387 - Meaning and Place, An Introduction to the Special Scientific Study of Religion

Meaning and Place, An Introduction
to the Special Scientific Study of Religion
By Hans Mol
New York, Pilgrim Press, 1983. 120 pp. $6.95

This book is both sequel and introduction to the author's earlier book, Identity and the Sacred (1978), which he describes as both deductive in method and difficult reading for students at MacMaster University in Canada, where he is a religious studies professor. Meaning and Place is inductive and a quite readable sociological perspective on religion. Each chapter begins with a case study describing a religious event or phenomenon, followed by commentary. In the conclusion, Mol draws together the various strands in his perspective. Religion is viewed functionally rather than substantively, and the focus is on

religion's contributions to maintaining and sacralizing identity, whether of individuals or groups. Mol's functional perspective does not exclude conflict and change as important ingredients of social and religious life, but religion is interpreted as primarily on the side of stability. Meaning systems, myths, rituals, and commitment are mechanisms of identity maintenance; charisma and conversion are mechanisms of identity change.

While the book leaves untouched many important issues in the sociology of religion, it is a helpful introduction to the field, and I intend to use it as such with students. But pastors and adult study groups will also find it provocative and illuminative of many issues of religious faith and practice.

Jackson W. Carroll
Hartford Seminary
Hartford, Conn.