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This paper addresses the issue of whether religiosity is really multidimensional as suggested by Glock and Stark and numerous other researchers. The "religiosity in 5-D" scales devised by Faulkner and DeJong (1966) to operationalize the Glock-Stark typology were completed by 873 students in 1967 and 656 students in 1970 at a small, private liberal-arts university in Florida. Each of the 5-D scales more than adequately met the minimum criteria of Guttman scaling in both data sets. The results of a factor analysis (varimax and oblique rotation) of the 23 items in both data sets indicated the predominance of the Ideological commitment factor which accounted for 78 and 83 percent of the common variance respectively. A second-order factor analysis confirmed the existence of one general factor. Our conclusion is that religiosity is not multidimensional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a comment on a previous article Prefatory Findings in the Sociology of Missions, by David R. Heise, that appeared in the April 1967 issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Long-neglected theories of social change have undergone an extensive revival in recent years as part of the effort to explain the revolutionary transformations, which are sweeping through the traditional societies of the world. The emphasis was placed at first on "the social consequences of technical change," but more recently it has shifted to a concern for the dynamics of the change process itself. This newer emphasis has served to refocus attention on the agents of communication and persuasion which transmit change both within and between groups, and, more generally, on problems of the diffusion of innovation. The most interesting part of Heise's paper, from the vantage point of theory building in diffusion research, is his emphasis on the target unit at which change-attempts are directed. One hopes that Heise's paper will lead not only to further work along the lines but also to renewed interest, at a more macroscopic level, in the diffusion of Christianity, Islam, and other religious movements in other times and places.

If religion is faith concerning man's fate, how can this faith find expression today? This is a historical question: for all that will follow about shedding received notions and holding tradition in abeyance, this tradition, this received notion of the relevance of history, of man's historicity, cannot be done without in assessing surrender and hence its relevance for religion. There are some expectations, in particular two, that the title of this paper may raise but that are false; they should be dissipated at once. One, there will be no discussion of the social aspects of religion. Nor will there be any comparison between the analysis of surrender and innumerable extant comments on related phenomena, such as religious or mystical experiences. In this late historical phase, when there even is a sense in which we might be past history, or might soon be past history, religion may well appear as the mood embraced in an effort to come to terms with two unanswerable questions-it is the phase in our history in which one knows that these questions are unanswerable.

The article reports on news related to the field of sociology. Dean Hoge has accepted an appointment as Associate Professor in the Sociology Department of Catholic University. Information on recent publications in this field have been presented. Theology and Depth-Theology: a Heschel Distinction by S. Daniel Breslauer, An Interview With Karl Menninger: Pastoral Psychiatrist by David M. Moss. The annual meeting International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations to be held at the Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh. The topics of sessions planned include analytical problems in the study of civilizations, Islam in civilizational perspective and others. Interested scholars have been invited to submit papers on these and allied topics for presentation at sessions reserved for such contributions. There will be a special session on history and sociology of religion at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion meetings in Milwaukee, Wiconsin.

Research on intrinsic and extrinsic religion has been troubled by conceptual diffuseness and questionable scale validity. Hunt and King have proposed greater specificity in conceptualization and measurement in future work. This paper attempts to specify and measure a single crucial dimension identified by Hunt and King, namely ultimate versus instrumental religious motivation. Two validation studies were done utilizing persons nominated by ministers as having either ultimate (extrinsic) or instrumental (extrinsic) religious motivation. A new 10-item intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale is proposed, and measurement problems are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents comments on social thinker, Vatro Murvar's paper "Messianism in Russia: Religious and Revolutionary." Murvar does nor give us a formal definition of messianism, but in the course of his analysis he nonetheless provides a clear delimitation of the term. Briefly, what he means by messianism is a social movement which exhibits certain doctrinal traits namely (a) millennialism, (b) twain cosmogony with a corresponding division of humanity into the children of light and darkness, and (c) collectivism and/or monism. Murvar proposes, and proceeds to demonstrate that the two sets of Russian messianism-religious and revolutionary-have many similar, if not identical, characteristics. The religious-revolutionary dichotomy should therefore be replaced by the old religious-secular one and revolutionism or politics should be recognized as a separate dimension. A division of millenarian movements into religious and revolutionary (political) categories generates an analysis which obfuscates on the conceptual level the potential presence of political elements in religious movements. Conversely, the distinction also obfuscates the presence of religious elements in revolutionary messianisms.

