(Hoe) is religie vandaag nog mogelijk?

Samenvatting

Three personal inspirations in the sociology of religion are discussed. (1) In "Atheistische religiositeit" ([Atheist Religiousness] 1981), Flemish philosopher Leo Apostel attempts to unify faith and atheism by postulating a dialectically opposed distinction between rational atheism and noncognitive spirituality, arguing that religious experiences can be highly realistic even for a nonbeliever. (2) Franz-Xaver Kaufmann's Kirche Begreifen ([Understanding Church] 1979) and the work of kindred spirits Niklas Luhmann (1977, 1989) and Karel Gabriel (1992) reformulate the marginalization processes described in secularization theory in terms of the repositioning of religion in increasingly differentiated modern societies; the possibility that religion can be modern rather than pre-, anti-, or supramodern is deemed refreshing and very useful in pillarization research. (3) Max Weber's Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft ([Economy and Society] 1921) and Gesammelte Aufsatze sur Religionssoziologie ([Collected Essays on the Sociology of Religion] 1921/22), in which a historical sociological theory of world religions is developed, is deemed an excellent basis for analysis of the varying (hyper)modernization courses taken by different religions. 17 References. S. Paul