Religion, science and ideology

There are three main definitions of what religion is:

Substantative - Defines religion in terms of what it actually is.

Functionalist - Defines religion in terms of its uses and purposes for society and the individual.

Polythetic - Creates a list of possible characteristics that a religion might have.

The main sociologists associated with these defintions are:

The substantative definition - Durkheim (1915)

The functionalist defintion - Yinger (1970)

The polythetic defintion - Southwold (1978)

This is what they said:

Durkheim (1915) - A unified system of beliefs and practices relative to a sacred being.

Yinger (1970) - Religion is…