American Religion

A completely updated and expanded third edition of the most authoritative resource on religious trends in America Since it was first published, American Religion has established itself as the essential source on key developments in American religion. Now fully revised, it provides the best and most up-to-date information about religious trends in the United States in a succinct and accessible way, including developments in diversity, belief, involvement, congregational life, leadership, polarization, and more. The book draws on the latest data from two key surveys: the General Social Survey, an ongoing survey of Americans’ changing attitudes and behaviors, begun in 1972; and the National Congregations Study, a survey of American religious congregations across the religious spectrum, begun in 1998. It also now incorporates findings from the National Survey of Religious Leaders, which surveyed clergy about their beliefs, attitudes, and religious and civic activities. With a new preface by Mark Chaves that casts doubt on the popular notion that there is a religious resurgence in the United States, American Religion reveals how the number of intensely religious Americans continues to decline, how people do not go to church as often as they claim, how the decline in liberal Protestant denominations has been accompanied by the spread of liberal Protestant attitudes about religious and social tolerance, and a host of other crucial trends.