Synopsis
A sociological account of religion as a humanly built 'sacred canopy' that gives the social world meaning, and of how modernity erodes it.
Core passage idea
Paraphrase · Modern copyrighted workReligion is a human construction that throws a sacred canopy of meaning over the precarious social world, and modern pluralism tears holes in that canopy.
It explains both why religion has been so powerful at stabilizing societies and why secularization undermines its taken-for-granted authority.
To avoid a bubble
Pair with A Secular Age.
Reading note
Read it for Berger's theory of legitimation and plausibility structures; note he later revised his strong secularization thesis.
Best paired with
A Secular Age