This paper outlines the transition in thought from what has been called the "monastic ideal" to the current stages of "rational capitalism". It treats the way in which the transition from sacred to secular thought systems (especially since the Protestant Reformation) has led to the establishment of an unforeseen dilemma, i.e., a trend toward a moral society of amoral members. This condition has been brought about in some ways intentionally and in other ways inadvertently, by eliminating magic from the world in the form of the societal members' acceptance of and preoccupation with papal infallibility, religious ritual, sin, and salvation. The above had the consequence of rationalizing society and allowing for greater predictability and economic gain. Many of the stages in this transition, the sum total of which now constitutes the social and theological dilemma noted above, often resulted in spite of and contrary to the avowed intentions of their unwitting creators. The paper treats the question of how these "latent" functions managed to "manifest" themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals affected by a rapidly changing or disorganized society are constrained to adapt in some manner. Two modes of adaptation are indicated by tendencies toward joining authoritarian organizations and sectarian churches. The first is an attempt to regain and preserve an interaction pattern perceived as threatened; the second represents retreat from a society which is perceived to be disorderly and threatening. If alienation is on the rise, the importance of such groups in complex societies may increase. Data presented in this paper indicate that powerlessness and authoritarianism are related to tendencies toward joining both authoritarian organizations and sectarian churches. Anomia is positively related with attitude toward sectarian churches, but negatively related with attitude toward authoritarian organizations. The findings contribute to knowledge of the motivation toward joining these kinds of organizations and also support the notion that alienation is a multidimensional phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glossolalia tape-recorded from four groups - English- and Spanish-speaking showed characteristics common to all groups. It is a noncommunicative behavior of vocalization. Although the phonetic inventory and the grouping of sounds vary somewhat from group to group, these are stereotyped within the group and rigidly adhered to. An analysis of the phonology, accent pattern, and intonation shows the individual utterance to have a threshold of onset, a brief rising gradient of intensity, a peak, and a final, often precipitous decay. This paper proposes that this agreement, despite cultural diversity and difference in language, exists because glossolalia is an artifact of a dissociative state termed trance. A brief characterization of the role of thug little researched state is attempted on the basis of field experiences, and a comparison with similar manifestations in other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to develop a testable theory of secularization. The first requirement of this theory is to specify the limitations of structural-functional analysis. One of these limitations is its adherence to questionable norms for the measurement of religion. In moving beyond structural-functional analysis of secularization as a process, the choice is made to define the secular in terms of Parsons's theory of action. This theory suggests the possibility of a secular, as well as a religious normative orientation. These two normative orientations contain such dimensions as scope, intensity, and a posture toward social change. The theoretical development of this paper is related to major analyses of American society and calls into question some of the assumptions underling the theory of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a typology of organized religion that grows out of the conceptions of the Ultimate espoused by Christian religious bodies and relates to these conceptions the patterns of social organization of these bodies. The attempt is to discover a typology that adequately accommodates the theological and confessional character of religious bodies, on one hand, and their social structures and behavioral patterns, on the other. The paper offers three major types: Familial, Democratic, and Dominical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a comment on a previous paper Some Critical Observations on the Church-Sect Dimension, by Erich Goode, that appeared in the April 1967 issue of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. According to the author of this article, Erich Goode's paper has a double purpose in criticizing the wider legacy of the church-sect distinction. By and large, the author of this article concurs in his evaluation of the former, but perhaps understandably, the author has reservations about his appraisal of the latter. At the risk of overpersonizing the matter, the author wants to defend his own work, his book Social Class in American Protestantism, first before turning to the broader issue. The author appreciates the opportunity to speak offensively about the church-sect distinction in general and defensively about his own work in particular. Somehow the author had never expected more than cursory reviews of his book. In many respects, the analysis was an abortive attempt to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

