Rodney Stark

Rodney Stark is "one of the world’s most respected sociologists of religion.". Since the 1960s Stark has studied the phenomenon of conversion scientifically focusing especially on new religious movements such as Mormons, Unificationists, and Hare Krishnas.

An agnostic himself, Stark views Christian history and what Christianity was able to accomplish in a very favorable light (see Christianity and science).

He has written or co-authored many books including:

• The Rise of Christianity (HarperOne San Francisco, 1997) ISBN 978-0060677015
• The Churching of America, 1776–1990 (with Roger Finke. Rutgers University Press, 1992) ISBN 978-0813535531
• A Theory of Religion (Peter Lang, 1987) ISBN 978-0820403564
• For The Glory of God (Princeton University Press, 2004) ISBN 978-0691119502
• The Victory of Reason (Random House, New York, 2005) ISBN 978-0812972337
• Cities of God (HarperOne, 2006) ISBN 978-0061349881
• Discovering God (HarperOne, 2007) ISBN 978-0061173899

After many years at the University of Washington, Stark now teaches at Baylor University.