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It is sociology of a Bellah sort—historically informed, leery of easy generalizations, and respectful of religion—that is most helpful and, as the success of Habits shows, most accessible to busy church leaders. Still, sociology is not prophecy. As several authors in this volume warn, sociology still tends to bear its own "habits," reducing phenomena such as religion to things it can observe, count, and render into neat formulas. Indeed, sociology's great pioneers—Auguste Comte, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber, among others—were not exactly friends of evangelical Christianity, tending to see it and similar religious varieties as vestiges of a stage of human development that the world would soon transcend. Bellah himself, furthermore, testifies to his appreciation of G. W. F. Hegel and Paul Tillich—who hardly rank among Christianity's most orthodox exponents, even if they belong among its most provocative.

It is striking that in this entire volume of writers—many of whom are positively disposed in some way toward Christianity—there is not a single mention of the Holy Spirit, who, after all, blows where he will, without apparent regard for sociological analysis. And yet it is he who inspires the dry bones of our Christian institutions and makes them worship, work, and dance.

Sociology, therefore, is a better servant than master. Christians who carefully take up this tool in order to wield it by Christian principles, to Christian ends, will continue to find it a valuable gift of God-as so many of us thank God for the work of sociologists such as Robert Bellah.

John Stackhouse is the Sangwoo Youtong Chee professor of theology and culture at Regent College and author of Evangelical Landscapes: Facing Critical Issues of the Day (Baker Academic).

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also appearing on our site today:

CT Classic: Habits of the HearthCommunity, family, religion, and country according to sociologist Robert Bellah

Meaning and Modernity: Religion, Polity, and Self is available at Amazon.com. Habits of the Heart is available at Christianbook.com.

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research's Robert Bellah site features a biography, publications, and a complete up-to-date bibliography, as well as several of his articles, lectures and interviews.

Other Christianity Today articles by John Stackhouse include:

The True, the Good, and the Beautiful ChristianBeauty is making a comeback in science and theology. Will it find its place in the lives of believers? (January 7, 2002)

What Has Jerusalem to Do with Mecca? | Two new books on the world's religions raise new possibilities, and new questions, for evangelicals. (September 4, 2001)

Mind Over SkepticismPhilosopher Alvin Plantinga has defeated two of the greatest challenges to the Christian faith. (June 20, 2001)

The Seven Deadly SignsMinistries that think they can do no financial wrong deceive themselves. (June 30, 2000)

An Elder Statesman's PleaJohn Stott's 'little statement on evangelical faith' reveals the strengths and limitations of the movement he helped create. (Feb. 14, 2000)

The Battle for the Inclusive BibleConflicts over "gender-neutral" versions are not really about translation issues. (Nov. 5, 1999)

Finding a Home for EveWe are right to criticize radical feminist scholars—and wrong to ignore them. (Mar. 1, 1999)

The Jesus I'd Prefer to KnowSearching for the historical Jesus and finding oneself instead. (Dec. 7, 1998)

The Perils of Left and RightEvangelical theology is much bigger and richer than our two-party labels. (Aug. 10, 1998)

Bad Things Still HappenA concise, clear argument for how God can be both good and omnipotent. (July 13, 1998)

Fighting the Good FightA plea for healthy disagreements. (Oct. 6, 1997)

Confronting Canada's Secular SlideWhy Canadian evangelicals thrive in a culture often indifferent to religious faith. (July 18, 1994)

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July 8 2002, Vol. 46, No. 8