The full time religious professional in a religious collectivity occupies a strategic position in the social system in which he is professionally involved. The multifarious tasks in which he engages are to be seen as due, in part, to the diffuseness of his responsibilities, a diffuseness which is characteristic of leadership roles in any social system. The coordinating and harmonizing facets of any leadership role demand this kind of generalized or diffuse role definition. While this diffuseness is characteristic of any leadership role in any social system, goals or objectives of the social system which sustains the full time professional religious leader are themselves more diffuse and less amenable to rational evaluation than are the goals of most organizations in this society. In its own understanding, the church exists to cure souls, to save souls, and/or to witness to God's saving act in Jesus as the Christ; hence, as conceived internally, its ultimate goal transcends moral, cognitive and emotive goals or objectives, although dimensions of each goal are involved in the objectives of the social system that constitutes the church and in the theological understanding that informs these goals.

The article presents information about the 12th International Conference on the Sociology of Religion. The general theme of the conference "Contemporary Metamorphoses of Religion," was interpreted more as dealing with organizational change, including the emergence of "new" religious movements and attitude changes, than with any basic transformation in the current conceptions of the nature of religion or of religious faith. The plenary sessions were carefully planned and conducted in a very formal way marked by procedures of protocol, written requests for "interventions," like questions and comments by others than the announced participants. The only free wheeling spontaneous participation of the sort familiar to us occurred in the much smaller contributed papers sessions. Spontaneity was, unfortunately, limited even in these sessions by linguistic factors. There was one area, according to several European scholars, in which the conference may have presented a somewhat misleading picture of European academic life to the North American participants. Very little attention was paid to the debate between the Marxists and the non Marxists which is so much a part of daily European academicia.

In his challenging paper, in June 1972 sociologist Joseph Fichter asks social scientists to redefine man as an "authentic human being" and to put this human being "in the center of social studies." As a proponent of Weberian sociology, the author agrees with these objectives and endorses the critique of the physicalist determinism of behaviorist psychologists and positivist sociologists. Neither the thesis of the emergence of "human nature" nor the theory of the development of the conception of "self" in an individual have to be subjected to determinist interpretations. Man is not merely but also an organism and social scientists concerned with `human nature,' have to take account of this basic fact. Attempting this, in itself, does not deny Man's fundamental humanity which is embedded in his original potentialities. But it takes not simply physical care but love, attention, and "training" by others to bring these potentialities to their realization. Fichter argues that "a human baby, raised in a family of monkeys," would not "become nonhuman."

The articles comments on social deprivation and religiosity. This research report adventitiously ignores its heritage in another respect, which is not uncharacteristic. It is by now a common and established finding that measures of religiosity are correlated with sex especially among Catholics, age, and education. The selection of indices of deprivation and to a lesser degree, of religiosity, is adventitious. This is attributable in part to the fact that this is a secondary analysis, but the difficulty arises frequently even where this is not the case. What is the validity for using age, femaleness and less education as an index for perceived state of deprivation. A rationale is indeed offered in the paper, as is not always the case and the authors are to be commended that they have recognized that this is indeed a question to be answered. The rationale that older age, femaleness and less education are indices of deprivation is plausible. But equally plausible would be the rationale that the young, males, and the more highly educated are likely to perceive greater deprivations.

