Theories about religion, the Glossary
Sociological, psychological, and anthropological theories about religion generally attempt to explain the origin and function of religion.[1]
Table of Contents
147 relations: Aboriginal Australians, Adaptationism, Aeneid, Akhenaten, Andrew Lang, Anthropology, Anthropology of religion, Attitude (psychology), Azande people, Émile Durkheim, Basic Books, Belief, Bronisław Malinowski, Business, Capitalism, Charismatic authority, Charles Taylor (philosopher), Christianity, Clifford Geertz, Collective effervescence, Common Era, Comparative religion, Comparative sociology, Confucianism, Counterculture, Cult, Cultural materialism (anthropology), Cultural system, Death, Deity, Deviance (sociology), E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Economy, Edward Burnett Tylor, Emic and etic, Ernst Troeltsch, Essentialism, Eternal return (Eliade), Ethnography, Ethos, Euhemerism, Euhemerus, Evolutionary origin of religion, Exponential growth, Folk religion, Golden Bough (mythology), Group cohesiveness, Herodotus, Hierophany, Hinduism, ... Expand index (97 more) »
Aboriginal Australians
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.
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Adaptationism
Adaptationism is a scientific perspective on evolution that focuses on accounting for the products of evolution as collections of adaptive traits, each a product of natural selection with some adaptive rationale or raison d'etre.
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Aeneid
The Aeneid (Aenē̆is or) is a Latin epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans.
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Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton (ꜣḫ-n-jtn ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy,, meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
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Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology.
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Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans.
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Anthropology of religion
Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. Theories about religion and Anthropology of religion are religious studies.
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Attitude (psychology)
An attitude "is a summary evaluation of an object of thought.
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Azande people
The Azande are an ethnic group in Central Africa speaking the Zande languages (whose classification is uncertain).
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Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim (or; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917), professionally known simply as Émile Durkheim, was a French sociologist.
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Basic Books
Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York City, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group.
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Belief
A belief is a subjective attitude that a proposition is true or a state of affairs is the case.
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Bronisław Malinowski
Bronisław Kasper Malinowski (7 April 1884 – 16 May 1942) was a Polish-British anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropology.
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Business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services).
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Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.
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In the field of sociology, charismatic authority is a concept of organizational leadership wherein the authority of the leader derives from the personal charisma of the leader.
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Charles Taylor (philosopher)
Charles Margrave Taylor (born November 5, 1931) is a Canadian philosopher from Montreal, Quebec, and professor emeritus at McGill University best known for his contributions to political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, the history of philosophy, and intellectual history.
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Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
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Clifford Geertz
Clifford James Geertz (August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006) was an American anthropologist who is remembered mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology and who was considered "for three decades...
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Collective effervescence
Collective effervescence (CE) is a sociological concept coined by Émile Durkheim.
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Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era.
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Comparative religion
Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. Theories about religion and Comparative religion are religious studies.
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Comparative sociology
Comparative sociology involves comparison of the social processes between nation states, or across different types of society (for example capitalist and socialist).
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Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy (humanistic or rationalistic), religion, theory of government, or way of life.
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Counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.
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Cult
A cult is a group requiring unwavering devotion to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered deviant outside the norms of society, which is typically led by a charismatic and self-appointed leader who tightly controls its members.
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Cultural materialism (anthropology)
Cultural materialism is an anthropological research orientation first introduced by Marvin Harris in his 1968 book The Rise of Anthropological Theory, Paperback as a theoretical paradigm and research strategy.
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Cultural system
A cultural system is the interaction of different elements in culture.
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Death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism.
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Deity
A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over the universe, nature or human life.
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Deviance (sociology)
Deviance or the sociology of deviance explores the actions and/or behaviors that violate social norms across formally enacted rules (e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores).
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E. E. Evans-Pritchard
Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard FBA FRAI (21 September 1902 – 11 September 1973) was an English anthropologist who was instrumental in the development of social anthropology.
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Economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services.
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Edward Burnett Tylor
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (2 October 18322 January 1917) was an English anthropologist, and professor of anthropology.
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Emic and etic
In anthropology, folkloristics, linguistics, and the social and behavioral sciences, emic and etic refer to two kinds of field research done and viewpoints obtained.
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Ernst Troeltsch
Ernst Peter Wilhelm Troeltsch (17 February 1865 – 1 February 1923) was a German liberal Protestant theologian, a writer on the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of history, and a classical liberal politician.
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Essentialism
Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their identity.
