Falling from the Faith : Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostasy

Renewed interest in religious affiliation has stimulated growth of scholarly concern with disaffiliation - partly in response to the process of disaffiliation from some of the new religious cults. Falling From the Faith: Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostasy brings together research on disaffiliation by leading scholars in the field, exemplifying the current state of knowledge on this increasingly important subject. The volume is divided into two main sections, disaffiliation from mainline churches and from alternative religious groups, emphasising the different approaches used to study each and suggesting issues for future work. The contributors suggest that the patterns of disaffiliation disclose a historic restructuring of the place of religion in the social order and that understanding the individual disaffiliation process will lead to an understanding of religious social relations in the late 20th century. The volume is thus a useful tool for sociologists interested in the study of religion in today's society and an essential text for courses in religion.Bromley, David G. is the author of 'Falling from the Faith : Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostasy' with ISBN 9780783765907 and ISBN 0783765908.