Hirschi and Stark (1969) reported very little relationship between religious involvement and adolescent delinquency. They concluded that religion is therefore "irrelevant to delinquency." The present paper offers an alternative interpretation of their findings and tests one of its implications. It is hypothesized that Hirschi and Stark's findings apply only to offenses against persons and property, and that a clear relationship between religion and delinquency should be found for "victimless' crimes. Data from high-school students in the Pacific Northwest replicate Hirschi and Stark's findings but also reveal a moderately strong relationship between religion and the use of marijuana and alcohol. Suggestions are made for further tests of the alternative interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that it is feasible and useful to insert positive and negative assumptions about the supernatural into scientific theories of religion. The logic of constructing theories makes it possible to insert such statements into theories as postulates, along with ordinary propositions from general systems theory and reinforcement theory, and then to deduce tenable propositions. The logical procedures to follow are carefully described, and several examples are given. It is shown that when differing assumptions about the supernatural are made, differing and opposed empirical propositions about religious behavior can be deduced. It is also shown that incorporating assumptions about the supernatural can produce testable propositions not usually considered by scientific students of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although much progress has been made toward understanding how sects develop, currently available typologies and theories cannot account for how all sects develop. Sociologists have tended to restrict their studies to relatively nonradical sects confronting relatively tolerant societies in ways that are passive or only mildly militant. In short, they have studied the kinds of sects common in English-speaking countries. They have not dealt adequately with really radical sects or with sects operating in intolerant environments. In this paper it is argued that sect development involves a dialectical process between sect and host society. What sects become in time is not simply a function of their initial characteristics taken by themselves but is the product of an ongoing process of interaction with their environments. This perspective is illustrated by discussing the histories of the Old Colony Mennonites and the Mormons and by drawing out of these histories some implications for future studies of sect development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on celibate priest, author and sociologist Andrew M. Greeley's contributions to theory in the sociology of religion, one of two substantive areas in which Greeley has chosen to write extensively on. The other being the sociology of ethnic groups in the United States. The author has discerned and chosen to discuss four substantive themes in Greeley's writings, roughly in chronological order research in the "Protestant Ethics," the sociology of Roman Catholicism, the secularization thesis and denominational membership in society. As early as 1964, Greeley felt justified in calling for a moratorium on the Protestant Ethic research in society. In need achievement, occupational success, income levels and educational attainments, Protestant-Catholic differences were either unproven, insignificant, or in some instances, slightly reversed from the conventional hypotheses. This overall judgment has been sustained by subsequent researchers. Besides clarifying the impact of Catholic elementary, high school and college education on specific Catholic adult religious behavior, Greeley has contributed seven books and numerous articles on the Catholic Church itself. According to the author Greeley is much more convincing as an applied sociologist analyzing critical problems in the changing church than he is as a theorist of Catholic higher education.

