Professor Stephen Bullivant

Professorial Research Fellow in Theology and Sociology
MA, MSt, DPhil (Oxford), PhD (Warwick)

Email: stephen.bullivant1@nd.edu.au

  • Biography

    Stephen Bullivant has been Professorial Research Fellow in Theology and Sociology (0.5FTE) at UNDA since 2021. He holds doctorates in Theology (Oxford, 2009) and Sociology (Warwick, 2019). In tandem with his role at Notre Dame, he is also Professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion at St Mary's University, London, and directs the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society.

    Prof.  Bullivant has previously held visiting appointments at Blackfriars Hall (University of Oxford), the Institute for Social Change (University of Manchester), and the Institute of Advanced Studies (University College London),

  • Teaching Areas

    • Sociology of religion
    • Catholic theology
    • Atheism/nonreligion
    • Science/technology and religion

  • Research Expertise and Supervision

    • Sociology of religion (esp. Australia, UK, USA)
    • Empirical study of Christianity, Catholic Church (inc. pastoral life, trends, abuse crisis)
    • Atheism, nonreligion, secularity
    • Religion and science/technology, esp. the internet

  • Books

    • The Problem of God and Astrobiology, co-authored with J. Siefert and R. Playford (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2023; forthcoming)
    • Nonverts: The Making of Ex-Christian America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2022)
    • Vatican II: A Very Short Introduction, co-authored with S. Blanchard (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022)
    • Catholics in Contemporary Britain: Faith, Society, Politics, with B. Clements (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022)
    • The Cambridge History of Atheism, 2 volumes, co-edited with M. Ruse (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021)
    • Catholicism in the Time of Coronavirus (Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire, 2020)
    • Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019)
    • Why Catholics Leave, What They Miss, and How They Might Return, co-authored with C. Knowles, H. Vaughan-Spruce, and B. Durcan (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2019)
    • O My Jesus: The Meaning of the Fatima Prayer, co-authored with L. Arredondo (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2017) [Translated into Korean, Polish]
    • The Oxford Dictionary of Atheism, co-authored with L. Lee (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016)
    • Theology and Power: International Perspectives, co-edited with A. Brazal, D. Pilario, and E. Genilo (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2016)
    • The Trinity: How Not To Be a Heretic (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2015)
    • The Oxford Handbook of Atheism, co-edited with M. Ruse (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)
    • Secularity and Non-Religion, co-edited with L. Lee and E. Arweck (London: Routledge, 2013)
    • Faith and Unbelief (Norwich:Canterbury Press, 2013; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2014)
    • The Salvation of Atheists and Catholic Dogmatic Theology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012)

  • Book Chapters

    • 'Catholic Practice in Britain and Ireland' (co-authored with M. Power and T. Kinnear), in F. C. Bauerschmidt, J. J. Buckley, J. Newsome Martin, and T. Pomplun (eds) The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Catholicism (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2023)
    • 'The Catholic Church in England and Wales: A Historical Overview', in A. Harris (ed.), The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism, vol. 5 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022)
    • ''Introduction to Philemon', in The Word on Fire Bible: Volume II (Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire, 2021)
    • ‘Atheism Throughout the World’, in Michael Ruse and Stephen Bullivant (eds), The Cambridge History of Atheism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021), 1095-1111
    • ‘Nonreligion and Europe’ (co-authored with Josh Bullock), in Grace Davie and Lucian Leustean (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021)
    • ‘The Thames Flows into the Tiber: Benedict XVI, Performative Ecumenism, and the Place of Christians in a Secular Society’, in Emery De Gaál and Matthew Levering (eds), Joseph Ratzinger and the Healing of the Reformation-Era Divisions (Steuebnville, OH: Emmaus Academic, 2019)
    • ‘Benedict and the New Evangelization: A Saint, a Pope, and an Option’, in Monasticism Today: The Value of Monastic Life in Today’s World (Buckfastleigh: Buckfast Abbey, 2018), 41-7
    • ‘“Especially in mission territories”: New Evangelization and Liturgical (Reform of the) Reform’, in Uwe Michael Lang (ed), Authentic Liturgical Renewal in Contemporary Perspective (London: T. & T. Clark, 2017), 97-107
    • ‘Foreword’, in C. R. Cotter, P. Quadrio, and J. Tuckett (eds), New Atheism: Critical Perspectives and Contemporary Debates (New York: Springer, 2017)
    • ‘Vatican II and abuses in the Church: “A community composed of men” that is “always in need of being purified”’, in S. Bullivant, D. Pilario, E. Genilo, and A. Brazal (eds), Theology and Power: International Perspectives (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2016), 123-36
    • ‘I Call You (Facebook) Friends: New Media and the New Evangelization’, in Martin Lintner (ed.), God in Question: Religious Language and Secular Languages (Brixen: Verlag Weger, 2014), 461-73
    • ‘Defining “Atheism”’, in Stephen Bullivant and Michael Ruse (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Atheism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 11-21
    • ‘The Study of Atheism’ (co-authored with Michael Ruse), in Stephen Bullivant and Michael Ruse (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Atheism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 2-7
    • ‘Interdisciplinary Studies of Nonreligion and Secularity: The State of the Union’ (co-authored with Lois Lee), in Elisabeth Arweck, Stephen Bullivant, and Lois Lee (eds), Secularity and Non-Religion (London: Routledge, 2013), 2-7
    • ‘Christian Spirituality and Atheism’, in Peter Tyler and Richard Woods (eds), The Bloomsbury Guide to Christian Spirituality (London: Bloomsbury, 2012), 375-86
    • ‘Secularism’ (co-authored with Trevor Stammers), in Mark Cobb, Christina Puchalski and Bruce Rumbold (eds), The Oxford Textbook of Spirituality in Healthcare (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 83-8
    • ‘Atheism, Apologetics and Ecclesiology: Gaudium et Spes and Contemporary Unbelief’, in Andrew Davison (ed.), Imaginative Apologetics: Theology, Philosophy and the Catholic Tradition (Norwich: SCM Press, 2011), 81-97
    • ‘The New Atheism and Sociology: Why Here? Why Now? What Next?’, in Amarnath Amarasingam (ed.), Religion and the New Atheism: A Critical Appraisal (Leiden and Boston, MA: Brill, 2010), 109-24

