High on God : how megachurches won the heart of America /
Humans are homo duplex, seeking to be individuals but knowing this is only possible in communities. Thus, humans struggle to integrate these two sides of their nature. Megachurches have been enormously successful at resolving this struggle. How do they do it, and what is it about their structure and...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York, NY :
Oxford University Press,
2019.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | Humans are homo duplex, seeking to be individuals but knowing this is only possible in communities. Thus, humans struggle to integrate these two sides of their nature. Megachurches have been enormously successful at resolving this struggle. How do they do it, and what is it about their structure and rituals that makes so many feel as if they are high on God? The affective energies and emotional valences that characterize religious ecstasy are the primary focus of our study of megachurches. Empirically, humans want and desire forms of what Randall Collins calls 'emotional energy.' Drawing on extensive qualitative and quantitative data on 12 nationally representative megachurches, we identify six desires that megachurches evoke and meet: acceptance, awe and spiritual stimulation, reliable leadership, deliverance, purpose, and solidarity in a community of like-minded others. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xviii, 327 pages) : illustrations (black and white). |
| Audience: | Specialized. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780190053949 0190053941 9780190065102 0190065109 9780199827725 0199827729 |