Why Do Sociologists Neglect Studying Sermons?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15695/hmltc.v51i1.5853Abstract
A 2024 study on how US Catholic homilists treated references to Jews and Judaism found that sociologists rarely study contemporary sermons to learn what they may reveal about the practices and attitudes of religious communities. Scholars who do study sermons tend to be theologians or pastoral educators who are interested in preachers’ biblical hermeneutics, theological perspectives, or rhetorical practices. Some scholars in practical theology have deftly used the social sciences to learn what might constitute effective preaching. The barriers that discourage sociological studies of sermons may be (1) resistance from religious communities, (2) the logistics of gathering sermon data, (3) methodological questions, and (4) an academic reluctance to study religious discourse. All of these obstacles, however, are readily surmountable, especially with emerging technologies that allow ready access to sermon information that would be valuable to a variety of research projects of interest to sociologists.
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