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Article
Is Evil Good for Religion? The Link between Supernatural Evil and Religious Commitment
Review of Religious Research (2013)
  • Brandon C Martinez, Providence College
Abstract
“The devil made me do it” is a familiar cliché often used to justify a bad decision. However, are beliefs in a devil or other evil supernatural beings actually beneficial for religion? Building upon Stark and Bainbridge (1987) and elements of the supernatural punishment hypothesis, this study proposes and tests the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between the belief in supernatural evil and religious commitment. Data from 2007 Baylor Religion Survey reveal a strong positive correlation between the belief in supernatural evil and four measures of religious commitment: church attendance, religious perception, tithing, and faith sharing. This study not only contributes to a long discussion of religious commitment, but it also has implications for the growing literature on god images and the supernatural punishment hypothesis.
Keywords
  • evil,
  • religious commitment,
  • belief,
  • supernatural
Disciplines
Publication Date
June, 2013
DOI
10.1007/s13644-012-0094-x
Citation Information
Brandon C Martinez. "Is Evil Good for Religion? The Link between Supernatural Evil and Religious Commitment" Review of Religious Research Vol. 55 Iss. 2 (2013) p. 319 - 338 ISSN: 0034-673X
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/brandon-martinez/13/