This paper presents a brief review, classification, and critique of one source of national sample data on religion, public opinion polls which are available through the Roper Public Opinion Research Center. The focus is on the types of question asked, including a cataloguing (in the Appendix) of questions of a religious nature asked of national samples since 1938. Special note is taken of those questions which represent time series sets. Methodological and substantive limitations are noted; nevertheless, the authors conclude that the Roper Collection constitutes a wealth of useful and relatively untapped information regarding traditionally oriented religion in America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is the contention of this paper that there is interpretive value in looking at aspects of mystical experience from the perspective of the psychological development of man's growth from childhood to maturity, it is not argued that mystical experience is a simple function of psychological crises in human development, but it is maintained that psychoanalytic interpretations of human development do provide clues for gaining a new perspective on mystical experience and can contribute to building a mystical anthropology. The mystical traditions of India provide the context (or the analysis. Based on these many traditions it is possible to suggest a four-fold typology of mystical experience oriented primarily around the stages of human development. Enough texts are readily available in the Sanskrit Literature to set the typology in a psychological, sociological, and linguistic framework that is reasonably homogeneous and integral. The typology includes the following kinds of mystical experience; (a) unitive, (b) isolative, (c) copulative, and (d) nihilative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the hypothesis that members of the urban working class are significantly less involved (associationally) in the church than are members of other occupational strata. Using data from a national sample of adult, male. Catholic heads of households in Italy, a statistically significant but very weak positive relationship was discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on ministerial effectiveness has not produced results of maximum value to the churches. The major problems which have hampered this research are delineated in this paper. They include the use of secondary rather than primary criteria, the selection of general ministerial functions, the lack of collaboration with church leaders, laity, clergy and theologians in assessing effectiveness; use of the rating mode of measurement, and the changing nature of functions in the parish ministry. Suggestions are provided to help resolve the problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some previously unpublished data from the Current Population Survey's 1957 interview sample on religion. All of the available data from this sample have now been published. Our review of these data indicates that there has been a structural convergence between white Protestants and Catholics, but that the Jews and blacks have not been parties to this convergence. The necessity for future questions on religion on both the monthly Current Population Survey and the decennial census is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper questions the assumption that religion, or its functional alternatives, inevitably provides the basis for the cultural integration of all societies. In modern societies the process of differentiation has reached the point at which a normative order based on religious beliefs and values is no longer possible. This development, however, coincides with increases in productive capacity which tend to make less difficult the tasks of motivating enough individuals to work and of providing legitimacy for the social order. As a religious basis to the normative order becomes less necessary, religion will continue to have functions for certain strata and for private individuals, but these functions will be more likely to be expressive than utilitarian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores some of the origins of the southern Black's conversion to Catholicism and discusses the significance that this change of church affiliation may have for the traditional Negro Church. The change is viewed as emerging from the breakdown of the Negro Church's importance as an over-arching, multifunctional institution serving the social, political and economic needs, as well as the religious needs, of the Black communities. Because of the centrality of the Negro Church to Negro life in the South, the change of Blacks from their traditional forms of religious expression is seen as a special case of the general phenomenon of church-change. Change from communal forms of religious expression to church affiliations premised on individual initiative and responsibility emerges as a dominant pattern in this instance of church-change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies ways in which different Protestant churches serving Mexican Americans may articulate with the dominant society and facilitate the assimilation of their members. The data reflect the perceptions of a purposive sample of Protestant ministers of Mexican-American congregations in El Paso. Three types of ministers are constructed, and the assimilative role of each is discussed. The general conclusions are that church-sect and Protestant ethic theoretical formulations may be profitably applied to the analysis of the Mexican Americans; the most sect-like groups may socialize members into a latently assimilative ethic of personal reform, while the more church-like groups are manifestly assimilating members into an ethic of social adjustment to a complex society. In addition, there is evidence of the assimilation of the churches themselves as they move into middle class society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of human freedom or free choice more or less laid in classical Christian theology and modern physical science- asserts itself today primarily through the claims of modern psychological theory. The question of being basically free or unfree turns upon the access that a person has to Ms own unconscious motivations, i.e., to his own psychic set. It is the intent of this paper to argue that this set, which dominates all critical choices, is itself subject to change through "the converting choice"; thus giving man final control over his own character and over the truly important choices that he occasionally is called upon to make. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on relation of religion and racial prejudice in Europe. In American studies on the relation between racial prejudice and religious behavior and values, the finding generally has been of a positive relationship. It has been found that on average, churchgoers in the country harbor more racial, ethnic and religious prejudice than do non-churchgoers. However, when researchers separate those whose religious orientation can be characterized as intrinsic or committed or those whose religious practice is very regular, the prejudice demonstrated by these groups is less than that of those more casual or conventional in their religious behavior and values. The present paper finds these patterns also in data from English and Dutch samples. The conclusion from this analysis is that there is a major sub-group in the population sampled who accept religious values, but who also accept prejudiced opinions. These individuals tend to be working-class Catholics. Religious involvement, particularly by Dutch Reformed and Re-reformed church members, is associated with neutrality in the area of prejudice. In Britain religious involvement is least and prejudice seems to be highest among members of the established Church of England.