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Eternal return (Eliade)
The "eternal return" is an idea for interpreting religious behavior proposed by the historian Mircea Eliade; it is a belief expressed through behavior (sometimes implicitly, but often explicitly) that one is able to become contemporary with or return to the "mythical age"—the time when the events described in one's myths occurred.
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Ethnography
Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures.
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Ethos
Ethos is a Greek word meaning 'character' that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution, and passion.
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Euhemerism
Euhemerism is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Theories about religion and Euhemerism are religious studies.
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Euhemerus
Euhemerus (also spelled Euemeros or Evemerus; Εὐήμερος Euhēmeros, "happy; prosperous"; late fourth century BC) was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedon.
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Evolutionary origin of religion
The evolutionary origin of religion and religious behavior is a field of study related to evolutionary psychology, the origin of language and mythology, and cross-cultural comparison of the anthropology of religion. Theories about religion and evolutionary origin of religion are anthropology of religion and religious studies.
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Exponential growth
Exponential growth is a process that increases quantity over time at an ever-increasing rate.
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Folk religion
In religious studies and folkloristics, folk religion, traditional religion, or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion. Theories about religion and folk religion are anthropology of religion.
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Golden Bough (mythology)
The Golden Bough is one of the episodic tales written in the epic Aeneid, book VI, by the Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BC), which narrates the adventures of the Trojan hero Aeneas after the Trojan War.
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Group cohesiveness
Group cohesiveness, also called group cohesion or social cohesion, arises when bonds link members of a social group to one another and to the group as a whole.
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Herodotus
Herodotus (Ἡρόδοτος||; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy.
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Hierophany
A hierophany is a manifestation of the sacred. Theories about religion and hierophany are sociology of religion.
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Hinduism
Hinduism is an Indian religion or dharma, a religious and universal order by which its followers abide.
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Historical materialism
Historical materialism is Karl Marx's theory of history.
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Historical method
Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past.
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Hogarth Press
The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf.
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Ideal type
Ideal type (Idealtypus), also known as pure type, is a typological term most closely associated with the sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920).
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James George Frazer
Sir James George Frazer (1 January 1854 – 7 May 1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist and folkloristJosephson-Storm (2017), Chapter 5.
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Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia.
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Judaism
Judaism (יַהֲדוּת|translit.
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Karl Marx
Karl Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German-born philosopher, political theorist, economist, historian, sociologist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist.
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Kwakwakaʼwakw
The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, also known as the Kwakiutl ("Kwakʼwala-speaking peoples"), are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
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Lucien Lévy-Bruhl
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (10 April 1857 – 13 March 1939) was a French scholar trained in philosophy who furthered anthropology with his contributions to the budding fields of sociology and ethnology.
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Ludwig Feuerbach
Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (28 July 1804 – 13 September 1872) was a German anthropologist and philosopher, best known for his book The Essence of Christianity, which provided a critique of Christianity that strongly influenced generations of later thinkers, including Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Engels, Mikhail Bakunin, Richard Wagner, Frederick Douglass and Friedrich Nietzsche.
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Magic (supernatural)
Magic is an ancient practice rooted in rituals, spiritual divinations, and/or cultural lineage—with an intention to invoke, manipulate, or otherwise manifest supernatural forces, beings, or entities in the natural world.
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Magical thinking
Magical thinking, or superstitious thinking, is the belief that unrelated events are causally connected despite the absence of any plausible causal link between them, particularly as a result of supernatural effects.
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Marx's theory of alienation
Karl Marx's theory of alienation describes the estrangement (German: Entfremdung) of people from aspects of their human nature (Gattungswesen, 'species-essence') as a consequence of the division of labour and living in a society of stratified social classes.
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Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller (6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a comparative philologist and Orientalist of German origin.
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Max Weber
Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sciences more generally.
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Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade (– April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago.
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Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that one god is the only deity.
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Moses and Monotheism
Moses and Monotheism (Der Mann Moses und die monotheistische Religion) is a 1939 book about the origins of monotheism written by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis.
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Myth
Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society.
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Natural science
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation.
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Neurosis
Neurosis (neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed.
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New religious movement
A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture.
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Nostalgia
Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.
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Nuer people
The Nuer people are a Nilotic ethnic group concentrated in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan.
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Numinous
Numinous means "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring";Collins English Dictionary -7th ed.
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Opium of the people
The opium of the people or opium of the masses (Opium des Volkes) is a dictum used in reference to religion, derived from a frequently paraphrased partial statement of German revolutionary and critic of political economy Karl Marx: "Religion is the opium of the people." In context, the statement is part of Marx's analysis that religion's role is as a metaphysical balm for the real suffering in the universe and in society.
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Oracle
An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities.
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Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford.
