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 Sociology
In Our Times
the essentials 11E

Diana Kendall

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
 Tönnies: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft 110 CHAPTER REVIEW 122
Social Structure and Homelessness 110 Key Terms 123
Social Interaction: The Microlevel Perspective 111 Questions for Critical Thinking 123
Social Interaction and Meaning 111 Answers to Sociology Quiz 124
The Social Construction of Reality 113
Ethnomethodology 114 Features
Dramaturgical Analysis 114 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: Twenty-five Years
The Sociology of Emotions 116 of Dumpster Diving for Dinner 96
Nonverbal Communication 118 ■ Sociology & Social Policy: What’s Going on in

Looking Ahead: Social Change, Social Structure, “Paradise”?—Homeless Rights Versus Public Space 112
and Interaction in the Future 121 ■ You Can Make a Difference: Offering a Helping Hand
to Homeless People 120

5 Groups and Organizations 126

Social Groups 128 Socially Sustainable

Groups, Aggregates, and Categories 129 Organizations 146
Types of Groups 130 Globalization,
The Purpose of Groups: Multiple Perspectives 132 Technology,
Group Characteristics and Dynamics 132 and “Smart
Group Size 132 Working” 147
Group Leadership 133 CHAPTER REVIEW 149
Group Conformity 134 Key Terms 150
Groupthink 137 Questions for Critical Thinking 150
Formal Organizations in Global Perspective 138 Answers to Sociology Quiz 151
Types of Formal Organizations 138
Features
Bureaucracies 140
Problems of Bureaucracies 142 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: Social Media
Bureaucracy and Oligarchy 143 and the Classroom 128
■ Sociology & Social Policy: Technological and Social
Alternative Forms of Organization 145
Humanizing Bureaucracy 145 Change in the Workplace: BYOD? 144
Organizational Structure in Japan, ■ You Can Make a Difference: Can Facebook, Twitter,
Russia, and India 145 and Other Social Media Make You a Better, More Helpful
Person? 147
Looking Ahead: Social Change and Organizations
in the Future 146

6 Deviance and Crime 152

What Is Deviance? 154 Approaches Focusing

Who Defines Deviance? 156 on the Interaction
What Is Social Control? 157 of Race, Class, and
Functionalist Perspectives on Deviance 157 Gender 162
What Causes Deviance, and Why Is It Functional Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives on Deviance 163
for Society? 157 Differential Association Theory and Differential
Strain Theory: Goals and Means to Achieve Them 158 Reinforcement Theory 163
Opportunity Theory: Access to Illegitimate Rational Choice Theory 163
Opportunities 159 Control Theory: Social Bonding 164
Conflict Perspectives on Deviance 160 Labeling Theory 164
Deviance and Power Relations 161 Postmodernist Perspectives on Deviance 166
Deviance and Capitalism 161 Crime Classifications and Statistics 167
Feminist Approaches 161 How the Law Classifies Crime 167

Contents ■ vii

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
 Other Crime Categories 168 CHAPTER REVIEW 185
Crime Statistics 172 Key Terms 186
Terrorism and Crime 173 Questions for Critical Thinking 187
Street Crimes and Criminals 174 Answers to Sociology Quiz 187
Crime Victims 176
The Criminal Justice System 177 Features
The Police 177 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: The Carnage
The Courts 178 Continues 154
Punishment and Corrections 180 ■ Sociology in Global Perspective: A Wider Perspective
The Death Penalty 181 on Gangs: Look and Listen Around the World! 160
Looking Ahead: Deviance and Crime in the Future 182 ■ Sociology & Social Policy: The Long War Over Gun
The Future of Transnational Crime and the Global Control 183
Criminal Economy 184

PART 3 Social Inequality

Class and Stratification

7 in the United States 188
What Is Social Stratification? 191 Solving the Poverty
Systems of Stratification 192 Problem 212
Slavery 192 Sociological Explanations
The Caste System 193 of Social Inequality
The Class System 195 in the United States 213
Classical Perspectives on Social Class 195 Functionalist Perspectives 213
Karl Marx: Relationship to the Means Conflict Perspectives 213
of Production 195 Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives 214
Max Weber: Wealth, Prestige, and Power 196 Looking Ahead: U.S. Stratification in the Future 215
Contemporary Sociological Models of the U.S. Class CHAPTER REVIEW 217
Structure 198 Key Terms 218
The Weberian Model of the U.S. Class Structure 198 Questions for Critical Thinking 218
The Marxian Model of the U.S. Class Structure 201 Answers to Sociology Quiz 219
Inequality in the United States 204
Distribution of Income and Wealth 204 Features
Consequences of Inequality 207 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: The Power of Class 190
■ Sociology in Global Perspective: A Day in Your Life:
Poverty in the United States 209
Who Are the Poor? 210 How Are You Touched by Modern Slavery? 194
Economic and Structural Sources of Poverty 211 ■ You Can Make a Difference: Students Helping Others
Through Campus Kitchen 216

8 Global Stratification 220

Wealth and Poverty in Global Perspective 222 Classification of Economies

Problems in Studying Global Inequality 223 by Income 225
The “Three Worlds” Approach 223 Low-Income
The Levels of Development Approach 224 Economies 225
Middle-Income
Economies 226

viii ■ Contents

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
 High-Income Economies 226 The New International Division of Labor Theory 238
Measuring Global Wealth and Poverty 227 Looking Ahead: Global Inequality in the Future 239
Absolute, Relative, and Subjective Poverty 227 CHAPTER REVIEW 241
The Gini Coefficient and Global Quality-of-Life Key Terms 242
Issues 227
Questions for Critical Thinking 242
Global Poverty and Human Development Issues 228 Answers to Sociology Quiz 243
Life Expectancy 229
Health 229 Features
Education and Literacy 231 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: Leaving the Snare
A Multidimensional Measure of Poverty 232 of Poverty 222
Persistent Gaps in Human Development 233 ■ Sociology & Social Policy: Fighting Poverty Through
Theories of Global Inequality 234 Global Goals for Sustainable Development 230
Development and Modernization Theory 234 ■ You Can Make a Difference: Global Networking
Dependency Theory 235 to Reduce World Hunger and Poverty 240
World Systems Theory 236

9 Race and Ethnicity 244

Race and Ethnicity 247 Latinos/as (Hispanic

Comparing Race and Ethnicity 248 Americans) 271
The Social Significance of Race and Ethnicity 249 Middle Eastern
Racial Classifications and the Meaning of Race 249 Americans 273
Dominant and Subordinate Groups 250 Looking Ahead: The
Prejudice 250 Future of Global Racial and Ethnic Inequality 275
Stereotypes 250 Worldwide Racial and Ethnic Struggles 275
Racism 252 Growing Racial and Ethnic Diversity
Theories of Prejudice 253 in the United States 275
Sociological Perspectives on Race and Ethnic CHAPTER REVIEW 277
Relations 256 Key Terms 278
Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives 256 Questions for Critical Thinking 278
Functionalist Perspectives 257 Answers to Sociology Quiz 279
Conflict Perspectives 258
An Alternative Perspective: Critical Race Theory 260 Features
Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States 261 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: Race and Moral Imagination:
Native Americans and Alaska Natives 261 From Selma to Ferguson and Back 246
White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (British ■ Sociology & Social Policy: Racist Hate Speech
Americans) 263 on Campus Versus the First Amendment Right
African Americans 264 to Freedom of Speech 252
White Ethnic Americans 267 ■ You Can Make a Difference: Working for Racial
Asian Americans 268 and Gender Harmony on College Campuses 276

10 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality 280

Sex: The Biological Dimension 284 Gender Stratification

Intersex and Transgender Persons 284 in Historical and
Sexual Orientation 286 Contemporary
Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation 287 Perspective 292
Gender: The Cultural Dimension 289 Hunting and Gathering
The Social Significance of Gender 290 Societies 292
Sexism 292 Horticultural and Pastoral Societies 293
Agrarian Societies 293

Contents ■ ix

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
 Industrial Societies 293 Conflict Perspectives 306
Postindustrial Societies 294 Feminist Perspectives 307
Gender and Socialization 295 Looking Ahead: Gender Issues in the Future 311
Parents and Gender Socialization 295 CHAPTER REVIEW 312
Peers and Gender Socialization 296 Key Terms 313
Teachers, Schools, and Gender Socialization 297 Questions for Critical Thinking 313
Sports and Gender Socialization 298
Answers to Sociology Quiz 313
Mass Media and Gender Socialization 299
Adult Gender Socialization 299 Features
Contemporary Gender Inequality 300 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: When Gender, Sexual
Gendered Division of Paid Work Orientation, and Weight Bias Collide 282
in the United States 300 ■ You Can Make a Difference: “Love Your Body”: Women’s
Pay Equity (Comparable Worth) 302 Activism on Campus and in the Community 308
Paid Work and Family Work 304 ■ Sociology in Global Perspective: Women’s Body Size
Perspectives on Gender Stratification 305 and the Globalization of “Fat Stigma” 309
Functionalist and Neoclassical
Economic Perspectives 305

