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Preface. <p>1. Meeting Jesus in Disneyland.</p> <p>2. Faith's Fate.</p> <p>3. Postmodern Premonitions.</p> <p>4. Signs of the Times.</p> <p>5. Shopping for a Self.</p> <p>6. A Global Spirit.</p> <p>7. Telescoped Time.</p> <p>8. Faith's Future.</p> <p>Notes.</p> <p>Bibliography.</p> <p>Index.</p>

'This is an excellent book. I can't believe that anyone would want to teach about contemporary religion or about postmodernity without recommending this book and using it as a springboard for their own discussions.' <i>Alan Bryman, Professor of Social Research, Loughborough University</i> <br /> <p><br /> </p> <p>'Readers familiar with David Lyon's previous work will find in Jesus in Disneyland the same combination of theoretical awareness, perceptive comment and accessibility that makes his writing so valuable to all those interested in the nature of religion in the modern world. The book elucidates the subtle shift in the world of religion from obligation to consumption - a state of affairs that we need to know more about.' <i>Grace Davie, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Exeter</i><br /> </p> <p>'The writing is clear and filled with a number of engaging illustrations ... there is a great deal that I very much enjoyed within this book.' <i>LJK, Regent's Reviews</i><br /> </p> <p>'This interesting book explores the implications of postmodernity on religion. At the same time it questions the centrality of the secularization thesis in sociology of religion as well as calling for reflexivity as a more central aspect of sociological endeavour.' <i>British Journal of Sociology</i><br /> </p> <p>'The book is engaging and well-written - that academic rarity, a "good read".' <i>Theology Today</i><br /> </p> <p>'This is a beautifully written, imaginative and stimulating account of the place of religion in postmodernity ... a work laden with richness, a freshness of insight and a sense of immediacy.' <i>Journal of Contemporary Religion</i><br /> </p> <p><i>"Jesus in Disneyland:Religion in Postmodern Times</i> is a highly distinctive and fresh commentary on contemporary religion and late modernity by David Lyon, a writer able to embrace the postmodern cultural turn with gusto and panache." <i>European Journal of Social Theory</i><br /> </p> <p>"This work provides the most insightful understanding of the contemporary context for this field of study<i>" Daryl Healea, Religious Studies Review</i>"This book will provide a fruitful way of grasping some of the fortunes of religion in this postmodern era." <i>Stimulus</i></p>

<b>David Lyon</b> is Professor of Sociology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario

In this lively and accessible study, David Lyon explores the relationship between religion and postmodernity, through the central metaphor of <i>'Jesus in Disneyland.'</i> Contemporary disciples of Jesus have used Disneyland for religious events, whilst Disney characters are now probably better known throughout the world than many biblical figures. But this book cautions against seeing it as a simple substitution. Rather, Lyon shows how this metaphor reveals highly innovative and potentially enduring features of contemporary spiritual quests. <p>In the West, many religious institutions have declined in social significance, but what Lyon calls the religious realm, including faith and spirituality, is flourishing in multifarious forms. Throughout the text he examines a wide variety of religious and para-religious behaviour, exploring its relation to issues of identity, cyberculture, consumer culture and social theories of time. Lyon's stimulating use of contemporary case studies illuminates the interconnections between religion and postmodernity in a world where holy wars are waged in cyberspace, New Age self religions resonate with new identity quests, and Pentecostalism sparks globalization from below.</p> <p>This book will be essential reading for students and scholars in the sociology of religion, sociology of culture, social theory, religious studies and theology.<br /> .</p>

GB