Scan barcode
eirenophile's review against another edition
3.0
So, this is unusual one in my comps list on religion. The author is a Catholic priest and a sociologist and apparently taught at a few universities including mine, but this book is much more targeted at a lay audience than most of what I read. It was a very fast read, which was appropriate to the content. He had some survey data, but I thought that was not very convincing. More interesting was his depiction of the importance of distributed hierarchy in and through communities (particularly given my interest in Latin American citizenship) and his discussion of the (tangible) enchantment of Catholic imagination. My review is way more jargony than his book. In terms of my needs this was more like 2 stars, but I thought it might be a good read for other people I know who aren't academically interested in religion, in which case it is certainly a three star book.
dannmaloney816's review against another edition
3.0
I first heard of this book after it was referenced in the Met Gala materials. I soon found out that Andrew Bolton only really quoted from the beginning of the introduction... but it was still an interesting read. Some of Greeley's argument is a bit of a stretch (particularly the "statistics he uses" to defend his thesis). But overall, the idea that the popular (not high) church has ingrained an enchanted imagination that sees the possibility of the divine all around is incredibly compelling. Greeley suggests that this "enchanted imagination" enables the unconscious development of art and social structures that reveal the nature of God about observation. I found it interesting to read in part because I agree with him that being raised Catholic marks you in a specific way in how you view the things around you. Whether it appears in the iterations he suggests is up for debate, but it's a quick and interesting read.
A few notes: His chapter on hierarchy was fascinating. I appreciated that he referred to God with a number of gender pronouns. He has a slightly bizarre chapter about sex and the Catholic imagination that was thought provoking (even if I didn't buy it). Finally, Greeley is writing in a different time; I wonder what he would think of the Pope Francis Catholic Church. I also don't think he anticipates the level of power social issues (for both conservatives and liberals) play a part in young people's dedication to Catholicism or the amount of harm that the clerical abuse cases would cause. So overall, an interesting read, but a little bit of a stretch and dated. I think if it attempted to be a little less timely it would have benefited the piece.
A few notes: His chapter on hierarchy was fascinating. I appreciated that he referred to God with a number of gender pronouns. He has a slightly bizarre chapter about sex and the Catholic imagination that was thought provoking (even if I didn't buy it). Finally, Greeley is writing in a different time; I wonder what he would think of the Pope Francis Catholic Church. I also don't think he anticipates the level of power social issues (for both conservatives and liberals) play a part in young people's dedication to Catholicism or the amount of harm that the clerical abuse cases would cause. So overall, an interesting read, but a little bit of a stretch and dated. I think if it attempted to be a little less timely it would have benefited the piece.
catherineofalx's review against another edition
2.0
to be fair i abandoned it about 60 pages in and perhaps brilliance strikes afterwards but what unconvincing sloppy nonsense! the intro is poetic, the premise is interesting, but the execution makes no sense
More...