PART 4 Social Institutions

11 Families and Intimate

Relationships 316
Families in Global Perspective 318 Single-Parent
Family Structure and Characteristics 320 Households 336
Marriage Patterns 322 Two-Parent
Patterns of Descent and Inheritance 322 Households 336
Power and Authority in Families 323 Remaining Single 337
Residential Patterns 323 Transitions and Problems in Families 337
Theoretical Perspectives on Family 324 Family Violence 338
Functionalist Perspectives 324 Children in Foster Care 338
Conflict and Feminist Perspectives 324 Divorce 339
Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives 325 Remarriage 339
Postmodernist Perspectives 325 Looking Ahead: Family Issues in the Future 342
Developing Intimate Relationships and Establishing CHAPTER REVIEW 342
Families 326 Key Terms 344
Love and Intimacy 326 Questions for Critical Thinking 344
Cohabitation and Domestic Partnerships 328
Answers to Sociology Quiz 344
Marriage 329
Same-Sex Marriages 329 Features
Housework and Child-Care Responsibilities 331 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: Diverse Family Landscapes
Child-Related Family Issues and Parenting 332 in the Twenty-first Century 318
Deciding to Have Children 332 ■ Sociology in Global Perspective: Wombs-for-Rent:
Adoption 334 Commercial Surrogacy in India 333
Teenage Childbearing 334

x ■ Contents

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
 12 Education and Religion 346

An Overview of Education and Religion 348 Conflict Perspectives

Sociological Perspectives on Education 349 on Religion 368
Functionalist Perspectives on Education 350 Symbolic Interactionist
Conflict Perspectives on Education 351 Perspectives
Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives on Religion 370
on Education 355 Rational Choice Perspectives on Religion 371
Postmodernist Perspectives 355 Types of Religious Organizations 373
Problems in Elementary and Secondary Schools 356 Ecclesia 373
Unequal Funding of Public Schools 356 Churches, Denominations, and Sects 373
School Dropouts 357 Cults (New Religious Movements) 374
Racial Segregation and Resegregation 358 Trends in Religion in the United States 375
Competition for Public Schools 359 The Secularization Debate 375
School Safety and Violence at All Levels 360 The Rise of Religious Fundamentalism 376
Opportunities and Challenges in Colleges Looking Ahead: Education and Religion
and Universities 361 in the Future 376
Community Colleges 361 CHAPTER REVIEW 379
Four-Year Colleges and Universities 362 Key Terms 380
The High Cost of a College Education 362 Questions for Critical Thinking 380
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Enrollment 363 Answers to Sociology Quiz 381
Religion in Historical Perspective 364
Features
Religion and the Meaning of Life 364
Religion and Scientific Explanations 367 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: An Ongoing Debate 348
■ Sociology & Social Policy: Prayer on the Public School
Sociological Perspectives on Religion 367
Functionalist Perspectives on Religion 367 Football Field: The Issue of Separation of Church
and State 368

13 Politics and the Economy

in Global Perspective 382
Politics, Power, and Authority 385 Capitalism 401
Power and Authority 386 Socialism 405
Ideal Types of Authority 386 Mixed Economies 405
Political Systems in Global Perspective 388 Work in the Contemporary
Monarchy 388 United States 407
Authoritarianism 389 Professions 407
Totalitarianism 389 Other Occupations 408
Democracy 390 Contingent Work 408
Perspectives on Power and Political Systems 390 The Underground (Informal) Economy 408
Functionalist Perspectives: The Pluralist Model 390 Unemployment 410
Conflict Perspectives: Elite Models 393 Labor Unions and Worker Activism 411
Employment Opportunities
The U.S. Political System 394 for Persons with a Disability 411
Political Parties and Elections 394
Discontent with the Current Political Looking Ahead: Politics and the Global Economy
System and Parties 394 in the Future 412
Political Participation and Voter Apathy 396 CHAPTER REVIEW 414
Governmental Bureaucracy 398 Key Terms 415
Economic Systems in Global Perspective 400 Questions for Critical Thinking 416
Preindustrial, Industrial, Answers to Sociology Quiz 416
and Postindustrial Economies 400
Contents ■ xi

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
Features ■ Sociology in Global Perspective: Lopsided Job Market
■ Sociology & Everyday Life: Thanking the Media for Their in China: A Mismatch Between Workers and Jobs 406
Role in Politics and the Economy in a Free Society 384 ■ You Can Make a Difference: Keeping an Eye
on the Media 412

14 Health, Health Care,

and Disability 418
Health in Global Perspective 421 A Postmodernist
Health in the United States 424 Perspective:
Social Epidemiology 424 The Clinical
Health Effects of Disasters 426 Gaze 446
Lifestyle Factors 428 Mental Disorders 447
Health Care in the United States 433 The Treatment of Mental Illness 447
The Rise of Scientific Medicine Disability 449
and Professionalism 433 Sociological Perspectives on Disability 450
Medicine Today 434
Looking Ahead: Health Care in the Future 451
Paying for Medical Care in the United States 435
Paying for Medical Care in Other Nations 439 CHAPTER REVIEW 452
Social Implications of Advanced Key Terms 454
Medical Technology 441 Questions for Critical Thinking 454
Holistic Medicine and Alternative Medicine 442 Answers to Sociology Quiz 454
Sociological Perspectives on Health and Medicine 443 Features
A Functionalist Perspective: The Sick Role 443
■ Sociology & Everyday Life: Medicine as a Social
A Conflict Perspective: Inequalities in Health
Institution 420
and Health Care 444
A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective: The Social ■ Sociology in Global Perspective: Medical Crises in the
Construction of Illness 445 Aftermath of Disasters: From Oklahoma to Nepal 426

PART 5 Social Dynamics and Social Change

15 Population and Urbanization 456

Demography: The Study of Population 458 Industrial Cities 470

Fertility 460 Postindustrial
Mortality 460 Cities 471
Migration 461 Perspectives on
Population Composition 464 Urbanization and the
Population Growth in Global Context 464 Growth of Cities 471
The Malthusian Perspective 464 Functionalist Perspectives: Ecological Models 472
The Marxist Perspective 467 Conflict Perspectives: Political Economy Models 474
The Neo-Malthusian Perspective 467 Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives: The Experience
Demographic Transition Theory 467 of City Life 475
Other Perspectives on Population Change 468 Problems in Global Cities 477
A Brief Glimpse at International Migration Theories 468 Urban Problems in the United States 479
Urbanization in Global Perspective 469 Divided Interests: Cities and Suburbs 480
Emergence and Evolution of the City 470 The Continuing Fiscal Crises of the Cities 481
Preindustrial Cities 470

xii ■ Contents

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
Rural Community Issues in the United States 481 Features
Looking Ahead: Population and Urbanization ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: The Immigration
in the Future 483 Debate 458
CHAPTER REVIEW 484 ■ Sociology in Global Perspective: Problems That

Key Terms 485 People Like to Ignore: Global Diaspora and the Migrant
Questions for Critical Thinking 485
Crisis 466
Answers to Sociology Quiz 486

16 Collective Behavior, Social

Movements, and Social Change 488
Collective Behavior 491 Population and
Conditions for Collective Behavior 492 Change 509
Dynamics of Collective Behavior 493 Technology and
Distinctions Regarding Collective Behavior 493 Change 509
Types of Crowd Behavior 493 Social Institutions and
Explanations of Crowd Behavior 495 Change 510
Mass Behavior 496 A Few Final Thoughts 511
Social Movements 499 CHAPTER REVIEW 511
Types of Social Movements 500 Key Terms 512
Stages in Social Movements 501 Questions for Critical Thinking 513
Social Movement Theories 502 Answers to Sociology Quiz 513
Relative Deprivation Theory 502
Features
Value-Added Theory 502
Resource Mobilization Theory 503 ■ Sociology & Everyday Life: Collective Behavior
Social Constructionist Theory: Frame Analysis 503 and Environmental Issues 490
Political Opportunity Theory 505 ■ Sociology in Global Perspective: Old Environmental
New Social Movement Theory 506 Pollution with New Social Pressures in China 504
Looking Ahead: Social Change in the Future 507
The Physical Environment and Change 508

Glossary 515
References 523
Name Index 539
Subject Index 545

Contents ■ xiii

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
FEATURES

Sociology & Everyday Life

The Sociology of Suicide Trends Today 4

Spreading Culture Through Food Trucks? 38
Class Attendance in Higher Education 66
Twenty-five Years of Dumpster Diving for Dinner 96
Social Media and the Classroom 128
The Carnage Continues 154
The Power of Class 190
Leaving the Snare of Poverty 222
Race and Moral Imagination: From Selma to Ferguson and Back 246
When Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Weight Bias Collide 282
Diverse Family Landscapes in the Twenty-first Century 318
An Ongoing Debate 348
Thanking the Media for Their Role in Politics and the Economy in a Free Society 384
Medicine as a Social Institution 420
The Immigration Debate 458
Collective Behavior and Environmental Issues 490

