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Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 1, No. 1. (Oct., 1961), pp. 30-41.
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Wed Nov 28 12:22:35 2007
FIVE DILEMMAS IN THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION
OF RELIGION
BY THOMAS F. O'DEA
Professor of Sociology, University of Utah
LTHOUGH much fruitful research has involved in selfhood and identity, does
A been done in the sociology of religion not aim its sights squarely upon religious
the explicit formulation of an adequate phenomena in their own right.l
conceptual scheme for observation and The functional approach sees the im-
interpretation of data still leaves much portance of religion in that religion gives
work to be done. American thinking answers to questions that arise a t the
in this field in recent years nas largely point of ultimacy, a t those points in
been in terms of what may be called human experience that go beyond the
a "functional" frame of reference. While everyday attitude toward life with its
helpful in the study of many aspects penultimate norms and goals. The study
of religious life, the functional approach of religion is an important part of the
does not focus attention squarely upon study of human society because men are
the problems of the sociology or religion cognitively capable of going to the
as such. Rather it raises two questions, "limit-situation," of proceeding through
important in their own right. First of and transcending the conventional ail-
all i t concerns itself with what religion swers to the problem of meaning and of
does for and to society, seeing religious raising fundamental existential questions
institutions as one set of institutions in terms of their human relevance. Such
among others, and interesting itself in "breaking points" of routine experience
the contribution of religious institutions often appear in the context of experienced
and religious ideas to the maintenance uncertainty, of adversity and suffering,
of the on-going equilibrium of the social and in the frustrating but inevitable
system. In a more psychological, but still experience of the limitations of human
basically functional frame of reference, finit~de.~
it also asks what is the contribution of Moreover, the ultimate tends t o be
religion to the preservation and achieve-
ment of adequate adaptation and stability 1 For example see Kingsley Davis, Human
for the individual personality. Society, Macmillan, New York, 1950, p. 529;
The first question is not, of course, Bronislaw Malinowski, Magic, Science, and
the sociology of religion in any but a Religion and other essays, Free Press of Glencoe,
peripheral sense. I t is rather the sociology Glencoe, Illinois, 1948 among other works.
of total social systems, particularly con- For a worthwhile discussion see "The Sociology
cerned with the contribution of one in- of Religion," Charles Y. Glock, in Sociology
stitutional complex, in this case the re- Today, Robert K. Merton, Leonard Broom and
ligious, to the functioning of society. Leonard S. Cottrell, Jr. eds. Basic Books,
The second, while directing our under- New York, 1959.
standing to important problems involving a See Talcott Parsons, "The theoretical Deve-
religion and stratification, reiigion and lopment of the Sociology of Religion", Essays
social disorganization, religion and social in sociological theory, The Free Press, Glencoe,
change, and the general area of problems Ill., 1959, pp. 194-211.
DILEMMAS IN THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF RELIGION 31
apprehended in a special modality all nor of the "I do, therefore I am," of
its own. In terms of Durkheim and Otto, 19th century thought. Rather he is
man experiences the "sacred" or "holy" recognized as a being who is not a
as an irreducible category of existence dichotomous compartmentalization of
t h a t is drastically other than the ordinary "adaptive" and "expressive" needs but
prosaic workaday world.3 From a func- one capable of and exhibiting holistic
tional point of view religion is important response and commitment to what he ex-
because i t sustains life precisely a t these periences as impinging upon his conscious-
breaking points. From the religious n e ~ s . I~t is indeed because man is pri-
point of view, however, these breaking marily a responding animal and because
points are important precisely because his responses in interaction with those of
they are the occasions of the experience his fellows become crystallized into sta-
out of which religion arises. Talcott bilized expectations and alliegances, that
Parsons years ago emphasized the im- contemporary sociology has proved its
portance in sociological study of taking greater adequacy for the study of human
the point of view of the participators in action over the rationalistic conceptions
the social action ~ t u d i e d . Since
~ religious of the past century. Yet modern so-
institutions arise out of this experience ciological theory often reads as though
of ultimacy and the sacred, the sociology it had not in fact superseded those older
of religion must begin with considerable partial views oi man.
empathy precisely a t this point. Religion is first of all a response and
From the unusual religious experiences a response is to something experienced.
of unusual people the founded religions The religious response is a response to
emerge, translating and transforming the the ultimate and the sacred which are
insights of founders into institutional grasped as relevant to human life and
structures. Thus there arise the formed its fundamental significance. While the
and formulated entities of belief-systems, religious response is indeed peripheral
systems of ritual and liturgy, and or- and residual to the day to day life of
g a n i ~ a t i o n . ~I t is important therefore men and the penultimate ends of t h a t
especially in the study of the founded life and related to them only as their
religions to begin with a phenomenological ultimate ontological underpinning, i t is
analysis of the religious experience as central to the religious life. It is its
such, for out of i t emerge the chief di- constitutive element and out of i t pro-
mensions of religious institutions as well ceeds the process of the elaboration and
as their chief functional problems. Here standardization of religious institutions.
