Peter L. Berger

Peter L. Berger is professor of sociology and theology, and director of the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, at Boston University. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Questions of Faith: A Skeptical Affirmation of Christianity (2003), The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics (1999), and The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (1967).

April 2004, Volume 15, Issue 2

Christianity and Democracy: The Global Picture

That modern democracy first arose with the ambit of Western Christianity is far from an accident. Today, the major Christain communions largely support democracy, even while necessarily retaining the right to criticize democratic decisions in the name fo religious truth claims.