Ronald L. Lawson Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Queens College – Papers on Seventh-day Adventism, with some comparisons with Jehovah’s Witnesses

jwleaks

Ronald L. Lawson Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Queens College, CUNY – Papers on Seventh-day Adventism, with some comparisons with Mormons and Witnesses

9 January 2019

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A question that continues to draw research in the sociology of religion is what factors spur the growth of religions (Kelley 1972; Iannaccone 1994; Bruce 2002; Hoge and Roozen 1979; Stark and Finke 2000)⁠. In line with with these previous studies, this article examines three well-known Protestant/Other religions that share many characteristics (supply-side factors): Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Seventh-day Adventists. Data on the memberships of these three religions was gathered from 1960 through 2006 for almost every country around the world where they have a presence. Growth rates for those countries were analyzed while controlling for country-level characteristics (demand-side factors). The results of this analysis indicate that both supply- and demand-side factors are important in determining growth. The strongest predictors of growth are: organizational momentum in a country, the level of economic development, and several country-level characteristics.

Originally published in Sociology of Religion, 71(3), 2010: 349-373. Click here for online access to the paper: https://academic.oup.com/socrel/article-abstract/71/3/349/1727777
Click here for a PDF version of this paper: The Secular Transition

Bobcat

Marked

steve2

Great. I have to go through a complicated sign in process to register to read the article. Could we just have a summary of findiings and if our interest is further sparked then go through the process of signing in to the journal?

Vidiot

I've long viewed Mormonism and Adventism as the WTS's nicer but weirder older cousins...

...(and hard-core Born-Again Xtianity as its meaner and crazier sibling ).

joe134cd

Marked with interest. Slim boy fat will also be interested

steve2

I've long viewed Mormonism and Adventism as the WTS's nicer but weirder older cousins...

I'd say that, as regards weirdness, Mormons easily out rank the Adventists by a country mile.

neverendingjourney

I tried to convert a former school teacher when I was around 19 years old. I gave him various books to read, and his comments to me were that the teachings really reminded him of Seventh Day Adventist teachings. He had experience with this because some years prior, a SDA couple tried converting him. He just kept going back to how similar the teachings were.

A year or two after that, I started a Bible study with a SDA. He thought it was going to be more of an exchange of ideas, so it didn't really last very long. He told me the same thing, that there were a lot of similarities in the doctrine.

It wasn't until I was out and learned of William Miller, the Second Advent movement, and the spin off groups that were so influential in the development of Charles Taze Russell's teachings, that it all began to come together.

This chart promulgated by William Miller was kind of what put everything in perspective. CTR later copied this same basic framework to arrive at 1914. For William Miller, the date was 1843 (later 1844), but CTR just changed a few things to arrive at his preferred pet date.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Miller_(preacher)#/media/File:Millerite_1843_chart_2.jpg

Ronald L. Lawson Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Queens College – Papers on Seventh-day Adventism, with some comparisons with Jehovah’s Witnesses

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