Abstract
As subsequent chapters will make clear, religious pluralism is a significant aspect of life in a number of societies in the modern world. In fact, there are very few societies today where religious pluralism is not present to some degree, and where it is present, it is frequently a source of perplexing social and political problems.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Referenzen
Those who have lingering doubts about the propriety of defining religion in the inclusive sense, might note that theists and atheists alike have found it meaningful and profitable. For example, Christ warned His listeners that they could not serve two masters, both God and mammon (Matthew 6 : 24), indicating His belief that the two were in part functional equivalents. Much more recently, the young and insightful Soviet poet, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, has compared Communism to Christianity, emphasizing their functional similarities, and ending by referring to Communism as “my religion” (see A Precocious Autobiography).
Joachim Wach, The Sociology of Religion (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1944), Chapters 4 and 5.
Ruth Benedict, Patterns of Culture (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1934), Chapter 4.
For a good recent summary of the literature on this subject see William H. McNeill, The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1963), Chapter z.
See, for example, the chapter by John Gulick in this volume. specially Section III
Max Weber, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (Tübingen: Mohr, 1925, 2nd edition), pp. 267–296. (Stände, Klassen und Religion) or The Sociology of Religion, trans. by E. Fischoff (Boston: Beacon, 1963), Chapters 6–8; Wach, op. cit., Chapter 6.
H. Richard Niebuhr, Social Sources of Denominationalism (New York: Holt, 1929), Chapters 2 and 3; Max Weber, Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Religionssoziologie (Tübingen: Mohr, 192o-21), vol. II, pp. 202–250, The Religion of India, translated by H. Gerth and Don Martindale (Glencoe: Free Press, 1958), Chapter 6.
Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (London: Methuen, 1896), vol. I, p. 28.
For a good short discussion of this subject, see Robert A. Dahl and Charles E. Lindblom, Politics, Economics, and Welfare (New York: Harper, 1953), pp. 106–109 or Harold D. Lasswell and Abraham Kaplan, Power and Society (New Haven: Yale, 1950), pp, 139–141.
Quoted from The New York Times by Will Herberg in his book, ProtestantCatholic-Jew (Garden City: Doubleday, 1956), p. 97. Emphasis added.
This is not to say that all are served equally.
For an interesting review of the modern skeptical movement, see Franklin Baumer, Religion and the Rise of Skepticism (New Haven: Yale Press, 1960).
Max Weber, Ancient Judaism, trans. by H. Gerth and D. Martindale (Glencoe: Free Press, 1952), p. 155 or Gesammelte Aufsätze, op. cit., vol. III, pp. 166–167.
See Niebuhr, op. cit., Chapter 6 for a good discussion of this movement which gave rise to the groups now known as the Disciples of Christ and the Churches of Christ.
For some evidence on the frequency of denominational shifts, see Gerhard Lenski, The Religious Factor (Garden City: Doubleday, 19c1), n 2n
Herberg, op. cit., especially Chapter 5.
Cf., e.g., Philip Hitti, History of the Arabs (London: Macmillan, 1960), pp. 233 f. and 353 f.
Educational limitations have been most pronounced in the case of high-status undergraduate institutions and medical schools. In the recent past such institutions often established quotas on the numbers of Jews to be admitted, with the result that many academically qualified Jewish students were denied admission. Such practices are less common today but apparently still continue unofficially in a number of institutions.
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1965 Westdeutscher Verlag Köln und Opladen
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lenski, G. (1965). Religious Pluralism in Theoretical Perspective. In: Matthes, J. (eds) Religiöser Pluralismus und Gesellschaftsstruktur / Religious Pluralism and Social Structure. Internationales Jahrbuch für Religionssoziologie / International Yearbook for the Sociology of Religion, vol 1. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-02893-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-02893-2_2
Publisher Name: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-663-00980-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-663-02893-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive