Sociological Theory and Religious Truth
The accommodation between social science and religion of recent decades depended in part on the widespread conviction that there is no scientific basis for determining whether religious beliefs are true and whether religious practices are good. This conviction is based on dubious assumptions that ha...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
1977
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| In: |
Sociological analysis
Year: 1977, Volume: 38, Issue: 4, Pages: 368-388 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The accommodation between social science and religion of recent decades depended in part on the widespread conviction that there is no scientific basis for determining whether religious beliefs are true and whether religious practices are good. This conviction is based on dubious assumptions that have blinded sociologists to the judgments concerning religious beliefs and practice that are implicit in their theories. Put simply, general theory has implied that although there is much in religion that is good, religious beliefs are not true. In recent years an increasing number of sociologists have become aware of these judgments. In particular, they have perceived that the negative judgment concerning religious truth jeopardizes the accommodation between social science and religion. Much of the newest theoretical work in the field is an effort to restore this accommodation by devising some way in which social science might affirm religious truth. Bellah's “symbolic realism,” Anthony and Robbins' search for religious “deep structures,” and Berger's search for “signals of transcendence” are reviewed. Whatever the scientific merits of these new approaches, the fact that they have clear implications for theology means they cannot form the basis for an accommodation between social science and religion that was as broad as the one which is now destroyed. |
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| ISSN: | 2325-7873 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/3710120 |