Sociology in Global Perspective

Durkheim’s Classical Study of Suicide Applied to Twenty-First-Century

Young People in India 7
What Do Cultural Norms Say About Drinking Behavior? 49
Open Doors: Study Abroad and Global Socialization 84
A Wider Perspective on Gangs: Look and Listen Around the World! 160
A Day in Your Life: How Are You Touched by Modern Slavery? 194
Women’s Body Size and the Globalization of “Fat Stigma” 309
Wombs-for-Rent: Commercial Surrogacy in India 333
Lopsided Job Market in China: A Mismatch Between Workers and Jobs 406
Medical Crises in the Aftermath of Disasters: From Oklahoma to Nepal 426
Problems That People Like to Ignore: Global Diaspora and the Migrant Crisis 466
Old Environmental Pollution with New Social Pressures in China 504

xv

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Sociology & Social Policy

Establishing Policies to Help Prevent Military Suicides 25

What’s Going on in “Paradise”?—Homeless Rights Versus Public Space 112
Technological and Social Change in the Workplace: BYOD? 144
The Long War Over Gun Control 183
Fighting Poverty Through Global Goals for Sustainable Development 230
Racist Hate Speech on Campus Versus the First Amendment Right
to Freedom of Speech 252
Prayer on the Public School Football Field: The Issue of Separation of Church
and State 368

You Can Make a Difference

Schools as Laboratories for Getting Along: Having Lunch Together 61

What Stresses Out College Students and What to Do About It? 89
Offering a Helping Hand to Homeless People 120
Can Facebook, Twitter, and Other Social Media Make You a Better, More Helpful
Person? 147
Students Helping Others Through Campus Kitchen 216
Global Networking to Reduce World Hunger and Poverty 240
Working for Racial and Gender Harmony on College Campuses 276
“Love Your Body”: Women’s Activism on Campus and in the Community 308
Keeping an Eye on the Media 412

xvi ■ Features

Copyright 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-202
PREFACE

Welcome to the eleventh edition of Sociology in Our Times: As with previous editions, the eleventh edition of
The Essentials! This best-selling text has been extensively Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials highlights the rel-
used for more than two decades in college and university evance of sociology to help students connect with the
classrooms across the United States, Canada, and other subject and the full spectrum of topics and issues that it
nations. However, Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials encompasses. It achieves this connection by providing
continues to live up to its name, remaining highly current a meaningful, concrete context within which to learn.
and relevant to today’s students and professors and re- Specifically, it presents the stories—the lived experiences—
flecting the latest available data and new insights on what of real individuals and the social issues they face while
is going on in our nation and world from a sociological discussing a diverse array of classical and contemporary
perspective. theories and examining interesting and relevant research.
The eleventh edition focuses on social change and ways The first-person commentaries that begin each chapter in
in which media, particularly social media, and various “Sociology & Everyday Life” show students how sociology
other forms of technology inevitably bring about new ways can help them understand the important questions and
of living, interacting with others, or doing some activity or social issues that not only these other individuals face but
task. For example, the cover of the eleventh edition por- that they themselves may face as well.
trays a 250-acre nature park called Gardens by the Bay, cre- Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials includes the best
ated from reclaimed land located in the heart of Singapore. work of classical and established contemporary sociolo-
Designed to raise the quality of life by enhancing greenery gists, and it weaves an inclusive treatment of all people—
and flora in the city and creating an urban outdoor recre- across lines of race/ethnicity, class, gender, age, ability/
ation space, the park is also fitted with environmental tech- disability, and other social attributes—into the examina-
nologies to harness solar energy, while the world’s largest tion of sociology in all chapters. It does not water down
glasshouse is designed to collect rainwater for use in irriga- the treatment of sociology for students! Sociology in Our
tion and fountain displays. Times: The Essentials provides students with the most rel-
Like previous editions, the eleventh edition highlights evant information about sociological thinking and helps
topics ranging from popular culture icons and social net- them to consider contemporary social issues through the
working to far-more-serious issues of our times, such as the lens of diversity. While guiding students to appreciate how
social effects of massive natural and human disasters, gun sociology can help them better understand the world, this
violence, political unrest, terrorism, war, and the individ- text also encourages them to see themselves as members
ual and social consequences of problems such as growing of their communities and shows them what can be done in
inequality between the wealthiest and the poorest people responding to social issues. As a result, students learn how
and nations, persistent unemployment, migration con- sociology is not only a collection of concepts and theories
cerns worldwide, and other persistent issues and problems. but also a field that can make a difference in their lives,
The second decade of the twenty-first century offers their communities, and the world at large.
unprecedented challenges and opportunities for each
of us as individuals and for our larger society and world.
In the United States, we can no longer take for granted What’s New to the Eleventh Edition?
the peace and economic prosperity that many—but far
from all—people were able to enjoy in previous decades. The eleventh edition builds on the best of previous edi-
However, even as some things change, others remain the tions but places more emphasis on social change and so-
same, and among the things that have not changed are the cial problems, while offering new insights, learning tools,
significance of education and the profound importance of and opportunities to apply the content of each chapter
understanding how and why people act the way they do. to relevant sociological issues and major concerns of the
It is also important to analyze how societies grapple with twenty-first century. As it is my goal to make each edition
issues such as economic hardship and the threat of terror- better than the previous one, I have revised all the chapters
ist attacks and war, and to gain a better understanding of to reflect the latest in sociological theory and research, and
why many of us seek stability in our social institutions— have updated examples throughout. Additionally, all statis-
including family, religion, education, government, and tics, such as data relating to crime, demographics, health,
media—even if we believe that some of these institutions and the economy, are the latest available at the time of this
might benefit from certain changes. writing.

xvii

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 To make the text easier to read and to study for exams, I CHAPTER 2: Culture
have removed the “Sociology Works!” and “Media Framing” ■ Revised and updated opening lived experience about
boxes and have incorporated some of the most important the relationship between food and cultural diversity
information into the text itself. In addition, the feature ■ Deleted “Census Profiles”
titled “Sociology and Social Policy” has been given more ■ Updated Figure 2.11: “Heterogeneity of U.S. Society”
emphasis in this edition because of its relevance to cur- using data on religious affiliation, household income,
rent events. This box focuses on important social issues and racial and ethnic distribution available from the
(such as the high rate of suicide in the military, the right of U.S. Census Bureau
homeless people to occupy public spaces, and the extent ■ Updated examples in “Popular Culture” to relate better
to which employers should be able to spy on employees) to to contemporary students
provide a systematic examination of how social policy and ■ Deleted “Sociology in Media” and expanded section on
law may bring about social change or impede it. Numerous culture in the future
new topics have also been added in “Sociology in Global ■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” and moved some of its
Perspective,” such as “Problems That People Like to Ignore: information into “You Can Make a Difference”: “Schools
Global Diaspora and the Migrant Crisis” in Chapter 15, as Laboratories for Getting Along”
“Population and Urbanization.”
To assist your students in learning about sociology CHAPTER 3: Socialization
and reflecting their knowledge on tests, I have continued ■ Added new opening lived experience on class atten-
to revise the learning objectives at the beginning of each dance in higher education
chapter, provide integrated learning objective (LO) icons ■ Updated and redesigned Figure 3.4: “Types of Maltreat-
throughout the chapter, and offer students a study guide at ment Among Children Under Age 18”
the end of each chapter. The learning objectives have been ■ Deleted “Sociology Works!”
carefully conceived to help the reader focus on the most ■ Deleted “Sociology and Media”
crucial concepts of the chapter. ■ Revised and updated “Sociology in Global Perspective”:
“Open Doors: Study Abroad and Global Socialization”
■ Added new discussion on effects of social isolation and
Changes by Chapter loneliness, particularly among older adults
■ Added new final section—“Looking Ahead: Socializa-
CHAPTER 1: The Sociological Perspective tion, Social Change, and Your Future”—which discusses
and Research Process the different experiences of digital natives and digital
■ Updated chapter-opening lived experience to show immigrants and how this distinction affects the social-
continued linkages among social media, bullying, and ization process, particularly in higher education
suicide regarding young people in the United States
■ Updated “Sociology & Everyday Life” quiz: “How Much CHAPTER 4: Social Structure and Interaction
Do You Know About Suicide?” in Everyday Life
■ Added new Figure 1.3: “Using Our Global Sociological ■ Updated opening lived experience to include newer ex-
Imagination to Understand Suicide” ample of the ethics of dumpster diving for people who
■ Added discussion of the contemporary relevance of are not poor or homeless
Auguste Comte’s focus on science in terms of this em- ■ Updated Figure 4.4: “Causes of Family Homelessness in
phasis relating to sociology being a STEM discipline 25 Cities”
■ Revised and updated “Understanding Statistical Data ■ Deleted “Homelessness in the Media”
Presentations” to provide the latest available data for ■ Revised data in “Who Are the Homeless?”
students ■ Deleted “Census Profiles”
■ Updated Table 1.1, “Rates (per 100,000 U.S. Population) ■ Revised and updated “Sociology and Social Policy,”
for Homicide, Suicide, and Firearm-Related Deaths of adding new subtitle: “What’s Going on in ‘Paradise’?—
Youths Ages 15–19, by Gender, 2014” Homeless Rights Versus Public Space”
■ Revised and updated “Sociology and Social Policy”: ■ Deleted “Sociology Works!”
“Establishing Policies to Help Prevent Military Suicides” ■ Added new “You Can Make a Difference”: “Offering a
■ Updated Figure 1.14: “National Suicide Statistics at a Helping Hand to Homeless People”
Glance”
■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” and incorporated its CHAPTER 5: Groups and Organizations
contents into “Sociology in Global Perspective” to ■ Deleted “Community in the Media” and moved some of
emphasize the relevance of Durkheim’s theory in the information into the text
contemporary India ■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” and moved some of the
■ Deleted “Census Profiles” information into the discussion of ingroups and
■ Deleted “Sociology in the Media” outgroups

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■ Substantially revised and updated “Sociology and CHAPTER 8: Global Stratification
Social Policy,” changing the subtitle to “Technological ■ Revised and updated information in the “Sociology &
and Social Change in the Workplace: BYOD?” Everyday Life” quiz: “How Much Do You Know About
■ Renamed and updated final section: “Looking Ahead: Global Wealth and Poverty?”
Social Change and Organizations in the Future” ■ Replaced Figure 8.1 with “Wealth and Population by
■ Added new “You Can Make a Difference”: “Can Face- Region, 2015”
book, Twitter, and Other Social Media Make You a Bet- ■ Updated “Classification of Economies by Income”
ter, More Helpful Person?” ■ Revised Figure 8.3 (map of “High-, Middle-, and Low-
Income Economies in Global Perspective”)
CHAPTER 6: Deviance and Crime
■ Deleted “Framing Child Labor Issues in the Media”
■ Added new opening lived experience about President ■ Revised and updated “Global Poverty and Human
Obama’s exasperation with the lack of gun control in Development Issues” section
light of the San Bernardino, California, mass shooting ■ Updated Figure 8.6: “Indicators of Human
and all the other shootings that have recently occurred Development”
■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” and moved some of the ■ Revised and updated “Sociology and Social Policy” to
content into discussion about deviance include new United Nations goals for 2016–2030
■ Updated discussion and examples, where possible, ■ Updated information on maquiladora plants
throughout crime theories section ■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” and incorporated some of
■ Updated crime statistics throughout chapter the information into the main body of the text
■ Revised and updated all figures pertaining to crime ■ Added new “You Can Make a Difference”: “Global Net-
statistics working to Reduce World Hunger and Poverty”
■ Deleted “Framing Violent Crime in the Media” ■ Revised and updated “Looking Ahead: Global Inequal-
■ Updated discussion about terrorism and crime to ity in the Future”
include recent violence in France and Dallas, Texas
■ Updated statistics on the U.S. criminal justice system CHAPTER 9: Race and Ethnicity
■ Added new “Sociology in Global Perspective”: “A Wider
■ Added new opening lived experience about Selma,
Perspective on Gangs: Look and Listen Around the Alabama, fifty years after the civil rights march and
World!” to include newer research and global examples about recent problems in Ferguson, Missouri, involv-
■ Updated “Sociology and Social Policy,” now subtitled
ing racism and abusive policing directed at African
“The Long War Over Gun Control” Americans
■ Revised and expanded section on Internet crime
■ Updated data in the “Sociology & Everyday Life” quiz:
“How Much Do You Know About Race, Ethnicity, and
CHAPTER 7: Class and Stratification
Sports?”
in the United States
■ Updated data and other information on all racial and
■ Updated statistics on income, poverty, health insur- ethnic categories
ance, and other issues pertaining to inequality through- ■ Added new “Sociology and Social Policy”: “Racist Hate
out the chapter. Speech on Campus Versus First Amendment Right to
■ Updated models and figures of the U.S. class structure Freedom of Speech”
■ Revised Figure 7.12: “Distribution of Pretax Income in ■ Deleted “Census Profiles”
the United States, 2014” ■ Deleted “Sociology in Global Perspective”
■ Revised Figure 7.13: “Mean Household Income in the ■ Deleted “Sociology Works!”
United States” ■ Deleted “Sociology in the Media”
■ Revised Figure 7.15: “Racial Divide in Net Worth, 2013” ■ Added new information on Cuban Americans regarding
■ Revised Figure 7.16: “Rate of Uninsurance by Household changing relations with the United States
Income, 2014” ■ Updated information on Middle Eastern Americans in
■ Deleted map: “Percentage of People in Poverty in the light of recent terrorist attacks
Past 12 Months by State” ■ Changed final section to “Looking Ahead: The Future of
■ Revised Figure 7.18: “U.S. Poverty Rates by Age, Global Racial and Ethnic Inequality”
1959–2014”
■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” CHAPTER 10: Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
■ Added new Figure 7.19: “Poverty Rates by Age and Sex,
■ Added new “Sociology & Everyday Life” opening lived
2014” experience on gender, sexual orientation, and weight
■ Added “You Can Make a Difference”: “Students Helping
issues
Others Through Campus Kitchen” ■ Added new “Sociology & Everyday Life” quiz: “How
■ Expanded and renamed final section: “Looking Ahead:
Much Do You Know About Gender, Sexual Orientation,
U.S. Stratification in the Future” and Weight Bias?”

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■ Revised and updated discussion of LGBTQ issues, ■ Updated “Sociology and Social Policy” box to reflect
including changes to the “Intersex and Transgender Per- increasing complications relating to church–state
sons” section and new material on the North Carolina separation issues
“bathroom law” relating to transgender persons ■ Deleted “Top 24 U.S. Denominations That Self-Identify
■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” as Christian”
■ Deleted “Census Profiles” ■ Updated Figure 12.19: “U.S. Religious Traditions’ Membership”
■ Updated section on gender and socialization ■ Revised and updated “Looking Ahead: Education and
■ Expanded discussion of mass media and gender social- Religion in the Future”
ization to include more on social media
■ Deleted “Framing Gender in the Media” CHAPTER 13: Politics and the Economy
■ Revised and updated “Contemporary Gender Inequal- in Global Perspective
ity,” particularly “Gendered Division of Paid Work in the ■ Added new opening lived experience with President
United States” Obama addressing journalists and explaining the im-
■ Updated Figure 10.11: “The Wage Gap, 2015” portance of the media in a free society
■ Updated Figure 10.12: “Women’s Wages as a Percentage ■ Deleted “Sociology Works!”
of Men’s in Each Racial–Ethnic Category” ■ Revised and updated discussion of the U.S. political
■ Updated map shown in Figure 10.13: “Women’s Earn- process and political parties
ings as a Percentage of Men’s Earnings by State, the ■ Updated “Discontent with the Current Political System
District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, 2014” and Parties” to include the primaries in the 2016 presi-
■ Added new “Sociology in Global Perspective”: “Women’s dential race
Body Size and the Globalization of ‘Fat Stigma’ ” ■ Deleted discussion of the Tea Party and the Green Party
■ Added new “You Can Make a Difference”: “ ‘Love Your Body’: to focus instead on current disagreements within the
Women’s Activism on Campus and in the Community” Republican and Democratic parties
■ Revised and updated Figure 13.10: “The ‘Typical’ Fed-
CHAPTER 11: Families and Intimate Relationships eral Civilian Employee”
■ Revised chapter opening lived experience and updated ■ Deleted “Census Profiles”
the “Sociology & Everyday Life” quiz ■ Updated Table 13.1: “Revenues of the World’s 20 Largest
■ Revised statistics on families throughout chapter Public and Private Corporations (2014)”
■ Added new section: “The Contemporary Family— ■ Updated Table 13.2: “The Music Industry’s Big Three”
Family Diversity in the Twenty-first Century” ■ Updated Figure 13.13: “The General Motors Board of
■ Deleted “Census Profiles” Directors”
■ Updated data on cohabitation and domestic ■ Added new “Sociology in Global Perspective”:
partnerships “Lopsided Job Market in China: A Mismatch
■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” Between Workers and Jobs”
■ Updated “Sociology in Global Perspective”: ■ Revised and updated discussion of unemployment with
“Wombs-for-Rent: Commercial Surrogacy in India” latest available data
■ Revised Figure 11.10: “U.S. Birth Rates per 1,000 ■ Updated information on labor unions and worker activism
Females Ages 15–19, by Race/Ethnicity, 1990–2014” ■ Added new “You Can Make a Difference”: “Keeping an
■ Deleted “Teen Pregnancy in the Media” Eye on the Media”
■ Revised “Looking Ahead: Family Issues in the Future” ■ Revised “Looking Ahead: Politics and the Global
Economy in the Future”
CHAPTER 12: Education and Religion
■ Updated statistics for education and religion through- CHAPTER 14: Health, Health Care, and Disability
out the chapter ■ Updated information and statistics on illness and
■ Deleted “Sociology Works!” health care throughout chapter
■ Added “Postmodern Theory” in education section ■ Deleted “Health Issues in the Media”
■ Updated Figure 12.7: “Percentage Distribution of Total ■ Updated discussion on medicinal and recreational use
Public Elementary–Secondary School System Revenue, of marijuana and changes in state laws pertaining to
2014–2015” illegal drug use
■ Revised and updated Figure 12.8: “Status Dropout Rates ■ Updated Figure 14.8: “Chlamydia—Rates by Age and
for 16- to 24-Year-Olds, by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Sex, United States, 2014”
Region” ■ Updated Figure 14.9: “Prevalence of Self-Reported Adult
■ Updated discussion of school safety and violence Obesity in the United States, 2014”
■ Deleted “Census Profiles” and incorporated “Educa- ■ Revised and updated information on the Affordable
tional Achievement of Persons Ages 25 and Over” into Care Act and its implementation
the text ■ Updated statistics on private health insurance

