The Role of Religious Ideas

Christian Interpretations of Social Inequalities

Bibliographic Data

ID2370199
AuthorsFerdinand Sutterlüty (Goethe University, Germany, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume42
Issue1
Pages33-48
Publication date2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0896920513509823
OpenAlexW2021978185
LanguageEN
References cited48

According to Henri Desroche (1961), one could write an entire history of religion as 'the mother of social resignation' or, with equal justification, as 'the mother of social protest'. Desroche's apt observation summarizes the topic of this essay, which deals with the oppositional and the culturally adapted communities and movements in the recent history of the Christian churches, focusing particularly on their relationship with social inequalities. Taking a perspective strongly influenced by Max Weber's sociology of religion, it discusses the 'religious ideas' that have guided, and continue to guide, the actions of various Christian churches and groups in societies marked by social inequality. Theoretically, this essay argues that the social positioning of church groups and movements is heavily dependent on the cognitive content of religious beliefs. The contrasting cases it cites show the fruitfulness of such an analytical approach

CITES · Epistemology · Inequality · Social group · Social science · Sociology · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development