Religion Class And Denominationalism In The Us Sightings Joerg Rieger

This morning I'm not preaching as Central Woodward Christian Church welcomes the Rev. Carol Howard Merritt to the pulpit. Carol is our 2014 Perry Gresham Lecturer. In place of the sermon that normally goes here, I am sharing this piece by theologian Joerg Rieger that speaks to the relationship of class to denominationalism. In defining class he moves beyond simply economic realities, to power ones. I invite you to read and respond.

Religion, Class, and Denominationalism in the US

by JOERG RIEGER

Thursday Nov 6 2014

Image Credit: Vladimir Volodin / Shutterstock.com

Ever since H. Richard Niebuhr's book "The Social Sources of Denominationalism "(1929) there has been evidence that religious affiliation and class status are somehow connected.

In statistics published in a 2006 sociology textbook, this impression is confirmed, although the differences may not be as great as commonly assumed (see Kosmin " valign="top">

REFERENCES:

Kosmin, Barry and Ariela Keysar, "Religion in a Free Market and Non-Religious Americans Who, What, Why, Where". Ithaca, NY: Paramount Market Publishing, 2006. https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/stratification-inequality-and-social-class-in-the-u-s-9/consequences-of-social-class-77/religion-459-268.

For 2010 median household income see:http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr11-02.pdf.

Rieger, Joerg. "Religion, Theology, and Class: Fresh Engagements after Long Silence." Edited by Joerg Rieger. New Approaches to Religion and Power". "New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2013.

Niebuhr, Richard H. "The Social Sources of Denominationalism." 1929. Reprint, New York: Meridian Books, 1962.

Image Credit: Vladimir Volodin / Shutterstock.com.

Author, JOERG RIEGER, is Wendland-Cook Professor of Constructive Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He is the author and editor of 17 books, including "Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude "(with Kwok Pui-lan, 2012), "No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics, and the Future" (2009) and "Christ and Empire "(2007).

To comment, email the Managing Editor, Myriam Renaud, at DivSightings@gmail.com.

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