There are, of course, serious questions about the extent to which members of any of the world’s religions agree with fellow members’ beliefs and practices. Indeed, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism all experience divisions into often rival groupings. There are even questions about how organised a collectivity of individuals has to be to constitute a religion – especially since the advent of the Internet. Most sociological definitions of religion focus on what religion is – a substantive definition – or the roles religions play in society – functional definitions.
Substantive definition of religion
Belief in the supernatural – sociologists adopting substantive definitions have tried to identify what is distinctive about religious beliefs. For example, Max Weber saw religion as involving a belief in the supernatural that is some power above the forces of nature. This suggests a belief in a being or beings, powers or forces, which are in some ways superior to humans, and which cannot be vertified or explained by Western science.
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