Eastern mystical movements operating in America recruit partly from young persons who have previously experimented with psychedelic drugs. This paper argues that these cults serve as a "half-way house" between the drug culture and reassimilation into conventional society. Since mystical experiences share elements with drug sensations, the former can operate as a substitute gratification for the latter and facilitate the termination of drug taking. Since mystical "trips" are less legally precarious and less physically incapacitating than drug "trips," the changeover from drugs to non-chemical mysticism tends to facilitate further adjustments in the direction of adopting conventional routinized life-styles. This analysis is exemplified by a case study of the Meher Baba cult which recruits from the drug culture. The writings of Meher Baba contain some elements which are congruent with the "psychedelic" emphasis on inner exploration and other elements which provide linkages with conventional norms. Baba followers tend to shift their emphasis from the passive-contemplative to the active-service oriented aspects of Baba's teachings as their drug experiences recede into the past. Socialization from the drug culture via Baba into conventional life-styles is thus a gradual process without sharp discontinuities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examinee the sustained attempt by Félicité Lamennais to solve the perennial ethical problem of the rapport between liberty and authority. An early apostle of the Romantic reaction of the early 19th century, Lamennais, in his deep-seated yearning for the harmony and religious unity of the medieval world, sought to reconstruct the principle of authority in religion, and, therefore, in society on a broad philosophical base. Using this same philosophical groundwork, he later emerged as a champion of the modern liberties evolving out of the rise of liberalism and the French Revolution. How did such a remarkable transition from theocratic authoritarianism to Catholic liberalism take place? Such themes as tolerance, religion, society, authority, liberty, and history-inter-related elements of political reality--are pieces of the mosaic which Félicité Lamennais labored to bring into being as a major synthesis of theology and philosophy. The originality and the magnitude of the Mennaisian effort had a powerful impact on the subsequent history of Roman Catholicism. The fundamental question of social coexistence, heading in turn to a basically metaphysical reflection upon the nature and sources of society and social being, was the basic issue for Lamennais. The crucial and very contemporary character of the question of unity and plurality within the modern world makes it quite evident that a constant study of the problem, its historical development, and ultimate implications, is readily justifiable and worthwhile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for a refined concept of cult emerged as the result of an attempt to analyze the Spiritualist movement in terms of the church-sect typology. Previous definitions of cult also appear inadequate when applied to the analysis of Spiritualism. This paper argues the need for a refined concept of cult, and proposes a definition of cult in terms of one basic criterion -- that cults are religious movements which make a fundamental break with the religious tradition of the culture -- and two subordinate criteria -- that cults are composed of individuals who have had or seek mystical, psychic, or ecstatic experiences, and that they are concerned with the problems of individuals. It also proposes a typology of cults, and an explanation of the origin and development of cults in terms of a continuum from cult to new religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russian Marxism has been called a religion, or compatible with religion, by many laymen as well as theologians. This paper attempts to find acceptable definitions of religion and of Russian Marxism, and goes on to show that, in terms of these, Russian Marxism, on the one hand can be called a religion and, on the other, is totally opposed to religion in all acceptable forms. It finds further that Russian Marxism is, in fact, an inversion of Christianity and, more specifically, of Roman Catholicism. It concludes that because of the diametrically opposed views of Christianity and Russian Marxism, a Christian-Russian Marxist dialogue is Impossible, if each side is to retain its essential nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper is that fourteenth century German mystics administered psychotherapy to fourteenth century German merchants, thereby aiding the efforts of the merchants to rationalize commerce and society. The argument runs that the merchants' emphasis on economic rationalism violated traditional values of the Church and of medieval society in general. Since the Church an d the associated social order were perceived as controlling every man's chances for salvation, the merchants felt anxious and guilty about their rationalist tendencies, and were therefore tempted to dilute them. Another solution, however, was to continue the rationalism but to seek therapy for the anxiety and guilt that it evoked. Mystic-monks were among those who provided such therapy. Analyses and speculations are offered regarding the symbolism that goaded the therapy forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, working from a twofold typology of religious and ecclesiastical reform, proposes a thesis which holds that religious reform proceeds at its own pace and constitutes the change to which the Church ultimately must adapt if it is to survive as a structure. Changes in norms, values, life goals, and core ritual constitute religious reform. Some of the norms undergoing change concern contraception, obligatory Mass attendance and unquestioning priestly obedience. The once high value placed on the priesthood shows evidence of diminution, while the Mass, the core ritual of Catholicism and traditionally its own raison d'ˆtre, shows evidence of becoming a function of community or fellowship. These changes generate conflict with ecclesiastical authority which seeks orderly growth, internal discipline, and the avoidance of conflict. Assuming the beneficial or integrative function of social conflict, a new, humane, and religious synthesis of values and goals may be expected to emerge (provided the religious reformers do not tire of conflict). On the new synthesis, the thesis holds, will rest the new forms of religious life, encompassing both Protestant and Catholic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]