Rodney Stark Quotes

The success of the West, including the rise of science, rested entirely on religious foundations, and the people who brought it about were devout Christians.

Theology is in disrepute among most Western intellectuals. The word is taken to mean a passe form of religious thinking that embraces irrationality and dogmatism. So too, Scholasticism.

Not only were science and religion compatible, they were inseparable--th e rise of science was achieved by deeply religious Christian scholars.

Many people who say they have no religion are simply saying they have no official religious affiliation. They may actually have strong personal beliefs.

For one, thing, the media are dominated by the irreligious. So are universities.

People value religion on the basis of cost, and they don't value the cheapest ones the most. Religions that ask nothing get nothing.

It has been said of many modern Christian theologians that their primary aim is to find ways to express disbelief as belief.

It seems that not being religious is a form of risk-taking, consistent with other patterns of short-sighted behaviour in men.

America is an unusually religious nation.

No other single innovation had so much impact on history.

The overwhelming majority of social scientists were irreligious or even anti-religious. This led them to believe that religion was a disappearing and unimportant factor in human affairs.

[Some men are shortsighted, so] going to prison or going to hell just doesn't matter to these men.

It can be demonstrated that in any society there is a distribution of religious tastes and concerns.

Not only were science and religion compatible, they were inseparable--the rise of science was achieved by deeply religious Christian scholars.