jstor religion and theology database

jstor religion and theology database

The Influence of Religion and Theology on Society

1. The Role of Religion in Shaping Societies

Though we must not ignore that while the effects of this were benefits to some, it also led to social unrest both then and now. Religion’s effect in these cases throughout all history has not always been positive.

Let us consider the Reformation in 16th century Europe. This period is given credit for establishing a stronger work ethic in its followers and led to a significant increase in literacy. It is an ideal case of how religion can influence society via change in government. Calvinism gave birth to the belief that success and a path to heaven are related, and those who gain salvation are burdened with the responsibility to work. This belief, among others, caused an increase in capital and wages, which became a significant factor in the economic development of any society. While Weber identifies these as the ethic spirit of capitalism, he also identifies the evolution of bureaucracy and rational comparison as being derived from this. He also suggests that this has led to modern capitalism, thus giving religion credit for what is now a worldwide basic social institution.

Talcott Parsons supports this when he identifies that while religion is less comprehensive in modern societies, it is still a very powerful form of social integration. With the easily identifiable decline in religious influence in many modern Western societies, this idea is more difficult to comprehend. It can be better explained when comparing Western societies to third world ones in which evidence of the above still exists.

While most individuals have difficulty in distinguishing what it is that makes a society, Durkheim suggests that particular events can be considered to have brought a collection of people together in unity and thus form a society. In its simplest form, the unity is the collective conscience and is maintained by the integration of individuals. In many ways, it is the existence of this and the efforts to maintain the collective conscience that religion influences. The functions of religion which affect this are its ability to give meaning and purpose to life, to reinforce social unity and stability, to provide guidelines for behavior, and to provide physical and emotional support.

Religion has a significant impact on society and is a topic widely studied. The aim is to decipher what the influence and role of religion is on, or in, society. The understanding of religion’s role at individual and social levels in this context is critical. Religion has the power to instill a feeling of purpose and commitment. It can also remove an individual from a society via a calling or a cause. To understand how religion affects a society, it is necessary to look deeper than the surface. This can be anything from a method of appeasing gods to changing government or implementing moral points of view.

2. The Impact of Theological Beliefs on Cultural Norms

The formation of social norms is derived by and heavily influenced by the wants and desires of the general mass of people in a society. These desires are part of a quest for improvement on one’s current conditions and attainment of a better way of life. A belief system is devised by attributing cause and effect to interactions between specific occurrences within the desires of a culture. This is done by deciding if the occurrences were positive or negative interactions and then determining why they happened. A religious belief system develops a set of rules for behavior and way of life that hold to a standard of normalcy which is derived from the desires of the people. An example would be a desire for a harmonious life and the positive interaction of such would be attributed to following the rules which lead to the harmonious life. A religion’s rules and regulations are generally devised by attributing cause and effect to the desires of the culture and determining the best course of action.

This section of the paper will show that theological beliefs held by a society have a substantial influence on the social norms of the culture. This can be observed and substantiated through analysis of several cultures throughout history as well as today’s culture. It will explain how a belief system is developed and then how it influences the direction of a culture. Because religion and its beliefs are such an influential factor on the shape of cultures and societies, it is vital to understand the impact it has on social norms in order to predict and construe the actions and behaviors of a culture.

3. Religion and Its Influence on Politics and Governance

Religious sanction has also been given to the various methods in which rulers have sought to promote the welfare of society. Wars have been classified as holy wars and have been launched with the blessings of the church. The swaying of international politics has been said to be subject to divine judgment. It is maintained that any triumph of a nation involving a breach of faith between that nation and God is sure to attract his vengeance. And while some of these views of religion on politics have been of questionable value, some have undoubtedly been a blessing in disguise. It is not to be denied that there has always been an influence between political conditions and the moral tone of the nation, and insofar as the church has striven for better moral conditions, it has rendered a service to the nation and has fulfilled its function as a vitalizing force in social progress.

Until the beginning of the nineteenth century, Christianity was accepted to be the best guide in solving governmental and social problems. Religion has been functioning as the major universal solvent in social life. It has been the faith of the masses and has held its authority over them by appealing to their emotions and understanding. It has given support to the various institutions of society. The organization of the state and classes has been said to be divinely appointed. “The powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans XIII: 1). The existing ruling classes and those who have the upper hand in social and political questions have managed to identify their own status with the workings of divine providence.

4. The Intersection of Religion and Ethics in Society

Relating religion to ethics, the Society for the Philosophical Study of the Dialectic of Religion and Society, Society of Christian Ethics, and American Academy of Religion formed a joint consultation which was conducted from 1966 to 1973. The goal of this consultation was to combine scholarly efforts from the members of those societies to figure out how religion can positively affect the world’s ethical issues. In turn, the Socratic method is being used to question the positive and negative effects of this theological insight and constructing an analysis on religious ethic. It is important to consider religious ethos into account and compare the religious positions to what its teachings are.

Building on the previous chapter, which argued that the degree of political regulation of religion has had much to do with its corruptibility, and given that theology is an extension of religion, the intersection of religion, ethics, and society is fundamentally important. Ethical prescriptions are normative, being a set of rules and principles that are judged by society as right or wrong. Whether anything is right or wrong is a matter of opinion for the relativist, but for people who say that there are objective moral facts, the positive effect of religion on society depends upon whether the religion is true. This is because a false religion might have an overall good effect due to its teaching of false ethical principles, and a true religion might have an overall bad effect if it has corrupted its teachings with false ideas.

5. The Future of Religion and Theology in an Ever-Changing World

Decision-making will move from churches to more complex intellectual notions of religion and will rely heavily on the individual. Holy scripture will come to be viewed in a literary manner, and sermons will come to be rational discourses using actual facts on a proposed topic to raise an understanding of God’s will. Art and symbolism will die as religion ceases to be an artifact of culture and moves to an individual pursuit of reason. This will be the start of the fourth stage, but it will be confined to Western cultures only, notes Glenn. The East will continue what we would call stage 3 Christianity until it too faces similar circumstances of modernization. 500 years should see the end of this fourth stage, and the Western cultures will not see another stage for Christianity, unlike the previous two millennia. The end of this stage will see a recollection of OT religion starting at the birth of mankind. This will be viewed as a terrible event where Christianity slipped from its true faith and will aim to repent the mistakes made. This revaluation will bring too much disparaging from the smart and learned of previous eras, and it will fail in creating a new Israel marked by a direct contract with God.

This section is a speculation on the next stage of religious belief in the West about 200 years from the time when this essay was written (1965). The author suggests that European/South American and North American cultures are currently seeing the third stage in religious belief, and soon the fourth stage will develop. What we know as stage 1 in religious belief was Western man in the Middle Ages, simply doing as the church bid him to earn his place in heaven and avoid hell. This was the only form Christianity took in the Middle Ages and did not become what Otto said Christianity is quite different until the Reformation. Prototype OT religion was the main form of religion in ancient Israel where the people held to what they saw as a direct contract with Yahweh. Increments from either forms were frequent, but the laws and mores of the society were frequently aligned with a holy order decreed by God. Stage 1 belief is what stage 3 belief will regress to. Stage 1 will be defined as an age where Christendom becomes the sole preserve of the simple and stupid who cannot waver nor understand complexities in life or religion. The great intellects will waver to forms of agnosticism and atheism. This phase has already begun, says Glenn (1965).