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Bryan R Wilson

Birth
Death
9 Oct 2004 (aged 78)
Middleton Stoney, Cherwell District, Oxfordshire, England
Burial
Middleton Stoney, Cherwell District, Oxfordshire, England Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Professor Wilson was born in Leeds and became Reader Emeritus at the University of Oxford.
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Wilson was a founding member of the University Association for the Sociology of Religion.[2] From 1971 to 1975, he was President of the CISR (now known as the International Society for the Sociology of Religion or SISR).[2] At the 1991 conference he became the first scholar to receive an honorary presidency from the Society.[2] He was European editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, sitting on the editorial board of the Annual Review of the Social Science of Religion, and sharing responsibility for the English-language papers of SISR issues of Social Compass.[2]

Wilson has exercised a formative influence on the sociology of religion in Britain.[3]

His 1959 An Analysis of Sect Development in the American Sociological Review and his book Sects and Society (Heinemann 1961) – a study of the Elim Churches, the Christadelphians, and Christian Science (based on his doctoral thesis at the London School of Economics) – may be regarded as representing the beginning of contemporary academic study of new religious movements, to which Wilson later contributed its influential The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society (Oxford University Press 1990). He was also a pioneer of studies of millennialism, many years before this field achieved its present visibility, in Magic and the Millennium (Heinemann 1973).

In a eulogical article by Massimo Introvigne, Director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), he is described as "one of the most distinguished sociologists of the 20th century" who has exercised "a crucial influence on the sociology of religion, not only through his many publications but also through the generations of his graduate students.[...] Wilson will also be remembered as one of the most prominent academic champions of religious liberty in the 20th century. He defended new religious movements and other minorities against the various waves of international anti-cult campaigns, for no other personal reason than his passionate love for freedom and justice, since he defined himself as an atheist." In Memoriam: Bryan Ronald Wilson, 1926–2004 [4]

Eileen Barker, James A. Beckford, and Karel Dobbelaere have called him "the doyen of sociological studies of religion in Britain, stating that in honoring Wilson, "they represent thousands of other scholars around the world who owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for the enrichment that he has brought to our understanding of modern societies."[1]

They describe Wilson as "a scholar of indubitable integrity", adding that "Wilson displays a scrupulous attention to detail within a broad theoretical approach that not only educates and illuminates, but also stimulates his readers. Rarely does one find someone engaged in original research who is so influential theoretically. His lectures and writings, full of nuances and subtleties, are models of clarity and elegance."[1]

Wikipedia
Professor Wilson was born in Leeds and became Reader Emeritus at the University of Oxford.
**************

Wilson was a founding member of the University Association for the Sociology of Religion.[2] From 1971 to 1975, he was President of the CISR (now known as the International Society for the Sociology of Religion or SISR).[2] At the 1991 conference he became the first scholar to receive an honorary presidency from the Society.[2] He was European editor of the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, sitting on the editorial board of the Annual Review of the Social Science of Religion, and sharing responsibility for the English-language papers of SISR issues of Social Compass.[2]

Wilson has exercised a formative influence on the sociology of religion in Britain.[3]

His 1959 An Analysis of Sect Development in the American Sociological Review and his book Sects and Society (Heinemann 1961) – a study of the Elim Churches, the Christadelphians, and Christian Science (based on his doctoral thesis at the London School of Economics) – may be regarded as representing the beginning of contemporary academic study of new religious movements, to which Wilson later contributed its influential The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism: Sects and New Religious Movements in Contemporary Society (Oxford University Press 1990). He was also a pioneer of studies of millennialism, many years before this field achieved its present visibility, in Magic and the Millennium (Heinemann 1973).

In a eulogical article by Massimo Introvigne, Director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), he is described as "one of the most distinguished sociologists of the 20th century" who has exercised "a crucial influence on the sociology of religion, not only through his many publications but also through the generations of his graduate students.[...] Wilson will also be remembered as one of the most prominent academic champions of religious liberty in the 20th century. He defended new religious movements and other minorities against the various waves of international anti-cult campaigns, for no other personal reason than his passionate love for freedom and justice, since he defined himself as an atheist." In Memoriam: Bryan Ronald Wilson, 1926–2004 [4]

Eileen Barker, James A. Beckford, and Karel Dobbelaere have called him "the doyen of sociological studies of religion in Britain, stating that in honoring Wilson, "they represent thousands of other scholars around the world who owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for the enrichment that he has brought to our understanding of modern societies."[1]

They describe Wilson as "a scholar of indubitable integrity", adding that "Wilson displays a scrupulous attention to detail within a broad theoretical approach that not only educates and illuminates, but also stimulates his readers. Rarely does one find someone engaged in original research who is so influential theoretically. His lectures and writings, full of nuances and subtleties, are models of clarity and elegance."[1]

Wikipedia

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  • Created by: David Martin
  • Added: Dec 10, 2012
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/102012497/bryan_r-wilson: accessed ), memorial page for Bryan R Wilson (25 Jun 1926–9 Oct 2004), Find a Grave Memorial ID 102012497, citing All Saints Churchyard, Middleton Stoney, Cherwell District, Oxfordshire, England; Maintained by David Martin (contributor 47817370).