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Oxford University Press, USA
The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders Are Changing the Religious Landscape
The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders Are Changing the Religious Landscape
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Why, when traditionally organized religious groups are seeing declining membership and participation, are networks of independent churches growing so explosively? Drawing on in-depth interviews with leaders and participants, The Rise of Network Christianity explains the social forces behind
the fastest-growing form of Christianity in the U.S., which Brad Christerson and Richard Flory have labeled Independent Network Charismatic. This form of Christianity emphasizes aggressive engagement with the supernatural-including healing, direct prophecies from God, engaging in spiritual
warfare against demonic spirits--and social transformation. Christerson and Flory argue that macro-level social changes since the 1970s, including globalization and the digital revolution, have given competitive advantages to religious groups organized as networks rather than traditionally
organized congregations and denominations.
Network forms of governance allow for experimentation with controversial supernatural practices, innovative finances and marketing, and a highly participatory, unorthodox, and experiential faith, which is attractive in today's unstable religious marketplace. Christerson and Flory hypothesize that as
more religious groups imitate this type of governance, religious belief and practice will become more experimental, more orientated around practice than theology, more shaped by the individual religious consumer, and authority will become more highly concentrated in the hands of individuals rather
than institutions. Network Christianity, they argue, is the future of Christianity in America.
Author: Brad Christerson, Richard Flory
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 03/01/2017
Pages: 200
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 9.30h x 5.90w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780190635671
Review Citation(s):
Choice 08/01/2017
the fastest-growing form of Christianity in the U.S., which Brad Christerson and Richard Flory have labeled Independent Network Charismatic. This form of Christianity emphasizes aggressive engagement with the supernatural-including healing, direct prophecies from God, engaging in spiritual
warfare against demonic spirits--and social transformation. Christerson and Flory argue that macro-level social changes since the 1970s, including globalization and the digital revolution, have given competitive advantages to religious groups organized as networks rather than traditionally
organized congregations and denominations.
Network forms of governance allow for experimentation with controversial supernatural practices, innovative finances and marketing, and a highly participatory, unorthodox, and experiential faith, which is attractive in today's unstable religious marketplace. Christerson and Flory hypothesize that as
more religious groups imitate this type of governance, religious belief and practice will become more experimental, more orientated around practice than theology, more shaped by the individual religious consumer, and authority will become more highly concentrated in the hands of individuals rather
than institutions. Network Christianity, they argue, is the future of Christianity in America.
Author: Brad Christerson, Richard Flory
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 03/01/2017
Pages: 200
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 9.30h x 5.90w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780190635671
Review Citation(s):
Choice 08/01/2017
About the Author
Brad Christerson is Professor of Sociology at Biola University.
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