The church can be studied through a variety of lenses—theological, historical, sociological, and psychological to name a few. Each perspective reveals different features of the subject. Mark J. Cartledge’s research lies at the intersection of two perspectives:

Empirical Theology as an emerging academic approach, within the field of Practical Theology more broadly, and the empirical study of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity from the perspective of the social sciences. (1)

The view from this particular intersection is fascinating.

Narratives and Numbers is a journey through Cartledge’s academic career. In this book, Cartledge collects the research he had previously published in a variety of journals. His research interests cluster around three main themes:

1. Prophecy and speaking in tongues
2. The doctrine of the Trinity
3. Theories of religious socialization

In addition to being interesting in their own right, the ten chapters in this book demonstrate how to do effective empirical research in theology.

There are times when the statistical analysis (rooted in sociology) goes over my head. I have not been trained in “factor loadings” and “explained variance” (85), not to mention alpha and beta scores. That said, the discussion section which follows the data always examines the statistics in plain language.

The multidisciplinary nature of Cartledge’s work adds depth to his analysis. In his discussion of prophecy, for example, he prefaces his own empirical study by looking at the phenomena from sociological, psychological, and theological perspectives. He is then able to confirm or challenge the prevailing theories on the basis of his own data.

I’ll be honest—this is a book for specialists of two varieties. People studying the charismatic church will find much material for reflection. More importantly, anyone developing their own empirical-theological research program can learn from Cartledge’s methods.

Cartledge, Mark J. Narratives and Numbers: Empirical Studies of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity. Global Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies 24. Leiden: Brill, 2017.