The Future of Christianity: Reflections on Violence and Democracy, Religion and Secularization

Stackhouse, John G., Jr., The Christian Century

The Future of Christianity: Reflections on Violence and Democracy, Religion and Secularization

By David Martin

Ashgate, 240 pp., $29.95 paperback

David Martin concludes his introduction to this book--perhaps the best introductory mapping I have ever read of a collection of complex essays--with a description of his book as "a modest exercise." But don't be fooled. It is anything but. It is also not a book about the future of Christianity. Martin himself demurs from the title when he writes, "Even the best observers failed to anticipate the crucial events of the past half century."

So what is it? It is the richest, most controversial book of essays I have read in a long time. Martin disagrees with more bien-pensant thinking in fewer pages than any writer I've ever encountered as the juggernaut of his learning rolls across the landscape of contemporary scholarship and punditry, crushing all who get in its way while laying down a helpful road for all who follow.

Professor emeritus of sociology at the London School of Economics (from which he earned his Ph.D.) and fellow of the British Academy, Martin is the greatest living British sociologist of religion and, for my money, the best anywhere at what he does. He immerses himself in historical, ethnographic, …

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Publication information: Article title: The Future of Christianity: Reflections on Violence and Democracy, Religion and Secularization. Contributors: Stackhouse, John G., Jr. - Author. Magazine title: The Christian Century. Volume: 129. Issue: 10 Publication date: May 16, 2012. Page number: 40+. © 2009 The Christian Century Foundation. COPYRIGHT 2012 Gale Group.

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