Abstract
In this fiftieth anniversary reissue of Bryan Wilson’s 1966 Religion in Secular Society, Steve Bruce updates the text of Wilson’s second edition (1969) for sake of conforming it to contemporary standards as well as offering his own annotations (pp. viii–ix). Bruce also includes his own introduction to the text (pp. vii–xix) and two appendices—the first responding to the criticisms of Wilson’s secularization thesis (pp. 231–40), and the second arguing for the ongoing relevance of Wilson’s work in both the UK and the USA (pp. 241–58).
With the aim of understanding religion as social phenomena (pp. 3–11), Wilson’s descriptive argument proceeds in four parts. In part one, Wilson begins by describing the decline of religious participation in England (ch. 1) before examining the dynamics of secularization through Christianity’s historically observed adaptability to surrounding social contexts (ch. 2), its adopted pragmatism and privatization in an increasingly rational, technological, diverse, and democratic world (chs 3–4), and the diminishing role of a diminished clergy in a secularized world in which the clerical office seeks in different ways to answer questions concerning its own legitimacy (ch. 5). In part two, Wilson contrasts the pattern of secularization in America with that of England noting how America’s move to disestablish religion from the outset, combined with its being a nation of immigrants interested in fostering a sense of community, translated into higher rates of religious participation, but in religiosities that themselves were expressions of the converging forces of secularization (chs 6–7). In parts three and four, the ecumenical movement (chs 8–10) and the existence of sects and denominations (chs 11–12) are also intrinsically related to secularization.
Wilson’s thick descriptions are at certain points pessimistic, but overall incisive. As Bruce observes: ‘Many critics of the secularization thesis misrepresent it as requiring the complete eradication of religion. Wilson was very clear that by secularization he meant, not the disappearance of religion, but the decline of its social significance’ (pp. 246–7). In this regard, Bruce greatly succeeds in demonstrating how Wilson has been unfairly misrepresented and dismissed throughout the years while at the same time revealing the argumentative holes in the theses that have instead been favored, e.g., the ‘supply-side’ thesis of Rodney Stark (pp. 236–40). Along such lines, Bruce’s efforts to bring Wilson’s sociological descriptions to a new audience are to be commended and fully considered.