Full Description
Why do some people become more religiously conservative over time, whilst others moderate their views or abandon faith altogether? Drawing on 95 interviews with evangelicals and ex-evangelicals in Northern Ireland, this book explores how religious journeys are shaped by social structures and by individual choices. It tells the stories of pro-life picketers, liberal peace-campaigning ministers, housewives afraid of the devil, students deconstructing their faith and atheists mortified by their religious past. Through hearing everyday stories about love, family, work and health, as well as politics, this book explores the many different worlds of ordinary evangelicals in Northern Ireland and the surprising ways in which their beliefs and practices can change over time. "Evangelical Journeys" is a well written book in a jargon-free style that will make it of interest to general as well as specialist readers.
Contents
Introduction; Perspectives on Personal Religious Change; Evangelical Subculture in Northern Ireland; Methods; Converting to Evangelicalism; Deepening Evangelicalism; Maintaining a Steady Faith; Moderating Evangelicalism; Transforming Evangelicalism; Leaving Evangelicalism; Conclusions: Explaining Religious Journeys; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
