Rodney Stark is an American sociologist of religion. After teaching at the University of Washington for 32 years, Stark moved to Baylor University in 2004. He is a major and respected advocate of the application of Rational choice theory in the sociology of religion. // The sociology of religion is primarily the study of the practices, social structures, historical backgrounds, development, universal themes, and roles of religion in society. ... The University of Washington, founded in 1861, is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. ... Baylor University is a private, Baptist-affiliated research university located in Waco, Texas. ... Rational choice theory assumes human behavior is guided by instrumental reason. ... // The sociology of religion is primarily the study of the practices, social structures, historical backgrounds, development, universal themes, and roles of religion in society. ...

One of Stark's hallmarks is treating the religions he studies and writes about with respect. Stark has been exceptionally private about his own religious beliefs, or lack thereof.

Bibliography

Stark has published 27 books and 138 articles according to his Curriculum Vitae. The list below is incomplete; see his Curriculum Vitae for the full list.

Books

Sociology of Religion

• The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult formation (1985), with William Sims Bainbridge
• The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History (1996)
• Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion (2000), with Roger Finke
• One True God: Historical Consequence of Monotheism (2001)
• For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery (2003)
• Exploring the Religious Life (2004)
• The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success (2005)
• The Rise of Mormonism (2005)
• Cities of God: The Real Story of How Christianity Became an Urban Movement and Conquered Rome (2006)

Dr. William Sims Bainbridge (October 12, 1940 - present) is an innovative American sociologist who currently resides in Virginia. ... The Rise of Christianity, (subtitled either A sociologist reconsiders history or How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries, depending on the edition) is a book by the sociologist Rodney Stark, which examines the rise of Christianity from a...

General Sociology

• Sociology (1985) an introductory college sociology text that has been through ten editions as of 2007.

Articles

• John Lofland and Rodney Stark Becoming a World-Saver: A Theory of Conversion to a Deviant Perspective American Sociological Review of 1965. (an early and influential conversion theory based on the observations of the then little known Unification Church)
• Rodney Stark and Williams Sims Bainbridge (1979) Of Churches, Sects, and Cults: Preliminary Concepts for a Theory of Religious Movements Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 18, no 2: 117-33

Additional biographical source: Rodney Stark. "On Theory-Driven Methods." Pp. 175-196 in The Craft of Religious Studies, edited by Jon R. Stone. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998. The Unification Church is a new religious movement started by Sun Myung Moon in Korea in the 1940s. ...

External links

• Rodney Stark his homepage
• Stark interrogated in court as an expert
• The Victory of Reason, a french version review
• How Christianity (and Capitalism) Led to Science is an on-line article by Stark available only to subscribers