Soul Searching : The Religious And Spiritual Lives Of American Teenagers
$84.00
Winner of the 2006 Christianity Today Book Award for Christianity and Culture Description
In most discussions and analyses of American teenage life, one major topic is curiously overlooked–religion. Yet most American teens say that religious faith is important in their lives. What is going on in the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers? What do they actually believe? What religious practices do they engage in? Do they expect to remain loyal to the faith of their parents? Or are they abandoning traditional religious institutions in search of a new, more “authentic” spirituality?
Answering these and many other questions, Soul Searching tells the definitive story of the religious and spiritual lives of contemporary American teenagers. It reports the findings of The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most detailed such study ever undertaken. Based on a nationwide telephone survey of teens and their parents, as well as in-depth face-to-face interviews with more than 250 of the survey respondents, Soul Searching shows that religion is indeed a significant factor in the lives of many American teenagers. Chock full of carefully interpreted interview data and solid survey statistics, Soul Searching reveals many surprising findings. For example, the authors find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and other adults than is commonly thought. They challenge the conventional wisdom that many teens today are “spiritual seekers.” And they show that greater teenage religious involvement is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes.
Soul Searching reveals the complexity of contemporary teenage religious life, showing that religion is widely practiced and positively valued by teens, but also de-prioritized and very poorly understood by them, yet significant nonetheless in shaping their lives. More broadly, Soul Searching describes what appears to be a major transformation of faith in the U.S., away from the substance of historical religious traditions and toward a new and quite different faith the authors call “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.”
in stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
SKU (ISBN): 9780195180954
ISBN10: 019518095X
Christian Smith | Melinda Denton
Binding: Cloth Text
Published: January 2005
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Print On Demand Product
Related products
-
Life Lessons From Genesis
$10.99Add to cartA beginning. An origin. Knowing where you came from says much about where you are going. Perhaps that is why the first book of the Bible is a book of beginnings.God wants us to know from where we came. Learning that will teach us much about the place we are going.
This study highlights the themes of sin and its consequences as Lucado brings us back to the beginning of the Bible. This study reminds us that Gods promises are ever present even in difficult times. Each lesson has a Scripture passage, as inspirational reading, questions to answer, space for journaling, and a prayer.
The Life Lessons with Max Lucado series brings the Bible to life in twelve lessons filled with intriguing questions, inspirational stories, and poignant reflections to take you deeper into God’s Word. Each lesson includes an opening reflection, background information, an excerpt of the text (from the New International and New King James versions), exploration questions, inspirational thoughts from Max, and a closing takeaway for further reflection.
The Life Lessons series is ideal for use in both a small-group setting or for individual study. -
Grief Observed
$17.99Add to cartWritten by C. S. Lewis with love and humility, this brief but poignant volume was first published in 1961 and courageously encounters the anger and heart-break that followed the death of his wife, an American-born poet, Joy Davidman. Handwritten entries from notebooks that Lewis found in his home capture the doubt and anguish that we all face in times of great loss. He questions his beliefs in this graceful and poignant affirmation of faith in the face of senseless loss.
-
Jesus Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$12.99Add to cartIn this six-session video Bible study (DVD/digital downloads sold separately), bestselling author Max Lucado explores the life and character of Jesus, helping participants become more familiar with the man at the center of the greatest story ever told. As Max explains in this study, for thirty-three years Jesus felt everything that we have ever felt: weakness, weariness, rejections. He got colds. His feelings got hurt. His feet grew tired. His head ached.
To think of Jesus in such terms almost seems irreverent. It is much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean up the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or hit his thumb with a hammer. There is something about keeping Jesus divine that keeps him distant, packaged, and predictable.
But we have to remember that by Jesus becoming human, God made it possible for us to see him and hear his voice. If we want to know what matters to God, all we need to do is look in the Bible to see what matters to Jesus. If we want to know what God is doing in our world, we need only ponder the words of Jesus. By learning more about the person Jesus was and is, we come to understand more clearly the people we were created to be.
Jesus will inspire group members to spend time at the foot of the cross and search the heart of the one who would rather die for them than live without them.
Designed for use with the Jesus Video Study (sold separately).
-
Unshakable Hope Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$12.99Add to cartThe Unshakable Hope group Bible study provides groups of all sizes the opportunity to discuss and apply what they experience during the twelve-week Unshakable Hope church campaign.
In this 12-week study, bestselling author and pastor Max Lucado reveals how the heroes in the Bible came from all walks of life. They were rulers, servants, teachers, doctors. They were male, female, single, married. Yet one common denominator united them: they all put their faith in God’s promises. Because of God’s promises, Noah built an ark on dry land, Abraham went to a distant land, Joshua claimed the Promised Land, David became king, Peter preached the first sermon, and John caught a glimpse of the future.The stories of the men and women in Scripture were different, but the theme was the same: they were people of the Promise. Since the beginning of time, God’s relationship to humankind has been shaped by specific requirements and promises. These covenants were unchangeable decrees that defined the outflow of history. Some of the promises were positive, the assurance of blessings. Some of them were negative, the guarantee of consequence. But all the promises were binding.
This world has a tremble to it. There are things that seem unsteady in this life. But when we belong to God, it allows us to filter our problems through the promises of God. When crises arise, we can simply mutter, “But God said…” When struggles threaten, we can be seen flipping through the Bible, saying, “I know that God said something about this.” When we choose to be people of the promise, we choose to build our lives on promises of God not the circumstances of life.
It is through the great and precious promises that we participate in the divine nature of God. They sit like golden stones in the pathway to God’s world. They are strong boulders that form the bridge over which we walk from our sin to salvation. They aren’t just great, they are “very great”; and they aren’t just valuable, they are “precious.” To bind them around our neck is to adorn ourselves with the finest jewels of the universe. As Dwight Moody put it, “If you would spend a month feeding on the precious promises of God-you wouldn’t be going about complaining how poor you are. You would lift up your head and proclaim the riches of His Grace, because you couldn’t help doing it.”
Sessions include:
1. You Are Stamped with God’s Image
2. God Will Win the Victory
3. You Are an Heir of God
4. Your Prayers Have Power
5
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.