Richard K. Fenn's Books

On Losing the Soul

Essays in the Social Psychology of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

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On Losing the Soul

Essays in the Social Psychology of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

This book introduces the notion of the soul and explores some of the indications, causes, and consequences for its being missing, especially in discussions of individuality.

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Page Count

264

Publisher

SUNY Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0791424936

ISBN 13

9780791424933

The Persistence of Purgatory

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Richard K. Fenn focuses on the significance of time in modern society, and why we take it so seriously. He traces contemporary western attitudes toward time back to the doctrine and myth of Purgatory. Fenn makes a provocative case that especially for Americans the sense of the scarcity of time is a sign of social character, shaped by a 'purgatorial complex'. He demonstrates the impact of Purgatory on Protestant preachers such as Baxter and Channing, but also argues that Locke's views of religion, education and the nature of the state can only be understood in this context. Seriousness about time has become evidence of the good faith of the citizen. Novelists like Robbins, Mailer, Vonnegut and Brautigan portray a society that oppresses the individual through time constraints. For Dickens, America seemed a purgatorial wasteland: a place where time is always of the essence.

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Page Count

232

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521568552

ISBN 13

9780521568555

The American Culture of Despair

The Sacred, Secularity, and the Test of Time

By: Richard K. Fenn

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The American Culture of Despair

The Sacred, Secularity, and the Test of Time

By: Richard K. Fenn

Recent developments have made many social scientists and commentators wonder whether the United States is still a relatively modern, secular, and democratic society. Instead, America shows signs of the cultural despair that preceded the rise of fascism in Nazi Germany. Taking a careful look at such critical moments as the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Depression, the assassination of President Lincoln, and the eves both of the Civil War and of the American Revolution, this book shows that Americans have long shown authoritarian and even fascist tendencies: signs of despair that the nation is running out of time. In these critical moments, it finds evidence of a regressive cycle consisting of crisis, followed by the sanctification of central authority, and further crisis. With its deep roots in Anglo-American culture, the current crisis awaits decisive resolution.

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Page Count

181

Publisher

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1527510336

ISBN 13

9781527510333

Revival: The Return of the Primitive (2001)

A New Sociological Theory of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Revival: The Return of the Primitive (2001)

A New Sociological Theory of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

This title was first published in 2001. This work presents a sociological theory of religion. Richard K. Fenn demonstrates that the shape of the sacred depends on what aspects of the psyche and of the environment seem to be beyond the pale of the human and the social, that is, the primitive. Whatever is anti-social or subhuman, and whatever subverts the reign of convention, or whatever defies notions of reason, represents the primitive. Indeed, the primitive represents the range of possibilities that excluded us from any society or social system. That is why hell is so often populated by those who are partly bestial, or crooked and corrupting. If there is to be a renewal of Christian thinking and aspiration in our time, it has to come from a rediscovery of the dream: not only in the metaphorical sense of a vision, perhaps of racial equality, but in the quite literal sense of the individual's own reservoir of suppressed and unconscious memories and yearnings, magical thinking and wounded or grandiose self-imagery.

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Page Count

216

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351740806

ISBN 13

9781351740807

Beyond Idols

The Shape of a Secular Society

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Beyond Idols

The Shape of a Secular Society

By: Richard K. Fenn

This book attempts to articulate the nature of a secular society, describe its benefits, and suggests the conditions under which such a society could emerge. To become secular, argues Fenn, is to open oneself and one's society to a wide range of possibilities, some interesting and exciting, some burdensome and dreadful. While some sociologists have argued that a "Civil Religion" is necessary to hold together our newly "religionless" society, Fenn urges that there is nothing to fear--and everything to gain--from living in a society that is not bound together by sacred memories and beliefs, or by sacred institutions and practices.

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Page Count

208

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190286733

ISBN 13

9780190286736

The Spirit of Revolt

By: Richard K. Fenn

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The Spirit of Revolt

By: Richard K. Fenn

To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.