  • Journal Articles and Proceedings

    • 'Why Younger Catholics Seem More Committed: Survivorship Bias and/or "Creative Minority" Effects among British Catholics' (co-authored with B. Clements), Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion
    • 'Mass Markets and the "Liturgical Long Tail"', Antiphon 26/1 (2022)
    • 'Economic Models of Church Life: Three "Nudges" Towards Better Beahviour', Theology 125/1 (2022), 27-34
    • 'To Conscience First, and to the Pope (Long) Afterwards? British Catholics and their Attitudes towards Morality and Structural Issues Concerning the Catholic Church' (co-authored with B. Clements), Review of Religious Research (2021)
    • 'McCarrick, the Kingmaker? A Social Network Analysis of Episcopal Promotion in the Roman Catholic Church' (co-authored with G. R. P.  Sadewo and S. Cranney), Catholic Social Science Review 26 (2021), 247-61
    • ‘The Impact of Sex Education Mandates on Teenage Pregnancy: International Evidence’ (co-authored with David Paton and Juan Soto), Health Economics (forthcoming)
    • ‘Explaining the Rise of “Nonreligion Studies”: Subfield Formation and Institutionalization within the Sociology of Religion’, Social Compass 67/1 (2020), 86-102
    • ‘We Confess that We Are Atheists’, New Blackfriars 101/1092 (2020), 120-34
    • ‘Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain: A Quantitative Overview', Journal of Contemporary Religion 31/2 (2016), 1-17
    • ‘10 Years of Allegation Statistics, 2003-2012’, National Catholic Safeguarding Commission: Annual Report 2013/14, 38-41
    • ‘Redeeming Power: Overcoming Abuse in Church and Society’, ET-Studies 4/2 (2013), v-ix
    • ‘Not so Indifferent After All? The New Visibility of Atheism and the Secularization Thesis’, Approaching Religion 2/1 (2012), 100-6
    • ‘Interdisciplinary Studies of Nonreligion and Secularity: The State of the Union’ (co-authored with Lois Lee), Journal of Contemporary Religion 27/1 (January 2012), 19-27
    • ‘Caritas in Veritate and the Allocation of Scarce Resources’, Catholic Social Science Review 16 (October 2011), 17-25
    • ‘Sing an Old Song to the Lord’ (co-authored with Joanna Bullivant), Pastoral Review 7/2 (March/April 2011), 58-65
    • ‘Sine culpa? Vatican II and Inculpable Ignorance’, Theological Studies 72 (March 2011), 70-86
    • ‘Newman and Modernism: The Pascendi Crisis and its Wider Significances’, New Blackfriars 92/1038 (March 2011), 189-208
    • ‘Teaching Atheism and Nonreligion: Challenges and Opportunities’, Discourse 10/2 (Spring 2011), 93-110
    • ‘The Myth of Rahnerian Exceptionalism: Edward Schillebeeckx’s “Anonymous Christians”’, Philosophy & Theology 22/1+2 (2010), 339-51
    • ‘A Meister Among the Moderns: Hegel, Rosenberg, Bloch and Cage’, Eckhart Review 18 (2009), 4-21
    • ‘From “Main Tendue” to Vatican II: the Catholic Engagement with Atheism, 1936-65’, New Blackfriars 90/1026 (March 2009), 178-87
    • ‘Richard Dawkins on Being a Christian’, Theology 111/864 (November/December 2008), 420-6
    • ‘Research Note: Sociology and the Study of Atheism’, Journal of Contemporary Religion 23/3 (October 2008), 363-8
    • ‘Son of God or “red son-of-a-bitch”? John Steinbeck, Woody Guthrie and left-wing folk christology’, Journal for Faith, Spirituality and Social Change 1/2 (May 2008)
    • ‘Introducing Irreligious Experiences’, Implicit Religion 11/1 (April 2008), 7-24
    • ‘A House Divided Against Itself: Dostoevsky and the Psychology of Unbelief’, Literature and Theology 22/1 (March 2008), 16-31
    • ‘Casylike Christs in Carl Sandburg and Dorothy Day’, Steinbeck Review 4/2 (Autumn 2007), 77-88
    • “That’s him. That shiny bastard.”: Jim Casy and Christology’, Steinbeck Studies, 16/1+2 (2005), 14-33

