"Cutting through clichés like 'cafeteria Catholics' and going beyond the false dichotomies like 'spiritual versus religious, ' Jerome Baggett's sensitive probing yields great insights into the different ways of being Catholic in America-ways that manifest depth and richness, but which also show severe limitations. Essential reading for those who would understand rather than pontificate."--Charles Taylor, Northwestern University, author of A Secular Age
"As everything from extremist cults to right-wing religious crusaders occupies the attention of newscasters and many scholars, American Catholics remain understudied and poorly understood. Jerome Baggett's fine book changes that. Now at last we have an authoritative and engagingly written study of practicing Catholics at the grassroots and close up. Readers who thought religion was waning except on the margins will have their views challenged again and again." --Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University, author of After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion
"American Catholicism is undergoing dramatic cultural and demographic changes. Yet we know far too little about what that looks, sounds, and feels like on the ground among ordinary Catholics -- much less what it all means. Sense of the Faithful helps to remedy this problem, offering a well-informed and enlightening view of Catholic faith viewed from the grassroots. It will stimulate important conversations." --Christian Smith, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, co-author of Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money
"Sense of the Faithful provides useful information, wise insights and a 'conversation piece' for pastoral ministers and parishioners." --The Evangelist
"Important and insightful...Sense of the Faithful is an innovative and probing work. Consider this a must read for those following the 'messiness' of post-Vatican II 'lived' Catholicism, and for scholars probing the complexities of America's ever-zany free market religious economy."--Sociology of Religion
"Important reading for those who are in parish ministry and planning."--The Catholic Review
"This is a fine book that stands at the end of a series of books about American Catholics and lived religioni." --Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
Review
"Cutting through clichés like 'cafeteria Catholics' and going beyond the false dichotomies like 'spiritual versus religious,' Jerome Baggett's sensitive probing yields great insights into the different ways of being Catholic in America-ways that manifest depth and richness, but which also show severe limitations. Essential reading for those who would understand rather than pontificate."--Charles Taylor, Northwestern University, author of A Secular Age
"As everything from extremist cults to right-wing religious crusaders occupies the attention of newscasters and many scholars, American Catholics remain understudied and poorly understood. Jerome Baggett's fine book changes that. Now at last we have an authoritative and engagingly written study of practicing Catholics at the grassroots and close up. Readers who thought religion was waning except on the margins will have their views challenged again and again." --Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University, author of After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion
"American Catholicism is undergoing dramatic cultural and demographic changes. Yet we know far too little about what that looks, sounds, and feels like on the ground among ordinary Catholics -- much less what it all means. Sense of the Faithful helps to remedy this problem, offering a well-informed and enlightening view of Catholic faith viewed from the grassroots. It will stimulate important conversations." --Christian Smith, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, co-author of Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money
"Sense of the Faithful provides useful information, wise insights and a 'conversation piece' for pastoral ministers and parishioners." --The Evangelist
"Important and insightful...Sense of the Faithful is an innovative and probing work. Consider this a must read for those following the 'messiness' of post-Vatican II 'lived' Catholicism, and for scholars probing the complexities of America's ever-zany free market religious economy."--Sociology of Religion
"Important reading for those who are in parish ministry and planning."--The Catholic Review
"This is a fine book that stands at the end of a series of books about American Catholics and lived religioni." --Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
About the Author
Professor of Religion and Society at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley.
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