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214

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

084767522X

ISBN 13

9780847675227

Dreams of Glory

The Sources of Apocalyptic Terror

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Dreams of Glory

The Sources of Apocalyptic Terror

By: Richard K. Fenn

Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are engaged not in a 'clash of civilizations' but in a sectarian conflict among branches of a single civilization traditionally steeped in apocalyptic imagery and beliefs. Apocalypticism is a religious luxury that modern civilizations can no longer afford. Many would agree that the propagandists of the Christian Right have raised apocalyptic tensions to a dangerous level since 9/11, but in this book Richard Fenn takes on the mainline church leaders for their role in promoting an apocalyptic view of history. Those who keep apocalyptic beliefs in a respectable place in religious faith and practice must bear their share of responsibility for global terror. It is not only tragic but ironic that the churches have given apocalyptic literature such a respectable place in their sacred texts, because the apocalyptic imagination itself has its sources in non-Biblical literature: the Hellenistic prophesies that gave comfort and courage to the victims of war in the near and middle east from the time of Alexander the Great and Darius. Fenn goes on to hold apocalyptic enthusiasts in the mainline churches, as well as on the Right, responsible for keeping old grievances alive in their demands for a day of final reckoning, and he demonstrates that totalitarian and imperial regimes have made effective use of apocalyptic literature to justify their own violence and to terrify their subjects and enemies.

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Page Count

165

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1317148096

ISBN 13

9781317148098

The Death of Herod

An Essay in the Sociology of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

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The Death of Herod

An Essay in the Sociology of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

This 1992 work is intended to be a 'taster' to sociological method for students of the New Testament. Richard Fenn demonstrates how fruitful the relationship between the social sciences and biblical studies can be when sociological method is imaginatively applied to the New Testament. Fenn's point of departure is the particular historical event of the death of Herod the Great. He focuses on Josephus' account of the trials of Herod's sons, the death of Herod himself, and the crisis of succession which followed his death. Josephus' account is shown to provide a rich sociological resource, in that he observes how speech was used to conceal rather than to convey individuals' true interests and commitments. His account also reveals the failure of the trial as a critically important institution for restoring confidence in public discourse. The result, the author argues, is the intensification of conflict within, and between, generations, at every level of Palestinian society.

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Page Count

214

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521425026

ISBN 13

9780521425025

Time Exposure

The Personal Experience of Time in Secular Societies

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Time Exposure

The Personal Experience of Time in Secular Societies

By: Richard K. Fenn

In his new book, Richard Fenn looks at the way in which we experience time in a secular society. He argues that secularization is virtually synonymous with individualism. Fenn shows that the Church created the idea of individualism through its demysitification of the universe, its insistence on individual self-discipline, and its intensification of individual responsibility for the use of time. Required to take responsibility for his or her own standing in the eyes of God, the individual emerged from the protection of the Church into the full current of time. No longer protected by Providence or connected to Eternity, our lives have become radically temporal and contingent. Fenn explores the modern experience of time, as expressed in such phrases as "wasting time" and "making up for lost time." In particular, he is interested in the idea of waiting, which he believes is a defining characteristic of modern life. He also argues that the secularization of time produced anxiety about death, and shows the various strategies we have created for dealing with this anxiety. Beautifully written and thoughtfully argued, this volume raises the secularization debate to a new level of depth and sophistication.

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177

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0195139534

ISBN 13

9780195139532

Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion takes a focused look at the foremost figures in the development of the field. From the groundbreaking work of Max Weber, right up to that of contemporary writers such as Peter Berger and Niklas Luhmann, this volume is an essential companion for the student of sociology of religion. Charting the development of theory in this area, each chapter looks at the life and work of an individual theorist, building to a picture of the field as it is today. Richard Fenn's book provides a route to a rounded understanding of the field, through the thought that defined it.

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Page Count

257

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1441172238

ISBN 13

9781441172235

The Return of the Primitive

A New Sociological Theory of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

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The Return of the Primitive

A New Sociological Theory of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Page Count

140

Publisher

Routledge Revivals

Published Date

ISBN 10

1138733431

ISBN 13

9781138733435

Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion

By: Richard K. Fenn

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257

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1441172238

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9781441172235

Time Exposure

The Personal Experience of Time in Secular Societies

By: Richard K. Fenn

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Time Exposure

The Personal Experience of Time in Secular Societies

By: Richard K. Fenn

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177

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Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

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0195139534

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9780195139532

Book's by Richard K. Fenn

On Losing the Soul

On Losing the Soul

The Persistence of Purgatory

The Persistence of Purgatory

The American Culture of Despair

The American Culture of Despair

Revival: The Return of the Primitive (2001)

Revival: The Return of the Primitive (2001)

Beyond Idols

Beyond Idols

The Spirit of Revolt

The Spirit of Revolt

Dreams of Glory

Dreams of Glory

The Death of Herod

The Death of Herod

Time Exposure

Time Exposure

Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion

Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion

The Return of the Primitive

The Return of the Primitive

Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion

Key Thinkers in the Sociology of Religion

Time Exposure

Time Exposure

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