Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book builds upon the distinctions made in Theology in a Social Context, the first volume of Sociological Theology. It focuses on the theology through the gaze of the sociology of knowledge. The book then expands upon material from the long-out-of-print Theology and Social Structure. It also reflects some of the developments by recent theologians using sociologists such as Niklas Luhmann, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu. The book discusses the different ways that music can shape, texture and even enhance theological convictions. It then focuses on a study of hymns that the author previously attempted in Churchgoing and Christian Ethics, followed by a very recent study of the different ways that music more generally might help to illuminate the theological task. Recent ethnographic and congregational studies of York churches have produced fascinating challenges that need to be taken fully into account.