Secularisation revisited

13 January 2017

iStock

STEVE BRUCE has edited a new edition of a classic work of sociology by the late Bryan R. Wilson from 1966 (originally published by C. A. Watts, and praised as “a model for the sociology of religion”): Religion in Secular Society: Fifty years on (Oxford, £27.50 (£24.75); 978-0-19-878837-9). Bruce’s introduction sets the original book in context. His two appendices set out criticisms of the secularisation thesis, and consider the state of affairs in the UK and the United States half a century later.

Browse Church and Charity jobs on the Church Times jobsite

Book reviews

Tito’s turbulent priest

13 Jan 2017

How the Tracts really became acts

13 Jan 2017

Justifying the ways of God to man

13 Jan 2017

Notice board: ecumenical studies

13 Jan 2017

The Pope tweets

13 Jan 2017

Horizons widen in the East

13 Jan 2017

Church Times Bookshop

Save money on books reviewed or featured in the Church Times. To get your reader discount:

> Click on the “Church Times Bookshop” link at the end of the review.

> Call 01603 785905 (Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm).

The reader discount is valid for two months after the review publication date. E&OE

Forthcoming Events

Church Times Festival of Preaching 2026

13 - 15 September 2026

An event to inspire, nurture, and celebrate all who are called to proclaim the gospel today.

tickets available now

English Mystics Series course

26 January - 25 May 2026

A short course at Sarum College.

tickets available now

Visit our Events page for upcoming and past events

jobs.CHURCHTIMES

Job of the Week

Community Worker/Pioneer

London and Home Counties

The Red Trust Bushey (RTB) is a local Christian charity, which has a presence in and around the Little Reddings/Moatfield area of Bushey, Hertfordshire.

Appointments

Director of Faith and Public Life

London and Home Counties

The Faith and Public Life Department plays a central role in shaping the Church of England’s national engagement with public policy, ethics, interfaith relations and social impact.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Yorkshire and Lincs

The Trustees are seeking a hands-on visionary CEO to be both the strategic and operational lead for St Mary’s Community Centre.

Racial and Social Justice Enabler

North East

The Acting Bishop of Durham invites applications for the position of Racial and Social Justice Enabler.

Vocations Officer

West Midlands

We are looking for a Vocations Officer (incorporating the role of the Diocesan Director of Ordinands) who will be prayerful, imaginative and courageous in supporting and accompanying those discerning a call to lay and ordained vocations.

Find more jobs

The Church Times Archive

Read reports from issues stretching back to 1863, search for your parish or see if any of the clergy you know get a mention.

FREE for Church Times subscribers.

Explore the archive

Secularisation revisited

Other stories

Shopping — so religiously

Fish-and-chips legacy revisited

The boy as mentor of the man

British religion in the Fisher period

Growing weary of worldly rhetoric?

Tale of the unexpected