• Religion has been a part of human society since time immemorial and is studied by sociologists as a social institution rather than a purely supernatural phenomenon.

• Early sociologists attempted to explain the origin of religion, but this speculative approach was later replaced by a focus on its present forms, functions and dysfunctions.

• The functionalist perspective views religion as beneficial for social order, while the conflict perspective considers it an instrument used by dominant groups to ideologically control the subordinate classes.

• Religion is understood today as a form of collective human activity.

• Durkheim defined religion as a unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things, which unite believers into a single moral community.

• Religion is concerned with the realm of the sacred and usually involves elements of the supernatural, reverence and awe.

• The sociological study of religion helps in understanding its relationship with other social institutions, especially power and politics.

• Historically, religion has been closely associated with authority, yet it has also inspired movements for social change, such as anti-caste and gender reform movements.

• Peter Mandaville and Paul James define religion as a relatively-bounded system of beliefs, symbols and practices addressing the nature of existence, transcending the sacred–secular and material–spiritual divide.

• Religion performs both manifest and latent functions at individual and societal levels.

• Religion can promote social change by introducing new values and ideologies, as seen in Buddhism’s challenge to Brahmanism and Weber’s explanation of the rise of capitalism.

• According to Tocqueville, religion supported the growth of democratic values in America and could potentially do so in France.

• Religion acts as an integrative force, especially in times of crisis, by providing emotional support and solidarity.

• Religion functions as an instrument of social control through concepts of sin, virtue, heaven and hell, and through institutions, rituals and religious authority.

• Religion performs an intellectual function by providing answers to questions related to life, death and existence beyond empirical knowledge.

• Religion plays a normative role by offering moral guidelines such as peace, fraternity and love.

• Religion provides solace and comfort, helping individuals cope with stress, suffering and uncertainty, as noted by Malinowski.

• Religion can either transform or stabilise the social order, as seen in reformist movements like the Veerashaiva movement led by Basaveshwara.

• Religious rituals regulate marriage, family relations and social interactions, fulfilling an important ritual function.

• Fear of divine punishment and adherence to religious norms further strengthen social regulation of behaviour.

• Religion can supplement empirical knowledge and coexist with scientific understanding.

• Religion also has dysfunctions, a concept introduced by Merton.

• In multi-religious societies, religion may become a source of disunity and conflict.

• Marx viewed religion as the “opium of the masses” that legitimises exploitation and dominant ideology.

• Religion may hinder social progress, encourage dogmatism, promote superstition and justify oppressive practices.

• Certain doctrines may foster fatalism, reducing individual initiative and resistance to inequality.

Sociological Theories of Religion

• Sociologists treat religion as a social phenomenon in terms of both its causes and its consequences, and the sociology of religion does not ask whether God exists, but examines whether people believe in God, why they believe so, and how such beliefs are socially formed.

• The basic difference between Theology and Sociology is that theology assumes the existence of God or religion, whereas sociology studies religion like any other social fact in a systematic and scientific manner.

• Theories of religion are broadly classified into theories of origin, theories of evolution and contemporary theories explaining the working of religion in society.

• The origin of religion is largely a matter of calculated speculation rather than conclusions based on empirical research, and different thinkers have proposed different explanations.

• Evolutionary theories compare primitive societies such as tribes with modern societies and are based mainly on the assumptions of Positivism and Intellectualism.

• Evolutionism rests on the intellectualist belief that religion is a form of knowledge, and that even primitive people were rational, though their explanations of natural phenomena were crude and often incorrect.

• Comte, as an early evolutionary theorist, proposed that societies pass through the theological stage, then the metaphysical stage, and finally the scientific stage in the evolution of human thought.

• According to Comte, with the growth of science and the development of a contract-based society, religion centred on God would gradually fade away, and agnosticism would become the dominant outlook of the scientific age.

• Comte provided the first systematic evolutionary theory of religion and believed that continued scientific progress would ultimately lead to the decline of religion.

• Herbert Spencer also took an evolutionary view and argued that religion among primitive people began with ancestor worship, after which came polytheism, and finally monotheism.

• Classical theorists generally held that polytheism is characteristic of simple or primitive societies, whereas monotheism is associated with complex and advanced societies.

Intellectual Theories

• The earliest explanations of religion are known as Intellectual Theories, which are based on primitive logic and include Comte’s Soul Theory, Spencer’s Dreams or Ghost Theory, Tylor’s Animistic Theory, and Marett’s Mana Theory.

• Herbert Spencer, in his work Principles of Sociology (1876–96), presented the first systematic theory of religion and argued that primitive people were rational, though with limited knowledge, and that they tried to explain life, death, dreams and waking states.

• According to Spencer, primitives believed that humans have a dual existence, because in dreams the dream-self seems to travel while the shadow-self remains active during the day, and this idea is strengthened by experiences of temporary unconsciousness and by death, which is seen as a longer state of insensibility.

• This belief in duality was extended by primitives to animals, plants and material objects, and the appearance of dead persons in dreams was taken as proof of a temporary afterlife, leading to the belief in ghosts as supernatural beings.

• Spencer argued that the idea of ghosts gradually developed into the idea of gods, that the ghosts of ancestors became divine beings, and that ancestor worship is the root of all religions, followed evolutionarily by polytheism and finally monotheism.

• Edward B. Tylor, in Primitive Culture (1871), explained the origin of religion through Animism, which means belief in spirits or souls rather than only in ghosts.

• Tylor argued that animism arose from two basic questions faced by primitive humans, namely the nature of objects seen in dreams and the difference between the living and the dead, and primitive logic concluded that a soul leaves the body temporarily in sleep and permanently in death.

• This idea of soul was projected onto animals, plants and even inanimate objects, which were believed to possess spirits, and since the soul exists independently of the body, belief in spiritual beings developed, which later evolved into belief in gods.

• Tylor held that ideas of spirits originated mainly from dreams, where humans encountered their double, and that religion in the form of animism developed to satisfy the intellectual need to explain death, dreams and visions.

• Like Spencer, Tylor adopted an evolutionary view and argued that Animism is the religion of simple hunting–gathering societies, while monotheism characterises modern and complex societies.