Bert James Loewenberg

FRANK E. MANUEL. The Prophets of Paris. Pp. x, 349. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1962.

discussion of facts. Thus the goal is a functional analysis of American religious institutions, rather than the development and verification of sociological theory. Among comparable texts, the special advantage of this one is the wealth of detailed information often unavailable to sociologists of religion, and sometimes found only in church yearbooks or the less scholarly pages of popular magazines. Unfortunately, Moberg’s competent interpretation makes this information appear to have less significance than might be hoped. Understanding the extent of one’s ignorance, however, is the beginning of wisdom. Fortunately, many questions which might occur to speculative students of organized religion are shown already to have been answered.