Sociology, Protestant Theology, and the Concept of Modern Religion

William Robertson Smith and the ‘Scientification’ of Religion

Bibliographic Data

ID20245339
AuthorsDietrich Jung (0000-0002-6230-1007, University of Southern Denmark, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume8
Issue3-4
Pages335-364
Publication date2015-12-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Religion in Europe (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1874-8910 • E-ISSN: 1874-8929
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/18748929-00804006
OpenAlexW2268431555
LanguageEN
References cited21

This article looks at the intersection between Protestant theology and sociology in the construction of the modern concept of religion. Set against the theoretical background of the functional differentiation of modern society, it identifies the origin of this concept in the discursive ‘scientification’ of religion by the emerging disciplines of the humanities and social sciences. In taking the life and work of William Robertson Smith (1846–94) as an example, the article analyzes the transformation of some specific elements of liberal Protestant theology into a set of universal features that came to represent religion as a modern concept. In this way, it argues against confusing the modern concept of religion with a ‘Christian model’ as such, and also against rejecting the concept as a mere ideological tool of secularist ideologies

Epistemology · History of religions · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Protestant work ethic · Protestantism · Social science · Sociology · Sociology of religion · Theology · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment · Religious studies · Religious Tourism and Spaces