Product Description

This important contribution to the sociology of religion provides an analysis that clarifies the often ironic interaction between religion and society.  Berger is noted for his concise and lucid style.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84991 in Books
• Published on: 1990-10-01
• Released on: 1990-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780385073059
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• Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

From the Publisher
This important contribution to the sociology of religion provides an analysis that clarifies the often ironic interaction between religion and society. Berger is noted for his concise and lucid style.

From the Inside Flap
This important contribution to the sociology of religion provides an analysis that clarifies the often ironic interaction between religion and society. Berger is noted for his concise and lucid style.

Customer Reviews

Put it on your must-read list!
"The Sacred Canopy" is an excellent introduction to Peter Berger, as well as a good way to gain a new perspective on how we construct a sacred reality for ourselves. Berger's goal in this book is not to get us to abandon our religious faith, but to examine it as at least partially social projection which we then accept as objective and subsequently internalize. He then goes on in the second half to examine the phenomenon of secularization and its impact on the power which religious traditions hold over their adherents. This is a scholarly book, but it is not by any means esoteric-- due mainly to Berger's exceptional writing style. This would be a good one to keep on the shelf for multiple readings.

Insightful and Readable
This book is a must for anyone interested in the study or experience of religion in the modern world. Part one highlights the human need for meaning and order that is rooted in something less transient than human existence, and the way religion functions as a "shield" against various existential terrors. Although somewhat dated, the analysis of modern religion presented in part two is valuable for its discussions of how secularization has roots within religion itself, and how the relationships between religious denominations and the rest of society can be profitably described in terms borrowed from market economics. The book is highly readable, frequently funny, and provides a lucid introduction to a particular sociology of knowledge as well as a useful perspective on religion.

One of the basic texts
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.