Theory as a Tool in the Social Scientific Study of Religion and Martin Riesebrodt's The Promise of Salvation

Abstract

No single paradigm or debate currently orients the social scientific study of religion. Because of this, those engaged in the multidisciplinary study of religion find that a public conversation is often difficult. In this article and the Forum it introduces, we explore Martin Riesebrodt's recently published book, The Promise of Salvation: A Theory of Religion. Responding to the inadequacies of secularization paradigms, rational choice models, and postmodern criticism, Riesebrodt proposes an approach that ideal-typically reconstructs the subjective meanings of institutionalized religious practices (liturgies). These subjective meanings center on the prevention and management of crises-social, natural, and bodily-through appeal and access to superhuman powers. This pragmatic emphasis on the superhuman defines religion as a distinct sphere of social action transhistorically and transculturally. Riesebrodt's theory creates new analytical possibilities, especially for understanding the modern resurgence of religion under conditions of secularization.

Studying Religiosity and Spirituality: A Review of Macro, Micro, and Meso-Level Approaches

“…Religious beliefs are particularly important within the study of health and wellbeing. Indeed, a robust subset attends to measures of religious coping (e.g., Konieczny et al 2012;Ai et al 2013). For example, religious coping has been investigated within studies of grief and death anxiety (Feldman et al 2016); health (DeAngelis et al 2019); illness recovery (Testoni et al 2016); mental health in mothers with intellectually disabled children (Sharak et al 2017); genocide survivors (Fox 2012); and sexual violence (Cranney 2017).…”