SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use of both quantitative methods (surveys, polls, demographic and census analysis) and qualitative approaches such as participant observation, interviewing, and analysis of archival, historical and documentary materials.[1]Modern academic sociology began with the analysis of religion in ?mile Durkheim's 1897 study of suicide rates among Catholic and Protestant populations, a foundational work of social research which served to distinguish sociology from other disciplines, such as psychology. The works of Karl Marx and Max Weber emphasized the relationship between religion and the economic or social structure of society. Contemporary debates have centered on issues such as secularization, civil religion, and the cohesiveness of religion in the context of globalization and multiculturalism. The contemporary sociology of religion may also encompass the sociology of irreligion (for instance, in the analysis of secular humanist belief systems).Sociology of religion is distinguished from the philosophy of religion in that it does not set out to assess the validity of religious beliefs. The process of comparing multiple conflicting dogmas may require what Peter L. Berger has described as inherent "methodological atheism".[2] Whereas the sociology of religion broadly differs from theology in assuming indifference to the supernatural, theorists tend to acknowledge socio-cultural reification of religious practice.

宗教社会学是运用社会学的工具和方法研究宗教的信仰、实践和组织形式。这种客观调查可能包括使用定量方法(调查、民意调查、人口统计和人口普查分析)和定性方法，如参与者观察、访谈和分析档案、历史和文献资料现代学术社会学始于1897年埃米尔?迪尔凯姆(Emile Durkheim)对天主教和新教人群自杀率的研究中对宗教的分析。迪尔凯姆的研究是社会研究的基础性工作，旨在将社会学与心理学等其他学科区分开来。马克思和韦伯的著作强调宗教与社会经济或社会结构之间的关系。当代的辩论集中在世俗化、公民宗教以及宗教在全球化和多元文化背景下的凝聚力等问题上。当代宗教社会学也可以包括非宗教社会学(如对世俗人文主义信仰体系的分析)。宗教社会学与宗教哲学的不同之处在于，它不着手评估宗教信仰的有效性。比较多种相互冲突的教条的过程可能需要彼得·l·伯杰(Peter L. Berger)所描述的内在的“方法论无神论”。虽然宗教社会学与神学在假定对超自然现象漠不关心方面有着广泛的不同，但理论家们倾向于承认宗教实践的社会文化具体化。