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Paul James (academic)
Paul James (born 1958, Melbourne) is Professor of Globalization and Cultural Diversity at Western Sydney University, and Director of the Institute for Culture and Society where he has been since 2014.
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Phenomenology of religion
The phenomenology of religion concerns the experiential aspect of religion, describing religious phenomena in terms consistent with the orientation of worshippers. Theories about religion and phenomenology of religion are religious studies.
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Polytheism
Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god.
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Pre-Socratic philosophy
Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as Early Greek Philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates.
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Prehistoric religion
Prehistoric religion is the religious practice of prehistoric cultures. Theories about religion and prehistoric religion are anthropology of religion.
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Primitive Culture (book)
Primitive Culture is an 1871 book by Edward Burnett Tylor.
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Profane (religion)
Profane, or profanity in religious use may refer to a lack of respect for things that are held to be sacred, which implies anything inspiring or deserving of reverence, as well as behaviour showing similar disrespect or causing religious offense. Theories about religion and profane (religion) are sociology of religion.
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Psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: +. is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge.
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Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior.
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Psychology of religion
Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. Theories about religion and psychology of religion are religious studies.
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Psychopathology
Psychopathology is the study of mental illness.
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Rational choice theory
Rational choice theory refers to a set of guidelines that help understand economic and social behaviour.
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Reductionism
Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena.
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Relations of production
Relations of production (Produktionsverhältnisse) is a concept frequently used by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in their theory of historical materialism and in Das Kapital.
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Relativism
Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed.
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Religion
Religion is a range of social-cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements—although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.
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Religious behaviour
Religious behaviours are behaviours motivated by religious beliefs.
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Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Theories about religion and religious conversion are sociology of religion.
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Religious denomination
A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name and tradition, among other activities.
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Religious experience
A religious experience (sometimes known as a spiritual experience, sacred experience, mystical experience) is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework.
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Religious organization
Religious activities generally need some infrastructure to be conducted.
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Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society.
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Repression (psychoanalysis)
Repression is a key concept of psychoanalysis, where it is understood as a defense mechanism that "ensures that what is unacceptable to the conscious mind, and would if recalled arouse anxiety, is prevented from entering into it." According to psychoanalytic theory, repression plays a major role in many mental illnesses, and in the psyche of the average person.
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Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation (or divine revelation) is the disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities.
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Robert Ranulph Marett
Robert Ranulph Marett (13 June 1866 – 18 February 1943) was a British ethnologist and a proponent of the British Evolutionary School of cultural anthropology.
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Robin W. G. Horton
Robin Horton (1932 - 2019) was an English social anthropologist and philosopher.
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Rodney Stark
Rodney William Stark (July 8, 1934 – July 21, 2022) was an American sociologist of religion who was a longtime professor of sociology and of comparative religion at the University of Washington.
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Routledge
Routledge is a British multinational publisher.
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Rudolf Otto
Rudolf Otto (25 September 1869 – 7 March 1937) was an eminent German Lutheran theologian, philosopher, and comparative religionist.
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Ruth Benedict
Ruth Fulton Benedict (June 5, 1887 – September 17, 1948) was an American anthropologist and folklorist.
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Sacredness
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers.
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Science
Science is a strict systematic discipline that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the world.
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Scientific method
The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century.
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Sect
A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Theories about religion and sect are sociology of religion.
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Secularization
In sociology, secularization (secularisation) is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism, irreligion, nor are they automatically antithetical to religion. Theories about religion and secularization are sociology of religion.
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Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud (born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in the psyche, through dialogue between patient and psychoanalyst, and the distinctive theory of mind and human agency derived from it.
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Sky deity
The sky often has important religious significance.
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A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class, middle class, and upper class.
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In sociology, a social system is the patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole that exist between individuals, groups, and institutions.
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Sociocultural evolution
Sociocultural evolution, sociocultural evolutionism or social evolution are theories of sociobiology and cultural evolution that describe how societies and culture change over time.
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Sociological classifications of religious movements
Various sociological classifications of religious movements have been proposed by scholars. Theories about religion and sociological classifications of religious movements are sociology of religion.
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Sociology of religion
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. Theories about religion and sociology of religion are religious studies.
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Spandrel (biology)
In evolutionary biology, a spandrel is a phenotypic trait that is a byproduct of the evolution of some other characteristic, rather than a direct product of adaptive selection.
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Status group
The German sociologist Max Weber formulated a three-component theory of stratification that defines a status group (also status class and status estate) as a group of people within a society who can be differentiated by non-economic qualities such as honour, prestige, ethnicity, race, and religion.
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Structural functionalism
Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is "a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability".
