Religion Reading List Essay

The Rationale for the Sociology of Religion Reading List
The sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. Thus, the purpose of this comprehensive exam is to give me an opportunity to demonstrate mastery over relevant theories, methods, and empirical findings in major subfields of the sociology of religion. This reading list also provides a strong foundation in the central theoretical perspectives, main classic and current debates, and prominent published empirical studies in the field. Hence, this reading list includes a core set of readings to which we most often refer in our studies and enables comprehensive analyses about the

For example, the subfields general readings and religion in the modern world address the various core questions of the sociology of religion. For instance, what is religion, why do people become religious, how religion is expressed or explained in sociological context/terms? Second, how can religion be studied sociologically, what are the main methods and approaches to study religion within sociology, how we can measure religiosity or what are the main components of religious identity? Third, what is the social role of religion in human life? Fourth, how does the historical transition from pre-modern to modern or postmodern societies affect the strength, visibility and nature of religion? What are the consequences/influences of modernity on secularization process? What are multiple modernities or are there multiple modernities today? Fifth, what social factors and transitions influence individuals’ religious beliefs, practices, transformation, communities, religious movements, the strength and character of religious identity? Sixth, what influence does religion exerts in maintaining or challenging established social practices, orders and