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Discovering Diverse Content Through
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“But in Alexandria, this mode of interpretation assumed still
greater importance. Here it had to solve the weighty problem,
how the new ideas that had forced their way into the mind and
consciousness of the Jew, were to be reconciled with his belief
in the authority of his sacred religious books. Allegory alone
made it possible to him, on the one hand, to admire the
philosophy of the Greeks, and in particular of Plato, and to make
its ideas his own; and, on the other, to reverence the Scripture
of the Old Testament as the one source of divinely revealed
truth. The sacred books needed but to be explained allegorically,
and then all that was wished for, even the boldest speculative
ideas of the Greek mind, could be found in the books
themselves. How widely this method was practised in
Alexandria, may be judged from the writings of Philo, in which
we see the most extensive use made of allegorical
interpretation, and find the contents of the Old Testament
blended intimately with everything that the systems of Greek
philosophy could offer. But it would be quite erroneous to think
that it was nothing but caprice and the unchecked play of fancy,
that called forth this allegorical explanation of the Scriptures,
which came to exercise such influence. For to the Alexandrian
Jew, at the stage of scriptural development which he had now
reached, with his consciousness divided between his ancestral
Hebraism and modern Hellenism, this allegorizing was a
necessary form of consciousness; and so little did he dream that
the artificial link by which he bound together such diverse
elements was a thing he had himself created, that all the truth
which he accepted in the systems of Greek philosophy seemed
to him to be nothing but an emanation from the Old Testament
revelation.
“Now the gnostic systems also, for the most part, make very
free use of the allegorical method of interpretation; and this is
enough to apprise us that we must regard them under the same
aspect as the Alexandrian religious philosophy. As far as we are
acquainted with the writings of the Gnostics, we see them to
 have been full of allegorical interpretations, not indeed referring,
as with Philo, to the books of the Old Testament (for their
attitude toward the Old Testament was entirely different from
his); but to those of the New, which were for the Gnostics what
the books of the Old Testament were for Philo.
“In order to give their own ideas a Christian stamp, they applied
the allegorical method, as much as possible, to the persons and
events of the Gospel history, and especially to the numbers that
occur in it. Thus for the Valentinians the number thirty in the
New Testament, especially in the life of Jesus, was made to
signify the number of their æons; the lost wandering sheep was
for them their Achamoth; and even the utterances of Jesus,
which contain a perfectly simple religious truth, received from
them a sense referring to the doctrines of their system.
“The lately discovered Philosophoumena of the pseudo-Origen
who undertook the task of refuting all the heresies show us even
more clearly than before what an extensive use the Gnostics
made of allegory.
“They applied it not merely to the books of the Old and New
Testaments, but even the products of Greek literature, for
instance, to the Homeric poems; their whole mode of view was
entirely allegorical.
“The whole field of ancient mythology, astronomy, and physics,
was laid under contribution to support their views. They thought
that the ideas that were the highest objects of their thought and
knowledge were to be found expressed everywhere.”[30]
Hatch offers important testimony as to the pagan elements in early
exegesis, in these words:
“The earliest methods of Christian exegesis were continuations
of the methods which were common at the time to both Greek
and Græco-Judæan writers. They were employed on the same
subject-matter. Just as the Greek philosophers had found their
philosophy in Homer, so Christian writers found in him Christian
theology. When he represents Odysseus as saying,[31] ‘The rule
of many is not good; let there be one ruler,’ he means to indicate
that there should be but one God; and his whole poem is
designed to show the mischief that comes of having many gods.
[32]
When he tells us that Hephæstus represented on the shield
of Achilles ‘the earth, the heaven, the sea, the sun that rests
not, and the moon full-orbed,’[33] he is teaching the divine order
of creation which he learned in Egypt from the books of Moses.
[34]
So Clement of Alexandria interprets the withdrawal of
Oceanus and Tethys from each other to mean the separation of
land and sea.[35] And he holds that Homer when he makes
Apollo ask Achilles, ‘Why fruitlessly pursue him, a god,’ meant to
show that the divinity cannot be apprehended by the bodily
powers.[36]
“Some of the philosophical schools which hung upon the skirts
of Christianity mingled such interpretations of Greek mythology
with similar interpretations of the Old Testament. For example,
the writer to whom the name Simon Magus is given, is said to
have ‘interpreted in whatever way he wished both the writings
of Moses and also those of the Greek poets’[37]; and the Ophite
writer, Justin, evolves an elaborate cosmogony from a story of
Herakles narrated in Herodotus,[38] combined with the story of
the Garden of Eden.[39]...
“A large part of such interpretation was inherited. The
coincidences of mystical interpretation between Philo and the
Epistle of Barnabas show that such interpretation were
becoming the common property of Jews and Judæo-Christians.
But the method was soon applied to new data. Exegesis became
apologetic. Whereas Philo and his school had dealt mainly with
the Pentateuch, the early Christian writers came to deal mainly
with the prophets and poetical books; and whereas Philo was
mainly concerned to show that the writings of Moses contained
Greek philosophy, the Christian writers endeavored to show that
the writings of the Hebrew preachers and poets contained
Christianity; and whereas Philo had been content to speak of the
 writers of the Old Testament, as Dio Chrysostom spoke of the
Greek poets, as having been stirred by a divine enthusiasm, the
Christian writers soon came to construct an elaborate theory
that the poets and preachers were but as the flutes through
which the breath of God flowed in divine music into the soul.”[40]

The Fathers as Allegorists.

Beginning with Justin, the leaders of thought in the Church, from the
middle of the second century, were men who had been brought up
as pagan philosophers, or educated under pagan influence. It was
therefore unavoidable that this corrupting system of exegesis should
be applied to the books of the New Testament. This was done by the
Gnostics, according to their theory that the true meaning of all
writings was hidden. Christ’s life presented many difficulties to the
philosophers. To explain its seeming contradiction, they resolved the
mission of Christ into a series of superhuman movements, and the
New Testament into a sort of hieroglyphic record of those
movements. Instance: Simeon, taking the young Christ in his arms in
the temple,
“was a type of the Demiurge, who, on the arrival of the Saviour,
learned his own change of place, and gave thanks to Bythus.
They also assert that by Anna, who is spoken of in the Gospel as
a prophetess, and who, after living seven years with her
husband, passed all the rest of her life in widowhood until she
saw the Saviour, and recognized Him, and spoke of Him to all,
was most plainly indicated Achamoth, who, having for a little
while looked upon the Saviour with his associates, and dwelling
all the rest of the time in the intermediate place, waited for Him
till He should come again and restore her to her proper consort.
Her name, too, was indicated by the Saviour when he said, ‘Yet
wisdom is justified by her children.’ This, too, was done by Paul
in these words, ‘But we speak wisdom among them that are
perfect.’ They declare also that Paul has referred to the
conjunctions within the Pleroma, showing them forth by means
 of one; for, when writing of the conjugal union in this life, he
expressed himself thus: ‘This is a great mystery, but I speak
concerning Christ and the Church.’”[41]
Another instance is found in the interpretation which they made of
the raising of Jairus’ daughter:
“They maintain further, that that girl of twelve years old, the
daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, whom the Lord
approached and raised from the dead, was a type of Achamoth,
to whom their Christ, by extending himself, imparted shape, and
whom he led anew to the perception of that light which had
forsaken her. And that the Saviour appeared to her when she lay
outside of the Pleroma as a kind of abortion, they affirm Paul to
have declared in his Epistle to the Corinthians (in these words):
‘And last of all, He appeared to me also, as to one born out of
due time.’ Again, the coming of the Saviour with His attendants,
to Achamoth is declared in like manner by him in the same
epistle, when he says: ‘A woman ought to have a veil upon her
head, because of the angels.’ Now that Achamoth, when the
Saviour came to her, drew a veil over herself through modesty,
Moses rendered manifest when he put a veil upon his face.
Then, also, they say that the passions which she endured were
indicated by the Lord upon the cross. Thus, when He said, ‘My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ he simply showed
that Sophia was deserted by the light, and was restrained by
Horos from making any advance forward. Her anguish again was
indicated when He said, ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death’; her fear by the words, ‘Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me’; and her perplexity, too, when He said,
‘And what I shall say, I know not.’”[42]

This Method Opposed by Some.