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Supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature.
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Sympathetic magic
Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence. Theories about religion and Sympathetic magic are anthropology of religion.
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Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism.
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The Future of an Illusion
The Future of an Illusion (Die Zukunft einer Illusion) is a 1927 work by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in which Freud discusses religion's origins, development, and its future.
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The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (retitled The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer.
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The Golden Bough (painting)
The Golden Bough is a painting from 1834 by the English painter J. M. W. Turner.
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The Interpretation of Cultures
The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays is a 1973 book by the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz.
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The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus) is a book written by Max Weber, a German sociologist, economist, and politician.
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The Religion of China
The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism is a book written by Max Weber, a German economist and sociologist.
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Theology
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity.
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Theophany
Theophany (lit) is an encounter with a deity that manifests in an observable and tangible form.
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Theory of religious economy
Religious economy refers to religious persons and organizations interacting within a market framework of competing groups and ideologies. Theories about religion and Theory of religious economy are sociology of religion.
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Thick description
In the social sciences and related fields, a thick description is a description of human social action that describes not just physical behaviors, but their context as interpreted by the actors as well, so that it can be better understood by an outsider.
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Totem
A totem (from ᑑᑌᒼ or ᑑᑌᒻ doodem) is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. Theories about religion and totem are anthropology of religion and sociology of religion.
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Totem and Taboo
Totem and Taboo: Resemblances Between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics, or Totem and Taboo: Some Points of Agreement between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics (Totem und Tabu: Einige Übereinstimmungen im Seelenleben der Wilden und der Neurotiker), is a 1913 book by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in which the author applies his work to the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and the study of religion.
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Transcendence (religion)
In religion, transcendence is the aspect of existence that is completely independent of the material universe, beyond all known physical laws.
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Tripartite classification of authority
Max Weber distinguished three ideal types of legitimate political leadership, domination and authority.
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Typification
Typification is a process of creating standard (typical) social construction based on standard assumptions.
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Unconscious mind
In psychoanalysis and other psychological theories, the unconscious mind (or the unconscious) is the part of the psyche that is not available to introspection.
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William Sims Bainbridge
William Sims Bainbridge (born October 12, 1940) is an American sociologist who currently resides in Virginia.
See Theories about religion and William Sims Bainbridge
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, as most commonly understood in both historical and present-day communities, is the use of alleged supernatural powers of magic. Theories about religion and Witchcraft are sociology of religion.
See Theories about religion and Witchcraft
Worldview
A worldview or a world-view or Weltanschauung is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view.
See Theories about religion and Worldview
Zeus
Zeus is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus.
See Theories about religion and Zeus
References
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_about_religion
Also known as Metatheories of religion in the social sciences, Methodological atheism, Sociological and anthropological metatheories of religion, Theories about religions, Theories of religion, Theories of religions, Theory of Religion, Theory of religions.
, Historical materialism, Historical method, Hogarth Press, Ideal type, James George Frazer, Java, Judaism, Karl Marx, Kwakwakaʼwakw, Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, Ludwig Feuerbach, Magic (supernatural), Magical thinking, Marx's theory of alienation, Max Müller, Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, Monotheism, Moses and Monotheism, Myth, Natural science, Neurosis, New religious movement, Nostalgia, Nuer people, Numinous, Opium of the people, Oracle, Oxford University Press, Paul James (academic), Phenomenology of religion, Polytheism, Pre-Socratic philosophy, Prehistoric religion, Primitive Culture (book), Profane (religion), Psychoanalysis, Psychology, Psychology of religion, Psychopathology, Rational choice theory, Reductionism, Relations of production, Relativism, Religion, Religious behaviour, Religious conversion, Religious denomination, Religious experience, Religious organization, Religious pluralism, Repression (psychoanalysis), Revelation, Robert Ranulph Marett, Robin W. G. Horton, Rodney Stark, Routledge, Rudolf Otto, Ruth Benedict, Sacredness, Science, Scientific method, Sect, Secularization, Sigmund Freud, Sky deity, Social class, Social system, Sociocultural evolution, Sociological classifications of religious movements, Sociology of religion, Spandrel (biology), Status group, Structural functionalism, Supernatural, Sympathetic magic, Talcott Parsons, The Future of an Illusion, The Golden Bough, The Golden Bough (painting), The Interpretation of Cultures, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, The Religion of China, Theology, Theophany, Theory of religious economy, Thick description, Totem, Totem and Taboo, Transcendence (religion), Tripartite classification of authority, Typification, Unconscious mind, William Sims Bainbridge, Witchcraft, Worldview, Zeus.