularization even exist? -- What is the conventional story line about how the West lost God? What are the problems with it? -- Circumstantial evidence for a "family factor", part one: the empirical links among marriage, childbearing, and religiosity -- Circumstantial evidence for the "family factor", part two: snapshots of the demographic record, or, How fundamental changes in family formation have accompanied the decline of Christianity in the West -- Circumstantial evidence for the "family factor", part three: because the "family factor" explains problems that existing theories of secularization do not explain, including what is known as "American exceptionalism" -- Assisted religious suicide: how some churches participated in their own downfall by ignoring the family factor -- Putting all the pieces together: toward an alternative anthropology of Christian belief -- The future of faith and family: the case for pessimism -- The future of faith and family: the case for optimism -- Conclusion: why does any of this matter?
In this magisterial work, leading cultural critic Mary Eberstadt delivers a powerful new theory about the decline of religion in the Western world. The conventional wisdom is that the West first experienced religious decline, followed by the decline of the family. Eberstadt turns this standard account on its head. Marshalling an impressive array of research, from fascinating historical data on family decline in pre-Revolutionary France to contemporary popular culture both in the United States and Europe, Eberstadt shows that the reverse has also been true: the undermining of the family ha.
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