A Reading of the Book: "Sociology of religion, paths and perspectives"

Abstract

In this scholarly study, we attempt to contribute to enriching the debate on the religious phenomenon; to raise a topic within the framework of what is known as the "return of religion," and to attempt to decipher its scientific and methodological elements and determinants, in addition to questioning the scientific and historical contexts that produced it. On the one hand, this scholarly paper addresses the scientific and theoretical foundations of the sociology of religion, by returning to classical approaches and arriving at contemporary paradigms in the field of religious sociology. It also addresses the most important issues facing researchers in the study of social phenomena. The religious phenomenon does not deviate from the context and criteria associated with the characteristics that distinguish the phenomenon from other phenomena, which are not subject to the conditions defined by the founder of French sociology, Émile Durkheim. On the other hand, it served as a platform to highlight the importance of theoretical and methodological accumulation in the sociology of religion, focusing on the founders or pioneers and their most important propositions and concepts. Furthermore, it is impossible to skip or bypass such approaches in understanding the religious phenomenon, both theoretically and practically.