  • In the Media

    • Prof. Bullivant's work has received coverage from, among others, The New York Times, NBC, Fox News, BBC, Sky News, The Times, The Guardian, The Economist, The Telegraph, The Financial Times, Der Spiegel, Il Foglio, and La Croix.
    • His own writing has apppeared in The Age, The Guardian, The Spectator, New Scientist, First Things, America, The Catholic Herald, and The Tablet. Television and radio credits include BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, LBC, Vatican Radio, and EWTN.

  • Professional Affiliations

    • Fellow (by election), International Society for Science and Religion (2019-)
    • Fellow, Higher Education Academy (2010-)
    • Fellow, Word on Fire Institute (2019-)
    • Council member, International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology (2011-14)
    • Committee (‘Curatorium’) member, European Society for Catholic Theology (2011-14)
    • Committee member, Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain (2010-13)
    • Co-director, Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (www.nsrn.net) (2008-14)
    • Editorial board: Secularism and Nonreligion (2011-), Antiphon: A Journal for Liturgical Renewal (2018-); International Journal for Evangelization and Catechetics (2018-)

  • Awards

    • 2021 John Templeton Foundation; 'Explaining Atheisn', 3-year project in collaboration with colleagues at Queen's University Belfast, Kent, Coventry, and Brunel ($4 million USD; co-I)
    • 2021 Porticus UK; 'Seeds of Hope: Catholic Growth in the UK' project extension (£25,000; PI)
    • 2021 International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society; 'Religion and Astrobiology in Culture and Society (RACS) Network', collaboration between St Mary's, UNDA, and Lanier Theological Library (£17,000; PI)
    • 2020 UK Research and Innovation; additional funding for AHRC-funded 'Catholics in Britain' project, out of COVID-19 Allocation fund (£28,00; co-PI)
    • 2019 St Barnabas Society; ‘Led by Faith and Conscience: The experiences of clergy from other denominations (and religions) within the Catholic Church in the British Isles’ project (£68 000).
    • 2018 Arts and Humanities Research Council; ‘Catholics in Britain’ project, co-PI with Dr Ben Clements at Leicester University (£170 000).
    • 2018 Porticus UK; ‘Seeds of Hope: Catholic Growth in the UK’ project (£80 000).
    • 2018 Ryan Foundation; ‘Teenage Pregnancy: a cross-country analysis’ project (£61 000).
    • 2017 Porticus UK; ‘Evangelising Parishes’ project, phase 2 (£20 000).
    • 2017 Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service; project analyzing historial data on abuse allegations in England and Wales (£10 000).
    • 2017 Ryan Foundation; project exploring statistical data on contemporary religion in South Africa (£20 000).
    • 2016 Porticus UK; ‘Evangelising Parishes’ project, phase 1 (£11 500).
    • 2016  John Templeton Foundation; 'Understanding Unbelief', co-PI on 3-year project in collaboration with colleagues at Kent, Coventry, and Queen's Belfast (£2.3 million).
    • 2016 Apostleship of the Sea; PI on project evaluating current work of Catholic charity in supporting spiritual needs of seafarers (£15 000).
    • 2016 Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales; PI on project profiling the nonreligious population of England and Wales, using British Social Attitudes data (£5000).
    • 2015 John Templeton Foundation; 'The Scientific Study of Non -Religious Belief', co-PI on 15-month project in collaboration with colleagues at UCL, Coventry, and Queen's Belfast (£140 000).