Faith and Existential Security: Making Deuteronomy 8 Respond to a Current Sociological Theory
Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, two well-known and influential sociologists, suggest that there is an inverse relationship between religiosity and existential security. The higher existential security a society can offer, the less likely its members will be religious. This Norris-Inglehart theory...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2017]
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 68, Issue: 2, Pages: 530-550 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Norris, Pippa 1953-
/ Inglehart, Ronald 1934-2021
/ Bible. Deuteronomium 8
/ Religiosity
/ Existence
/ Security
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CB Christian life; spirituality HB Old Testament NBE Anthropology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, two well-known and influential sociologists, suggest that there is an inverse relationship between religiosity and existential security. The higher existential security a society can offer, the less likely its members will be religious. This Norris-Inglehart theory has been fiercely criticized by other sociologists. Many claim that it presupposes an impoverished picture of what religion does because it suggests that religion is only a crutch for the vulnerable. The aim of this essay is to offer a biblical reflection on the Norris-Inglehart secularization theory. Although many biblical passages address the relationship between faith and existential security, in this article I concentrate only on Deuteronomy 8. I find that this biblical passage can be taken as affirming many observations of Norris and Inglehart. However, the text’s interpretations of these observations are sometimes markedly different from that of Norris and Inglehart. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flx151 |