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Is your trans-congregational triad closed? What does that even mean?! Prof. Markus Schafer (U of Toronto) explains how all of this relates to how we are networked to other people in our congregations and community. He shares the results of several network studies that show religious traditionalists exhibit more prosocial behavior than expected given how they are connected to other individuals beyond merely their own church. He also reveals that evangelical Christians are not only good at making friends, but good at helping their friends make more friends. A fascinating study of the wide web of connectedness that religion helps promote!

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How does a small group of invididuals in a religiously-hostile environment build a sectarian movement of Judaism into the world’s largest faith tradition? Prof. Rodney Stark (Baylor) discusses the important sociological ingredients for Christianity’s success in the first three centuries of its existence. We examine the religious landscape at the time of Jesus’s birth (including both paganism and Judaism), as well as the sometimes surprising role of that mercy, persecution, wealthy individuals, and gender played in the growth of Christianity.

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University of Washington sociologist Steven Pfaff discusses how professors and students were critical in spreading the Reformation at the grassroots. His micro-level analysis is contrasted with more familiar macro-sociological explanations.

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