The Triumph of Faith

Believe it or not, the world is more religious than ever before. Everybody seems to take it for granted that the world is getting more secular-that faith is doomed by modernity. Scientists, secularists, and atheists applaud the change; religious believers and social conservatives lament it. But here's the thing: they're all wrong-and bestselling author Rodney Stark has the numbers to prove it.

The Triumph of Faith explodes the myth that people around the world are abandoning religion. Stark marshals an incredible amount of data-surveys of more than a million people in 163 nations-to paint the full picture that both scholars and popular commentators have missed. And he explains why the astonishing growth of religion is happening and what it means for our future.

Stark's lively, eye-opening book is full of insights that defy the conventional wisdom. He reveals:

Islam is not overtaking Christianity
81 percent of people around the world claim to belong to an organized religious faith
Half attended a worship service in the past week
Despite all the attention paid to the "New Atheists," atheists remain few, anywhere
Latin America has never been so Catholic-and that's because there are now so many Protestants there
Of all the great world religions, only Buddhism may not be growing


As Stark shows, secularists have been predicting the imminent demise of religion for centuries. It is their unshakeable faith in secularization that may be the most "irrational" of all. In addition to being the author of acclaimed and popular books like How the West Won and The Victory of Reason, Rodney Stark is a scholar who has completely reshaped the social scientific study of religion. He puts all those talents on full display in The Triumph of Faith.