An extraordinary degree of exaltation: Durkheim, effervescence and Pentecostalism's defeat of secularisation
Pentecostalism has ‘bucked the trend’ predicted by Émile Durkheim and others that religion would decline and disappear in a secular modern age. In searching for the clues as to why this happened, this paper outlines Durkheim’s thought on the phenomenon that sparks religious life – effervescence – an...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2015
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| In: |
Social compass
Year: 2015, Volume: 62, Issue: 1, Pages: 61-75 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Durkheim, Émile 1858-1917
/ Pentecostal churches
/ Secularization
/ Modernity
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| RelBib Classification: | KDG Free church |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Pentecostalism has ‘bucked the trend’ predicted by Émile Durkheim and others that religion would decline and disappear in a secular modern age. In searching for the clues as to why this happened, this paper outlines Durkheim’s thought on the phenomenon that sparks religious life – effervescence – and his belief that in the secular future societies would make use of this phenomenon to create instances of ‘secular sacralisation’. Following these ideas, the author traces the development of Pentecostalism, a religious phenomenon that has harnessed the power of effervescence and grown explosively in the ‘secular’ age. Thus, Pentecostalism has appropriated (in part) the role that Durkheim believed society itself would have to fill in a future, secular age, and has reinforced the link between effervescent experience and a transcendent divine entity. |
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| ISSN: | 0037-7686 |
| Contains: | In: Social compass
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0037768614560959 |