Some of the early Fathers, those who were least tinctured with
Greek thought, especially Tertullian, opposed this method at the
first. He declared that it was one of the arts of Satan, against which
Christians must wrestle. But the system was too deep-seated in all
the prevailing currents of influence to be displaced. Even while
Tertullian was opposing it, it was tightening its grasp upon the
Christian communities; a grasp which is by no means yet removed.
Starting first at Alexandria and strengthened by the union of Greek
philosophy and Hebrew theology, it gathered force like an increasing
tide, and overwhelmed all other forms of exegesis. A pertinent
example is found in Clement of Alexandria, in a philippic against the
Sophists:

“Look to the tongue and to the words of the glozing man,

But you look on no work that has been done;
But each one of you walks in the steps of a fox,
And in all of you is an empty mind.”

Clement of Alexandria comments on this as follows:

“This, I think, is signified by the utterance of the Saviour, ‘The
foxes have holes, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his
head.’ For on the believer alone, who is separated entirely from
the rest, who by the Scripture are called wild beasts, rests the
head of the universe, the kind and gentle Word, ‘Who taketh the
wise in their own craftiness. For the Lord knoweth the thoughts
of the wise, that they are vain’; the Scripture calling those the
wise (σοφοὺς) who are skilled in words and arts, sophists
(σοφιστὰς).”[43]
In another place the story of the feeding of the multitude by Christ is
explained in these words:
“And the Lord fed the multitude of those that reclined on the
grass opposite to Tiberias with the two fishes and the five barley
loaves, indicating the preparatory training of the Greeks and
Jews previous to the divine grain, which is the food cultivated by
the law. For barley is sooner ripe for the harvest than wheat;
and the fishes signified the Hellenic philosophy that was
 produced and moved in the midst of the Gentile billow, given, as
they were, for copious food to those lying on the ground,
increasing no more, like the fragments of the loaves, but having
partaken of the Lord’s blessing, had breathed into them the
resurrection of God-head through the power of the Word. But if
you are curious, understand one of the fishes to mean the
curriculum of study, and the other the philosophy which
supervenes. The gatherings point out the word of the Lord.”[44]
Christianity, according to the New Testament, could not be
developed under such exegesis. These pagano-Christian leaders had
still greater love for the allegorical method because it enabled them
to “explain away” the difficulties which they found in considering
Christianity—as they conceived of it—to be the product of the Old
Testament. From the first they had identified the God of the Old
Testament with the Demiurge, the creator of the world and of
matter, in which was only evil. They claimed that Jehovah could not
make a revelation for all time, nor one worthy of their confidence.
Hatch, speaking of the Old Testament, says:
“An important section of the Christian world rejected its
authority altogether; it was the work, not of God, but of His
rival, the god of this world; the contrast between the Old
Testament and the New was part of the larger contrast between
matter and spirit, darkness and light, evil and good. This was
the contention of Marcion, whose influence upon the Christian
world was far larger than is commonly supposed.”[45]

