Product Description

What does it mean to call Western society 'secular'? What is 'secularism'? And how should we understand the concept of 'secularism' in international relations, particularly the clash between radical Islam and the West? The Latin term from which the word 'secular' is derived - 'saeculum' - means 'generation' or 'age', and came to mean that which belongs to this life, to the here and now, in this world. It is widely used as a shorthand for the ideology which shapes contemporary society without reference to the divine.However, according to Graeme Smith, 'secularism' represents a great deal more. He offers a radical reappraisal of the notion of secularism and its history, beginning with the Greeks and proceeding to modernity and the contemporary period. The assumption that the West is becoming increasingly secular is often unquestioned. By contrast, Dr Smith discerns a different kind of society: one informed by a historical legacy which makes sense only when it is appreciated that it is religious. Secularism was born of Christianity. Daringly - and very originally - Smith argues that it is impossible to understand the idea of the secular without appreciating that, at root, it is Christian. "A Short History of Secularism" will fundamentally reshape discussions of western culture, religion and politics. It will have strong appeal to students of religion, political philosophy, and the history of ideas.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #385046 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
'Graeme Smith presents a fresh perspective on increasingly topical question: what is secularism? Smith argues that secular thought is heavily dependent on Christian assumptions - so much so that liberal morality, for example, is hard to understand except as a Christian inheritance. Even those who reject his strong claim that modern western ethics is bound to be Christian -as I do myself - can learn much from the alternative view of secularisation which Smith develops.' --John Gray, Professor of European Thought, London School of Economics

'It is widely recognized that organized religion has much less political power and imaginative weight in Britain today than it held a century or so ago and that in that sense we live in a much more secular society. Few of us have much idea how to reconcile that recognition with the fact that most Britons still stalwartly identify themselves as believing Christians, even if they seldom or never go to church. Graeme Smith's thoughtful book is a bold and intriguing attempt to explain why each is true and interpret how we have reached this outcome and what it means for the continuing presence of Christianity in the lives of even the robustly incredulous.' --John Dunn, Professor of Political Theory, University of Cambridge

'Graeme Smith's book offers fascinating insights into Western secularism. His engagement with key theorists and theories gives the reader a clear and accessible map of secularism as this has been understood in Western thinking. On his map he helpfully charts the chief patterns of religious engagement and disengagement within Western society. There are important chapters here on Christian identity, popular religion in the medieval period, Victorian Christianity and contemporary religious belief. Smith writes well and lucidly about current debates in sociology of religion regarding the secularization thesis. He also discusses topics that are of great interest to modern political theorists. A Short History of Secularism will be mandatory reading for both undergraduate and postgraduate students in religion and politics who seek an understanding of the concept and theories of secularism in the West.' - Angie Pears, Senior Lecturer in Religion, Theology and Culture, Oxford Brookes University 'Graeme Smith's book is an interesting, clearly written, and original reappraisal of received opinion on secularity and secularization in the modern West.' --Jeffrey L Stout, Professor of Religion, Princeton University

About the Author
Graeme Smith is Dean of Non-Residential Training at St Michael's College, Llandaff and associate lecturer at the University of Cardiff. He is executive editor of the international journal Political Theology, and has published widely in the field of religion and politics.

Customer Reviews

A fast-paced review of secularism - with a twist!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There is so much in here and it's written in what seems to me an almost thriller-like pace (Dan Brown springs to mind!?) that I needed to let each part percolate and settle before carrying on. The writing style is clear and inviting and Dr Smith has a robust sense of humour. He also, obviously, has a masterful breadth of knowledge and critical abilities across politics, history, theology and sociology.

Reading it at this time of year, I particularly enjoyed the references to the celebrating of Christmas and what that might or might not say to future generations and historians about how 'religious' or 'secular' we all are in the early 2000s.

As someone who has a fluid Christian identity and journeyed through many manifestations of formal Christianity, I very much recognise myself as an adherent of the two mind views the books concludes with and leads towards.

Only a couple of disappointments for me, however, I would have preferred a snappier title (how about the title of the last chapter with the current book title as a subtitle) and a more 'current' or 'lively' jacket image. For me the draw of the book is as a 'state of the nation - how we are now' read. However, I'm not an academic, cleric or student, just an interested member of the populus searching for a functioning spirituality.

Christian nostalgia is not what it used to be...
`Nostalgia', it is sometimes quipped, `is not what it used to be.' Certainly, any Christian nostalgia for long lost days when everyone went to Church will never be the same after reading this fascinating and engaging book. The title could lead readers to expect a variety of possibilities, so it is important to be clear about the nature of the book. The history of secularism which the book seeks to narrate is the statistically unequivocal decline in Church-going over the last century. Certainly there are many other approaches to such a topic, but the one taken here is one that is provocative, challenging and thought-provoking. The argument of the book emerges from an exploration of the tension between the statistics of church decline and those indicating high levels of abiding belief in God. But this book is not primarily about statistics - it is a whistle-stop tour through some fascinating areas of history from which we learn, amongst other things, that Christianity is always changing and adapting, that there are many parallels between patterns of people relating to Church in the middle ages and today, and that the Victorian age was unusual in its high levels of Church attendance. The particularly interesting proposal to which all this leads is that what we are witnessing in so-called secular society is in fact a reinvention of Christianity as what Smith calls `the ethics society'. If this sounds counter-intuitive, then that's all the more reason to read the book: you might not agree, but you will be made to think.

I suspect that quite a lot of Christians won't like the argument and that quite a lot of secularists won't like it either. This alone suggests this is a voice to which it is well worth listening: even those who do disagree have much to reflect on in the argument put forward. It is a book that should open up much further research, debate and discussion. One area for discussion that this reader would propose concerns the relationship between liberalism as a political, social and ethical vision which can (Smith argues) be described as Christian, and liberal economics which has impacted Western (and indeed global) society in ways that many Christians want to challenge (such as a consumerist mentality). In other words, there is much more to be said about the range of influences on contemporary society and its relationship to Christianity and, indeed to secularism; but the genius of this book is to open up new and exciting avenues in that conversation.

The book is written extremely clearly, entirely free from obfuscatory prose, with regular signposts indicating where the argument has come from and where it is going, and where the section that is currently being read fits into the whole. So this is a good, clear and engaging argument that is well presented... and who can ask for more than that?

Are we a secular society if people say they still believe in god? Dr Smith provides a fresh perspective on this debate.
This fascinating book looks at the religious state of modern Western countries. It starts by examining the flaws in traditional ideas of what it means to be secular and outlines a fresh take on what it really means in today's society. Essentially, Smith presents four key ideas. First that Christianity is a constantly changing religion - something I hadn't thought of before but which he makes a good argument for. Then that Christianity today is very like Christianity in the middle ages - because a lot of people today do believe in God and call themselves Christian, even if they don't go to Church. Third he talks about the Enlightenment - which is key to a lot of what is said about secularism. Here he argues that the Enlightenment did mean the end of the discussion of Christian doctrine but not the end of Christianity. Instead Christian ethics live on in our society - an argument he makes convincingly.

Finally he suggests that the Victorian period was a time of exceptionally high levels of Christianity and that any comparison between then and now is bound to make us look secular. Every age is secular compared with the Victorians!


The book answers the question of how we can call Western society secular when most people say they are Christian or believe in God. It is a clearly written and highly accessible answer to that question.