{"product_id":"the-rise-of-network-christianity","title":"The Rise of Network Christianity","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhy, when traditionally organized religious groups are seeing declining membership and participation, are networks of independent churches growing so explosively? Drawing on in-depth interviews with leaders and participants, The Rise of Network Christianity explains the social forces behind the fastest-growing form of Christianity in the U.S., which Brad Christerson and Richard Flory have labeled \"Independent Network Charismatic.\" This form of Christianity\n\u003cbr\u003eemphasizes aggressive engagement with the supernatural-including healing, direct prophecies from God, engaging in \"spiritual warfare\" against demonic spirits--and social transformation. Christerson and Flory\n\u003cbr\u003eargue that macro-level social changes since the 1970s, including globalization and the digital revolution, have given competitive advantages to religious groups organized as networks rather than traditionally organized congregations and denominations. Network forms of governance allow for experimentation with controversial supernatural practices, innovative finances and marketing, and a highly participatory, unorthodox, and experiential faith, which is attractive in today's unstable\n\u003cbr\u003ereligious marketplace. Christerson and Flory hypothesize that as more religious groups imitate this type of governance, religious belief and practice will become more experimental, more orientated\n\u003cbr\u003earound practice than theology, more shaped by the individual religious \"consumer,\" and authority will become more highly concentrated in the hands of individuals rather than institutions. Network Christianity, they argue, is the future of Christianity in America.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46061401571566,"sku":"9780190635671","price":73.29,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0630\/9612\/7726\/files\/9780190635671.jpg?v=1736530420","url":"https:\/\/bookland.com.au\/products\/the-rise-of-network-christianity","provider":"Book Land AU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}