Further Examples.
Still further examples of the fanciful perversions of the Scriptures, by
the Fathers, are presented in order that the reader may be left
without a doubt as to the ruinous effects which the pagan
allegorizing methods produced upon the infant Church.
The Epistle of Barnabas, falsely attributed to the companion of Paul,
is a notable example of unmeaning allegories which totally pervert
the Scriptures. Take the following examples:
“THE RED HEIFER A TYPE OF CHRIST.[46]
“Now what do you suppose this to be a type of, that a command
was given to Israel, that men of the greatest wickedness should
offer a heifer, and slay and burn it, and that then boys should
take the ashes, and put these into vessels, and bind round a
stick purple wool along with hyssop, and that thus the boys
should sprinkle the people one by one, in order that they might
be purified from their sins? Consider how he speaks to you with
simplicity. The calf is Jesus; the sinful men offering it are those
who led Him to the slaughter. But now the men are no longer
guilty, are no longer regarded as sinners. And the boys that
sprinkle are those that have proclaimed to us the remission of
sins and purification of heart. To these He gave authority to
preach the gospel, being twelve in number, corresponding to the
twelve tribes of Israel. But why are there three boys that
sprinkle? To correspond to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
because these were great with God. And why was the wool
[placed] upon the wood? Because by wood Jesus holds His
kingdom, so that [through the cross] those believing on Him
shall live forever. But why was hyssop joined with the wool?
Because in His kingdom the days will be evil and polluted in
which we shall be saved, [and] because he who suffers in body
is cured through the cleansing efficacy of hyssop. And on this
account the things which stand thus are clear to us, but obscure
to them, because they did not hear the voice of the Lord.”[47]
Chapter ix. discusses the spiritual meaning of circumcision. The
closing portion of the chapter is as follows:
“Yea, the Egyptians also practise circumcision. Learn then, my
children, concerning all things richly, that Abraham, the first who
enjoined circumcision, looking forward in spirit to Jesus,
practised that rite, having received the mysteries of the three
letters. For [the Scripture] saith, ‘And Abraham circumcised ten
and eight and three hundred men of his household.’ What then
 was the knowledge given to him in this? Learn the eighteen first,
and then the three hundred. The ten and the eight are thus
denoted—ten by I, and eight by H. You have [the initials of]
Jesus, and because the cross was to express the grace [of our
redemption] by the letter T, he says also, ‘three hundred.’ He
signifies, therefore, Jesus by two letters, and the cross by one.
He knows this, who has put within us the engrafted gift of His
doctrine. No one has been admitted by me to a more excellent
piece of knowledge than this, but I know that ye are worthy.”[48]
The tenth chapter, which treats of the Spiritual Significance of the
Precepts of Moses Respecting Different Kinds of Food, can be quoted
only in part; portions of it are unfit for the public eye, and yet these
portions, gross as they are, are solemnly set forth as an exegesis of
Scripture. The chapter follows here, except the grosser sentences:
“Now, wherefore did Moses say, ‘Thou shalt not eat the swine,
nor the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish which is
not possessed of scales?’ He embraced three doctrines in his
mind [in doing so]. Moreover, the Lord saith to them in
Deuteronomy, ‘And I will establish my ordinances among this
people.’ Is there then not a command of God that they should
not eat [these things]? There is; but Moses spoke with a
spiritual reference. For this reason he named the swine, as much
as to say, ‘Thou shalt not join thyself to men who resemble
swine,’ for when they live in pleasure they forget their Lord; but
when they come to want they acknowledge the Lord. And [in
like manner] the swine, when it has eaten, does not recognize
its master; but when hungry it cries out, and on receiving food is
quiet again. ‘Neither shalt thou eat,’ says he, ‘the eagle, nor the
hawk, nor the kite, nor the raven.’ ‘Thou shalt not join thyself,’
he means, ‘to such men as know not how to procure food for
themselves by labor and sweat, but seize on that of others in
their iniquity, and, although wearing an aspect of simplicity, are
on the watch to plunder others.’ So these birds, while they sit
idle, inquire how they may devour the flesh of others, proving
themselves pests [to all] by their wickedness. ‘And thou shalt
not eat,’ he says, ‘the lamprey, or the polypus, or the cuttle-fish.’
He means, ‘Thou shalt not join thyself or be like to such men as
are ungodly to the end, and are condemned to death.’ In like
manner as those fishes above accursed, float in the deep, not
swimming [on the surface] like the rest, but make their abode in
the mud which lies at the bottom....
“Moses then issued three doctrines concerning meats with a
spiritual significance; but they received them according to fleshly
desire as if he had merely spoken of [literal] meats. David,
however, comprehends the knowledge of the three doctrines,
and speaks in like manner: ‘Blessed is the man who hath not
walked in the counsel of the ungodly,’ even as the fishes
[referred to] go in darkness to the depths [of the sea], ‘and hath
not stood in the way of sinners,’ even as those who profess to
fear the Lord, but go astray like swine; ‘and hath not sat in the
seat of the scorners’ even as those birds that lie in wait for prey.
Take a full and firm grasp of this spiritual knowledge. But Moses
says still further, ‘Ye shall eat every animal that is cloven-footed
and ruminant.’ What does he mean? [The ruminant animal
denotes him] who on receiving food recognizes Him that
nourishes him, and being satisfied by Him, is visibly made glad.
Well spake [Moses] having respect to the commandment. What
then does he mean? That we ought to join ourselves to those
that fear the Lord, those who meditate in their heart on the
commandment which they have received, those who both utter
the judgments of the Lord and observe them, those who know
that meditation is a work of gladness, and who ruminate upon
the word of the Lord. But what means the cloven-footed? That
the righteous man also walks in this world, yet looks forward to
the holy state [to come]. Behold how well Moses legislated. But
how was it possible for them to understand or comprehend
these things? We then, rightly understanding his
commandments, explain them as the Lord intended. For this
purpose He circumcised our ears and our hearts, that we might
understand these things.”[49]
Chapter xii. is a meaningless discussion of the cross as prefigured in
the Old Testament. A part of the chapter will suffice.
“In like manner he points to the cross of Christ in another
prophet, who saith, ‘And when shall these things be
accomplished?’ And the Lord saith, ‘When a tree shall be bent
down, and again arise, and when blood shall flow out of
wood.’[50] Here again you have an intimation concerning the
cross and Him who should be crucified. Yet again he speaks of
this in Moses, when Israel was attacked by strangers. And that
He might remind them, when assailed, that it was on account of
their sins they were delivered to death, the Spirit speaks to the
heart of Moses, that he should make a figure of the cross, and
of Him about to suffer thereon; for unless they put their trust in
Him they shall be overcome forever. Moses, therefore, placed
one weapon above another in the midst of the hill, and standing
upon it, so as to be higher than all the people, he stretched
forth his hands, and thus again Israel acquired the mastery. But
when again he let down his hands, they were again destroyed.
For what reason? That they might know that they could not be
saved unless they put their trust in Him. And in another prophet
he declares, ‘All day long I have stretched forth my hands to an
unbelieving people, and one that gainsays my righteous way.’
And again Moses makes a type of Jesus [signifying] that it was
necessary for him to suffer, [and also] that He would be the
author of life [to others] whom they believed, to have destroyed
on the cross when Israel was falling.”[51]
Justin Martyr is an eminent example of one who perverted the
Scriptures while claiming to explain them. Witness the following from
the account of his conversion to Christianity:
“And when I had quoted this, I added, ‘Hear then how this man,
of whom the Scriptures declare that He will come again in glory
after His crucifixion, was symbolized both by the tree of life,
which was said to have been planted in paradise, and by those
events which should happen to all the just.’ Moses was sent with
a rod to effect the redemption of the people; and with this in his
hands, at the head of the people, he divided the sea. By this he
saw the water gushing out of the rock; and when he cast a tree
into the waters of Marah, which were bitter, he made them
sweet. Jacob, by putting rods into the water troughs, caused the
sheep of his uncle to conceive, so that he should obtain their
young. With his rod the same Jacob boasts that he had crossed
the river. He said that he had seen a ladder, and the Scripture
has declared that God stood above it.
“But that this was not the Father we have proved from the
Scriptures. And Jacob having poured oil on a stone in the same
place is testified to by the very God who appeared to him, that
he had anointed a pillar to the God who appeared to him. And
that the stone symbolically proclaimed Christ, we have also
proved by many Scriptures; and that the unguent, whether it
was of oil or of stacte, or of any other compounded sweet
balsams, had reference to Him we have also proved, inasmuch
as the word says, ‘Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.’ For indeed all
kings and anointed persons obtained from Him their share in the
names of kings and anointed; just as he himself received from
the Father the titles of King, and Christ, and Priest, and Angel,
and such like other titles which He bears or did bear. Aaron’s rod
which blossomed, declared him to be the high priest. Isaiah
prophesied that a rod would come forth from the root of Jesse
[and this was] Christ. And David says that the righteous man is
‘like the tree that is planted by the channels of waters, which
should yield its fruit in its season, and whose leaf should not
fade.’ Again, the righteous is said to flourish like the palm tree.
God appeared from a tree to Abraham, as it is written, near the
oak in Mamre. The people found seventy willows and twelve
springs after crossing the Jordan. David affirms that God
comforted him with a rod and staff. Elisha, by casting a stick into
the river Jordan, recovered the iron part of the axe with which
the sons of the prophets had gone to cut down trees to build the
 house, in which they wished to read and study the law and
commandments of God; even as our Christ, by being crucified
on the tree, and by purifying [us] with water, has redeemed us,
though plunged in the direst offences, which we have
committed, and has made [us] a house of prayer and adoration.
Moreover, it was a rod that pointed out Judah to be the father of
Tamar’s sons by a great mystery.”[52]
Still more confusing fancies, under the name of exegesis, appear
near the close of the Dialogue. Witness the following:
“‘You know then, sirs,’ I said, ‘that God has said in Isaiah to
Jerusalem, “I saved thee in the deluge of Noah.”[53] By this,
which God said, was meant that the mystery of saved men
appeared in the deluge. For righteous Noah, along with the
other mortals at the deluge, i. e., with his own wife, his three
sons, and their wives, being eight in number, were a symbol of
the eighth day wherein Christ appeared when He rose from the
dead, forever the first in power. For Christ being the first-born of
every creature, became again the chief of another race
regenerated by Himself through water, and faith, and wood,
containing the mystery of the cross; even as Noah was saved by
wood when he rode over the waters with his household.
Accordingly, when the prophet says, “I saved thee in the times
of Noah,” as I have already remarked, he addresses the people
who are equally faithful to God, and possess the same signs. For
when Moses had the rod in his hands he led your nation through
the sea. And you believe that this was spoken to your nation
only, or to the land. But the whole earth, as the Scripture says,
was inundated, and the water rose in height fifteen cubits above
all the mountains; so that it is evident this was not spoken to
the land, but to the people who obeyed Him, for whom also He
had before prepared a resting-place in Jerusalem, as was
previously demonstrated by all the symbols of the deluge; I
mean that by water, faith, and wood, those who are afore
prepared, and who repent of the sins which they have
 committed, shall escape from the impending judgment of
God.’”[54]
Another illustration of the utterly unmeaning and fanciful
interpretations of Scripture is found in Fragments from
Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture, by Hippolytus, Bishop of
Rome. He is explaining why there are one hundred and fifty psalms.
The main reason adduced is that fifty is a sacred number, and the
Psalms, on account of the destruction of God’s enemies, should
contain not only one set of fifty, but three such, for the name of the
Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. The sacred character of the number
fifty is explained as follows:
“The number fifty, moreover, contains seven sevens, or a
Sabbath of Sabbaths, and also over and above these full
Sabbaths, a new beginning in the eighth, of a really new rest
that remains above the Sabbaths. And let any one who is able
