David Alfred Martin, FBA (30 June 1929 – 8 March 2019) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

sociologist and

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

who studied and wrote extensively about the

sociology of religion Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods (surveys, ...

Early life and education

David Martin was born on 30 June 1929, the son of a " between-maid" from

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

and a groom from Hertfordshire who became a chauffeur and then a

black cab A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common s ...

driver in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and preached regularly at Hyde Park. He was brought up in a revivalist family and attended Barnes Methodist Church. He won a scholarship to East Sheen Grammar School, which he attended from 1940 to 1947. After national service as a conscientious objector in the

Non-Combatant Corps The Non-Combatant Corps (NCC) was a corps of the British Army composed of conscientious objectors as privates, with NCOs and officers seconded from other corps or regiments. Its members fulfilled various non-combatant roles in the army during the ...

(1948–50) he trained as a primary school teacher at

Westminster Teacher Training College Westminster College was a teacher training college and college of higher education in England. The college was founded in London in 1851 as a training institute for teachers for Wesleyan Methodist schools, but moved to Oxford in 1959. Before t ...

. He taught in primary schools in London and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

(1952–9) and, while teaching, from 1956–9 he studied by correspondence course, with Wolsey Hall, Oxford for a

London external degree The University of London Worldwide (previously called the University of London International Academy) is the central academic body that manages external study programmes within the collegiate university, federal University of London. All courses ...

in Sociology. He won the University Postgraduate Scholarship after gaining a first-class degree in 1959. This enabled him to study for a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

(LSE) with Professor Donald MacRae. He was awarded his Ph.D. in 1964 and it was published as ''Pacifism: a Historical and Sociological Study'' in 1965. He spent 1961-2 as

Assistant Lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in the Department of Sociological Studies in

Sheffield University , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. In 1962 he was appointed to the Department of Sociology at the LSE, becoming

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in 1967 and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

in 1971.

Career and contributions

Martin devised the first critique of

secularisation In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...

in an essay, "Towards Eliminating the Concept of Secularisation" (1965), and the first comparative empirical theory of secularisation in "Notes for a General Theory of Secularisation" (1969). This early work was extended and published in book form as ''A General Theory of Secularisation'' (1978), a landmark text in the history of secularization studies. He has continued to contribute to the conversation about secularization and the resilience of religion to the present. As part of his interest in the various routes different societies take to the modern, Martin was also a major pioneer of the comparative study of

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

, beginning with a path-breaking study of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and extending globally. He has made crucial contributions on the connections between violence and religion, anticipating again much future scholarship; the relations between sociology and theology; and on music and religion (2002). He has also published widely on the condition of the contemporary

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s (e.g., 'Trends and Standards in British Higher Education' in ''The Western University on Trial'', edited by John W Chapman niversity of California Press, 1983 167-83). David Martin was Professor of Sociology at the LSE from 1971 until his retirement in 1989. He also served as Scurlock Professor of Human Values at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

, Dallas, Texas, USA, 1986–1990. He spent research semesters at the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture (now the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs URA with

Peter L. Berger Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian. Berger became known for his work in the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of religion, study of modernization, and theor ...

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

in 1990 and 1999. In later years he was Visiting Professor at King's College London, Lancaster University and

Liverpool Hope University , mottoeng=Hope to all who need it , established=1844 – Saint Katharine's College (as Warrington Training College)1856 – Notre Dame College (as Our Lady's Training College)1964 – Christ's College1979 – Liverpool Institute of Higher Edu ...

. Martin received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

in 2000. He was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 2007. In summer 2015, American (Baylor University Press) and Chinese (Renmin University Press) versions of ''A David Martin Reader'' were published.

Private life

David Martin was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

Local Preacher from 1953 to 1977, after which he was confirmed in the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

. In 1983 he attended Westcott House Theological College in Cambridge and became deacon in that year and priest in 1984, serving as Honorary Assistant Priest at

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral stands, with Viscount Bennett, ...

.Martin, ''The Education of David Martin'' op. cit.; ''Who's Who'' op. cit. In 1953 he married Daphne Sylvia Treherne. The marriage was dissolved in 1957. In 1962 he married Bernice Thompson, herself a distinguished sociologist at London University ( Bedford College).

Major publications

*"Towards Eliminating the Concept of Secularization", ''Penguin Journal of the Social Sciences 1965'', edited by Julius Gould (Penguin, 1965). *''Pacifism: A Historical and Sociological Study'' (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1965). *''A Sociology of English Religion,'' (SCM, 1967) *"Towards a General Theory of Secularization", ''European Journal of Sociology'', vol. 10 (December 1969). *''The Religious and the Secular'', (Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969) *''Tracts against the Times'', (Lutterworth, 1973) *''A General Theory of Secularization'' (Blackwell, 1978) *''The Dilemmas of Contemporary Religion'', (Blackwell, 1978) *''The Breaking of the Image: A Sociology of Christian Theory and Practice'' (Blackwell, 1980). *''Tongues of Fire: The Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America'' (Blackwell, 1990). *''Forbidden Revolutions: Pentecostalism in Latin American and Catholicism in Eastern Europe'' (SPCK, 1996). *''Reflections on Sociology and Theology'' (Clarendon, 1997). *''Does Christianity Cause War?'' (Clarendon, 1997). *''Christian Language and Its Mutations: Essays in Sociological Understanding'' (Ashgate, 2002). *''Pentecostalism: The World Their Parish'' (Blackwell, 2002). *''Christian Language in the Secular City'' (Ashgate 2002). *''On Secularization: Towards a Revised General Theory'' (Ashgate, 2005). *''Sacred History and Sacred Geography: Spiritual Journeys in Time and Space'' (Regent College, 2008). *''The Future of Christianity: Reflections on Violence and Democracy, Religion and Secularization'' (Ashgate, 2011). *''The Education of David Martin: The Making of an Unlikely Sociologist'' (SPCK, 2013) *''Religion and Power: No Logos without Mythos'' (Ashgate, 2014)

Early life and education

Career and contributions

Private life

Major publications

References

Further reading