Religion is a concept that has evolved over time, with many different senses of the word appearing and disappearing. This confusion is due in part to the fact that the term carries with it prejudgements and biases. The etymology of the word, for instance, points to an initial meaning related to scrupulous devotion. Yet the concept also carries notions of social cohesion and binding that seem to relate to other aspects of social life, such as family and community.
The concept of religion has long been of interest to social scientists, and the growth of archaeology, ethnography, history, anthropology, and other fields provided them with systematic knowledge of cultures worldwide. The anthropologists’ fascination with tribal and “primitive” societies gave rise to theories of the genesis of religion. In his influential book The Golden Bough, folklorist James Frazer speculated that early humans began with magic and then shifted to a belief in supernatural powers that needed to be propitiated.
Other anthropologists, such as Alfred L. Kroeber, argued that the emergence of religious beliefs in primitive societies was a response to social pressures and to the desire for a common identity. Philosophers such as Wittgenstein emphasized the importance of practice in defining religion, and psychoanalysts such as Freud interpreted the genesis of religion in terms of unresolved feelings such as hostility toward one’s father or totemic taboos against incest.
Over the past forty years or so, there has been a reflexive turn in the study of religion as scholars have pulled back from the objectivity of the field and begun to view it as something that is constructed rather than something that is simply “there.” The various dimensions of religion are studied by disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology; whereas philosophy studies religion cross-sectionally and seeks to elucidate its ideas; and literature and art try to capture its symbols and imagery.