Comparative Studies Between The Secularization Theory Of Religion And Religious Economy Model

By the early 1970s, secularization theory was the reigning dogma in the Religious Sociology field. During this period, secularization is the most and only important question to talk about either in theory or practical point of view. The basic point of secularization is that the modernity will cause the shrink of religion and its influence. Based on his secular-multiple-personalize model, Peter Berger stated the irreversible secularization process clearly from two perspectives, the objective secularization of social structure and culture and the subjective secularization of personal consciousness. However, in 1965, Martin led to attack the secularization theory. He stated that the secularization is a term of ideology. The secularization theory was well discussed and widely attacked after Martin's call to "remove the term from the dictionary of Sociology". Even Peter Berger, the initiator of the secularization theory, admitted in late 1990s that, the secularization theory "was a mistake". Multiple theories arise during the process of criticizing or surpassing the secularization theory. For example, Stark's Religious Economy, Dobbelaere & Casanova's neo-secularization theory including multi-dimensional and de-institutional, Martin's multiple religious modernity theory. This essay is to analyze and compare all those theories, trying to distinguish those theories in their pre-assumptions, major points, targets and levels. We hope this essay could deepen the study of the secularization theory.There are five chapters in this essay. The first introduction part is to state the target and significance of this essay and to introduce current studies at home and abroad. The second part is to analyze the secularization theory including its history, Berger's original theory and Dobbelaere & Casanova's neo-secularization theory. The third part is to analyze Stark's Religious Economy theory, i.e., Rational Choice Theory of Religion. The fourth part is to compare the secularization theory and the Religious Economy theory from pre-assumptions, analyze levels, targets and how they fight each other. The fifth part is conclusion and discussion.