A response to the depletion of the rhetoric of sociology and the spiritual capital of theology, this volume explores the remains of Christianity that still lurk as portents in a progressively de-Christianised society seeking replacements for belief. With the sociologist set in the role of an oracle seeking traces of Christianity in a discipline in which the intrusion of theological understandings has become harder to resist, it offers a narrative of belief following the direction of an exemplary portent: the finger. Through the exploration of broad trends in culture and modern history, this study, informed by interactionist thought, examines both the place of sociology in Christian theology, and the failure of theology to connect to its surrounding culture, asking how the two disciplines might meld profitably together. As such, it will appeal to social theorists and theologians, as well as sociologists with interests in religion, culture and secularisation.

About the Author

Kieran Flanagan is Senior Research Fellow in the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies at the University of Bristol, UK. He is the author of: Sociological Noir: Irruptions and the Darkness of Modernity (2017); Sociology in Theology: Reflexivity and Belief (2007); Seen and Unseen: Visual Culture, Sociology and Theology (2004); The Enchantment of Sociology: A Study of Theology and Culture (1996); Sociology and Liturgy: Re-presentations of the Holy (1991); and co-editor with Peter C. Jupp of: Sociology of Spirituality (2007); Virtue Ethics and Sociology: Issues of Modernity and Religion (2001); and Postmodernity, Sociology and Religion (1996).

Reviews

"Much like Simmel, Flanagan moves sociology back to humanity [...]. In consequence, at this moment in time, he offers us a most needed humane, that is theological, sociology." - Michal Luczewski, Journal of Contemporary Religion

Book Information
ISBN 9781032322803
Author Kieran Flanagan
Format Hardback
Page Count 298
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 730g