observe this [as it is carried out] in the Psalms with more,
indeed, than human accuracy, so as to find out the reasons in
each case, as we shall set them forth. Thus, for instance, it is
not without a purpose that the eighth Psalm has the inscription,
on the wine presses, as it comprehends the perfection of fruits
in the eighth; for the time for the enjoyment of the fruits of the
true vine could not be before the eighth. And again, the second
Psalm inscribed, on the wine presses, is the eightieth, containing
another eighth number, viz., in the tenth multiple. The eighty-
third again is made up by the union of two holy numbers, viz.,
the eighth in the tenth multiple, and the three in the first
multiple. And the fiftieth Psalm is a prayer for the remission of
sins, and a confession. For, as according to the Gospel, the
fiftieth obtained remission confirming thereby that
understanding of the jubilee, so he who offers up such petitions
in full confession hopes to gain remission in no other number
than the fiftieth. And again there are also certain others which
are called songs of degrees, in number fifteen, as was also the
number of the steps of the temple, and which show thereby,
perhaps, that the steps (or degrees) are comprehended within
 the number seven and the number eight. And these songs of
degrees begin after the one hundred and twentieth Psalm,
which is called simply a Psalm, as the more accurate copies give
it. And this is the number of the perfection of the life of man.
And the hundredth Psalm, which begins thus, I will sing of
mercy and judgment, O Lord, embraces the life of the saint in
fellowship with God. And the one hundred and fiftieth ends with
these words, Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.”[55]
Clement of Rome, one of the earliest Fathers from whom anything
genuine has come to our time, presents other prominent examples
of myth and allegory, as follows:
“Let us consider that wonderful sign [of the resurrection] which
takes place in Eastern lands, that is, in Arabia, and the countries
round about. There is a certain bird which is called a phœnix.
This is the only one of its kind, and lives five hundred years. And
when the time of its dissolution draws near that it must die, it
builds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices,
into which, when the time is fulfilled, it enters and dies. But as
the flesh decays, a certain kind of worm is produced, which,
being nourished by the juices of the dead bird, brings forth
feathers. Then when it has acquired strength, it takes up that
nest in which are the bones of its parent, and, bearing these, it
passes from the land of Arabia into Egypt, to the city called
Heliopolis. And in open day, flying in the sight of all men, it
places them on the altar of the sun, and, having done this,
hastens back to its former abode. The priests then inspect the
registers of the dates, and finds that it has returned exactly as
the five hundredth year was completed.”[56]
Here is a pagan sun-myth gravely set forth as fact, and made to
illustrate a Christian truth; an example of what was common in the
writings and theories of those who became leaders in the Church.
The Bible, with its simple truths and plain ethical teachings, was an
insipid book to men whose tastes had become abnormal and
perverted through feeding on such pagan fancies and superstitions.
One more example from Clement of Alexandria. It must be
remembered that the “Christian” writers who condemn gnosticism as
a heresy still claimed that there was a “true Christian gnosticism”;
the difference between them and those whom they condemned was
in degree more than in kind. The following extracts are from
Clement’s Gnostic Exposition of the Decalogue. It needs little to
show that when the law of God was thus expounded, its power and
authority were practically destroyed. Such expositions were part and
parcel of the lawlessness which was the unavoidable fruitage of
gnosticism. Clement says:
“And the Decalogue, viewed as an image of heaven, embraces
sun and moon, stars, clouds, light, wind, water, air, darkness,
fire. This is the physical Decalogue of the heaven.
“And the representation of the earth contains men, cattle,
reptiles, wild beasts; and of the inhabitants of the water, fishes
and whales; and again of the winged tribes, those that are
carnivorous, and those that use mild food; and of plants
likewise, both fruit-bearing and barren. This is the physical
Decalogue of the earth.
“And there is a ten in man himself: the five senses and the
power of speech, and that of reproduction; and the eighth is the
spiritual principle communicated at his creation; and the ninth,
the ruling faculty of the soul; and tenth, there is the distinctive
characteristic of the Holy Spirit, which comes to him through
faith.
“Besides, in addition to these ten human parts, the law appears
to give its injunctions to sight and hearing, and smell and touch
and taste, and to the organs subservient to these, which are
double the hands and the feet. For such is the formation of man.
And the soul is introduced, and previous to it the ruling faculty,
by which we reason, not produced in procreation; so that
without it there is made up the number ten, of the faculties by
which all the activity of man is carried out....
 “Is not man, then rightly said ‘to have been made in the image
of God’?—not in the form of his [corporeal] structure; but
inasmuch as God creates all things by the Word (λόγῳ) and the
man who has become a Gnostic performs good actions by the
faculty of reason (τῷ λογικῷ) properly therefore the two tables
are also said to mean the commandments that were given to the
twofold spirits—those communicated before the law to that
which was created, and to the ruling faculty; and the
movements of the senses are both copied in the mind, and
manifested in the activity which proceeds from the body.”[57]
Even Tertullian, who inveighed so strongly against certain phases of
gnosticism, as represented in the Alexandrian schools, has given
interpretations which are no less unreliable and fanciful than those
which he condemns.
Hear him on “Types.”
“Types of the Death of Christ: Isaac, Joseph; Jacob against
Simeon and Levi; Moses praying against Amalek; the Brazen
Serpent.
“On the subject of his death, I suppose you endeavor to
introduce a diversity of opinion, simply because you deny that
the suffering of the cross was predicted of the Christ of the
Creator, and because you contend, moreover, that it is not to be
believed that the Creator would expose His son to that kind of
death on which He had Himself pronounced a curse. ‘Cursed,’
says he, ‘is every one who hangeth on a tree.’ But what is meant
by this curse, worthy as it is of the simple prediction of the
cross, of which we are now mainly inquiring, I defer to consider,
because in another passage, we have given the reason of the
thing preceded by proof. First, I shall offer a full explanation of
the types. And no doubt it was proper that this mystery should
be prophetically set forth by types, and indeed chiefly by that
method; for in proportion to its incredibility would it be a
stumbling block, if it were set forth in bare prophecy; and in
proportion, too, to its grandeur, was the need of obscuring it in
shadow, that the difficulty of understanding it might lead to
prayer for the grace of God. First, then, Isaac, when he was
given up by his father, as an offering, himself carried the wood
for his own death. By this act he even then was setting forth the
death of Christ, who was destined by his Father as a sacrifice,
and carried the cross whereon he suffered. Joseph, likewise, was
a type of Christ, not, indeed, on this ground (that I may not
delay my course) that he suffered persecution for the cause of
God from his brethren, as Christ did from his brethren after the
flesh, the Jews; but when he is blessed by his father in these
words, ‘His glory is that of a bullock; his horns are the horns of a
unicorn; with them shall he push the nations to the very ends of
the earth,’—he was not, of course, designated as a mere unicorn
with its one horn, or a minotaur with two; but Christ was
indicated in him—a bullock in respect of both His characteristics;
to some as severe as a judge, to others gentle as a Saviour,
whose horns were the extremities of his cross. For of the
antenna, which is a part of a cross, the ends are called horns;
while the midway stake of the whole frame is the unicorn. By
this virtue, then, of His cross, and in this manner horned, He is
both now pushing all nations through faith, bearing them away
from earth to heaven; and will then push them through
judgment, casting them down from heaven to earth. He will
also, according to another passage in the same Scripture, be a
bullock when he is spiritually interpreted to be Jacob against
Simeon and Levi, which means against the scribes and the
pharisees; for it was from them that these last derived their
origin. [Like] Simeon and Levi, they consummated their
wickedness by their heresy, with which they persecuted Christ.
‘Into their counsel let not my soul enter; to their assembly let
not my heart be united; for in their anger they slew men,’ that
is, the prophets; ‘and in their self-will they hacked the sinews of
a bullock,’ that is, of Christ. For against Him did they wreak their
fury, after they had slain His prophets, even by affixing Him with
nails to the cross. Otherwise it is an idle thing, when, after
slaying men, he inveighs against them for the torture of a
 bullock. Again, in the case of Moses, wherefore did he at that
moment particularly, when Joshua was fighting Amalek, pray in
a sitting posture with outstretched hands, when in such a
conflict it would surely have been more seemly to have bent the
knee, and smitten the breast, and to have fallen on the face to
the ground, and in such prostration to have offered prayer?
Wherefore, but because in a battle fought in the name of that
Lord who was one day to fight against the devil, the shape was
necessary of that very cross through which Jesus was to win the
victory? Why, once more, did the same Moses, after prohibiting
the likeness of everything, set up the golden serpent on the
pole, and, as it hung there, propose it as an object to be looked
at for a cure? Did he not here also intend to show the power of
our Lord’s cross, whereby that old serpent, the devil, was
vanquished—whereby also to every man who was bitten by
spiritual serpents, but who yet turned with an eye of faith to it,
was proclaimed a cure from the bite of sin, and health for
evermore?”[58]
The allegorizing method continued with great pertinacity. Augustine,
the master mind of the fifth century, whose influence yet abounds in
the doctrines of both Catholics and Protestants, was under its sway.
With him, as with those who preceded him, this allegorical
interpretation perverted the Scriptures and obscured truth. A single
instance must suffice:
“Hence, also, in the number of the large fishes which our Lord,
after His resurrection, showing this new life, commanded to be
taken on the right side of the ship, there is found the number
fifty, three times multiplied with the addition of three more [the
symbol of the Trinity] to make the holy mystery more apparent;
and the disciples’ nets were not broken, because in that new life
there shall be no schism, caused by the disquiet of heretics.
Then [in this new life] man, made perfect and at rest, purified in
body and in soul, by the pure words of God which are like silver
purged from its dross, seven times refined, shall receive his
reward, the denarius. So that with that reward the numbers ten
 and seven meet in Him. For in this number seventeen [there is
found] as in other numbers representing a combination of
symbols, a wonderful mystery. Nor is it without good reason that
the seventeenth Psalm is the only one which is given complete
in the Book of Kings, because it signifies that kingdom in which
we shall have no enemy. For its title is, ‘A Psalm of David in the
day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies
and from the hand of Saul.’ For of whom is David the type, but
of Him who, according to the flesh, was born of the seed of
David? He, in His church, that is, in His body, still endures the
malice of enemies. Therefore the words which from heaven fell
upon the ear of that persecutor whom Jesus slew by His voice,
and whom He transformed into a part of His body (as the food
which we use becomes a part of ourselves), were these: ‘Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me?’ And when shall this His body
be finally delivered from enemies? Is it not when the last enemy,
death, shall be destroyed? It is to that time that the number of
the one hundred and fifty-three fishes pertains. For if the
number seventeen itself be the side of an arithmetical triangle,
formed by placing above each other rows of units, increasing in
number from one to seventeen, the whole sum of these units is
one hundred and fifty-three: since one and two make three;
three and three, six; six and four, ten; ten and five, fifteen;
fifteen and six, twenty-one; and so on: continue this up to
seventeen, the total one hundred and fifty-three.”[59]
The foregoing examples are neither isolated nor peculiar. They
represent fully and fairly the prevailing methods of exegesis, falsely
so called. Such men shaped the faith and governed the thought of
Christianity west of Palestine after the middle of the second century.
Other fruitage of their system will be found in another chapter, in the
Antinomian and anti-Sabbath doctrines by which the authority of
Jehovah and His word were still further undermined. A careful
examination of the entire group of “Christian writings” of the first
five centuries shows that the age was uncritical and utterly wanting
in the learning and habits of thought which prepare men to interpret