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Title: The Sacred Canopy : Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion by Peter L. Berger ISBN: 0-385-07305-4 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 September, 1990 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the basic texts
Comment: There are few books that lift the veil surrounding religion--Berger's book is one of them. Religion is not simply a spiritual phenomenon, it is a social one as well. Berger zeros in on this social aspect and allows us to see one of the reasons that every society has, and undoubtedly will continue to have, religion. Berger argues that human beings live in a peculiar world; it is a cultural world, a world of meaning, and religion plays a specific role in creating and maintaining this world. Is the book difficult to read as some commentators have said? Yes. Is it worth the effort? Undoubtedly. After reading this book, the reader will never view their world or religion in quite the same way.
Rating: 3
Summary: Sociological Impression of Religion
Comment: This work is mostly a protraction of the ideas expressed in Berger's previous co-written book THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY. Those who are familiar with that work will most likely not be surprised by the arguments put forward here. Much of the same methodology and argumentation are employed once again. As for those who are not familiar with the previous work, I believe they will find that this book stands well enough on its own merits.
Berger's sociological approach to religion, although incomplete, is insightful. He attempts and, I believe, somewhat succeeds to find a middle ground between ideational and materialistic approaches to the sociology of religion. His focus remains consistently throughout the human agency in the construction of their social reality and how this reality becomes objectified and subsequently becomes reified as an immovable, impenetrable 'thing' which is perceived as superhuman-and more specifically, the role of religion in facilitating and sustaining this very process. From here, he moves on to the nature of this dynamic in modern societies, secularism and pluralism being shorthand for this, and the problems of social legitimation this entails.
Overall, this work is too cursory and pithy to be too satisfying for those who desire a robust sociology of religion. As Berger states, it was not his intention to provide this. Rather, one finds an exploration of how his prior work could be applied to the sociological study of religion.
Rating: 3
Summary: Curious and not as bad as his "Construction of Reality"
Comment: Still the book is recondite and frequently bewildering: highlighters, sticky notes, and drawing shapes on the pages await the reader determined to get to the bottom of it; be prepared to belabour this book.
The topic is interesting, and so the book does possess a certain value, in my opinion. It would be much better were it not for Berger's highly convoluted and artificially obscured writing style. To attempt to be more specific about this: "Canopy" not as bad as his "Construction of Reality" (which is impenetrable), but still more abstruse than the best chapters of his "Invitation to Sociology". Check it out yourself before buying; I thought it's worthy, though flawed.
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Title: The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics by Peter L. Berger, Jonathan Sacks, David Martin, Tu Weiming, George Weigel, Grace Davie, Abdullahi A. An-Naim ISBN: 0802846912 Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Pub. Date: July, 1999 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: The Social Construction of Reality : A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge by PETER L. BERGER, THOMAS LUCKMANN ISBN: 0385058985 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 11 July, 1967 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Sacred and Profane: The Nature of Religion by Mircea Eliade, Willard Trask ISBN: 015679201X Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: October, 1968 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: A Rumor of Angels : Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural by Peter L. Berger ISBN: 0385066309 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 06 January, 1970 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Sociology of Religion by Max Weber, Ephraim Fischoff ISBN: 0807042056 Publisher: Beacon Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1993 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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