The religious economics with the rational choice theory: effectiveness and limitations

Abstract

In the history of religious research, there have been many theories born to explain the maintenance and development of religion in the modern society, in which the most prominent and controversial ones are the secularization theory, functional differentiation theory, pluralist theory, and etc. When these theories have become outdated, religious researchers must seek new theories that are more suitable to analyze religious phenomena in the contemporary society. Hence, the religious economics emerges as a new alternative to the less convincing and old approaches. Based on the rational choice theory mostly applied in the field of economics, the main content of the religious economics is to consider religion as a real economic market in which religious believers choose to join religious organizations just as consumers select goods and services in the market. As a result, the theory of the religious economics predicts the development of religion in the contemporary society based on the performance of religious bodies and their connection with believers’ needs and desires in the religious market. By exploring the relations between religion and economy, as well as the basic arguments of the theory of the religious economics, this paper aims to scrutinize the effectiveness and limitations of this new theory.