Stausberg/Theories, 9. Stark and Bainbridge: A Theory of Religion (1987)

In this book, Stark and Bainbridge advocate and seek to develop a deductive model of theory, starting from seven general axioms and formulating 344 empirically testable or falsifiable propositions. They proclaim their theory to be deliberately reductionistic.The seven fundamental axioms do not deal with religion but with human action, behavior, perceptions, and preferences. Religion enters through the backdoor, as a mode to address failures, as compensation for failure to obtain what is desired,