The Sociological Interpretation of Religion

Abstract

Professor Robertson's book, according to the publisher's comment, 'stands as the first attempt to bring together critically all the major contributions to the sociology and anthropology of religion and to outline systematically the major analytical problems involved in the study of religious phenomena'. Predictably the fullest treatment is given to Weber; but it is Weberian, too, in its comparative method, its scholarly approach, its wide-ranging documentation and its compressed style. This reviewer's feeling is that there is a very good book trying to get out of the present format. Designed as an introduction to the field, in trying to cover a wide range of analysis it shares the characteristic of many textbooks, that those who are familiar with topics will find the summaries neat and well organized, while those who are new to the subject may find it heavy going (particularly those sections which require a sophisticated theological as well as sociological vocabulary). Significantly, however, the author breaks new ground-and one wishes he had spent longer doing so. As it is, the need to be concise leaves a sense of frustration that new ideas were not more fully explicated and typologies ('adumbrated' regularly throughout the book) not fully worked through in relation to empirical material, so that while initially stimulating, their utility in organizing data is not fully apparent. Where Professor Robertson does take time to