man is seen neither in terms of the Since such institutionalization involves
Cartesian "I think, therefore I am" which the symbolic and organizational embodi-
was the model of 17th century thinking, ment of the experience of the ultimate
in less-than-ultimate forms and the con-
Emile Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of comitant embodiment of the sacred in
Religious Life, The Free Press, Glencoe, Illinois, profane structures, i t involves in its very
J. W. Swain, tr. 1954 and Rudolf Otto, The core a basic antinomy t h a t gives rise
Idea of the Holy, J . W . Harvey, tr. Oxford to severe functional problems for the
University Press, London, 1923. religious institution. In fact this profound
Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social
Action, The Free Press, Glencoe, Illinois, 1949, For a good discussion see the final chapter,
passim. "Respondeo, ergo sum," of Existentialism and
Joachim Wach, Sociology of Religion, The the modern Predicament, F. H. Heinemann,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Borthers, New
ch. 11, pp. 1'7-34. York, 1958, pp. 190-204.
32 DILEhfMAS IN T H E INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF RELIGION
heterogeneity a t the center of religious upon such phenomena. Yet the achieve-
institutionalization constitutes a severe ment of the necessary stability involves a
and unavoidable dilemma from which price. I t involves a certain loss of spon-
problems arise for religious movements taneity and creativity, although these
and institutions t h a t recur again and are often found operating in some meas-
again and can never be finally solved. ure within the expectations of institutional
Moreover, since the religious experience patterns.
is spontaneous and creative and since The founded religions display this fun-
institutionalization means precisely re- damental antinomy in their histories.
ducing these unpredictable elements to They begin in "charismatic moments"
established and routine forms, the di- and proceed in a direction of relative
lemma is one of great significance for the "routinization." This development ne-
religious movement. cessary to give objective form to the
This view which concentrates upon religious movement and insure its con-
religious phenomena makes possible an tinuity may in Weber's terins proceed
"internal functionalism" of religious in- either in a traditional or a rational-legal
stitutions themselves since i t concentrates directi~n.~ Such routinization is an un-
attention upon the peculiarly religious avoidable social process, and as such re-
problems or more precisely the specific presents for religious institutions a many-
problems of religious institutions qua sided and complex paradox.
religious institutions. The charismatic moment is the period
of the original religious experience and
its corresponding vitality and enthusiasm.
An institutional complex may be viewed Since, as we have seen, this experience
as the concrete embodiment of a cultural involves the deep engagement of the
theme in the on-going life of a society, person involved with a "beyond" which
as the "reduction" of a set of attitudes is sacred, i t is unusual in a special sense.
and orientations to the expected and I t would remain a fleeting and imper-
regularized behavior of men. These in- manent element in human life without
stitutionalized expectations include de- its embodiment in institutional structures
finitions of statuses and roles, goals, and to render i t continuously present and
prescribed and permitted means, and they available. Yet in bringing together two
articulate with the culture of the society radically heterogeneous elements, ulti-
and with the personality structures that macy and concrete social institutions,
the socialization processes have produced the sacred and the profane, this necessary
in a given society.' institutionalization involves a funda-
I t is the great virtue of social in- mental tension in which five functional
stitutions from the point of view of the dilemmas take their origin.
functioning of social systems that they In other words, religion both needs
provide stability in a world of inconstancy. most and suffers most from institution-
The unusual and creative performance alization. The subtle, the unusual, the
of the hero, sage or saint, though of charismatic, the supra-empirical must be
great exemplary and genetic importance,
is too unpredictable to become the basis Max Weber, The Theory 01 Social and
of everyday life. The human world Economic Organizafion, Talcott Parsons, and
would be an unsteady and incalculable A. M. Henderson, tr., Oxford University Press
affair indeed were i t chiefly dependent New-York, 1947, pp. 363ff. Also From Max
Weber: Essays in Sociology, Hans Gerth and
7 See Talcott Parsons, The Social System, C. Wright Mills, tr. Oxford University Press.
The Free Press, Glencoe, Illinois, 1951. New York, 1946, pp. 53, 54, 262ff, 297, 420.
DILEMMAS I N T H E INSTITUTIONALIZATION O F RELIGION 33
9 Talcott Parsons has most clearly shown lo Robert I<. Ilerton, Social Theory and Social
how social structure is a balance of motivation, Structure, The Free Press, Glencoe, Illinois
See his The Social System, and Essays in 1957, See especially "Social Structure a n d
Sociological Theory, cited above. Anomie," pp. 131-160.
33 DILEMMAS IN T H E INSTITUTIONALIZATION O F RELIGION
COMMENT
J. MILTON YINGER
PROFESSOR
O'Dea has given us a su5- tation. What would happen to the so-
tle and valuable refinement of the ciology of the family or the sociology
classic theme of "the dilemma of the of political institutions and behavior if
churches." In my brief comments, the these disciplines were limited to the
emphasis given to points which I would study of internal processes? A great
develop somewhat differently from the deal if not most of the sociological ap-
way he discusses them should not ob- proach has to do precisely with the way
scure the much larger area of agreement. specific social patterns interact with
Having worked with the concept of the the larger social context of which they
dilemma of religious groups for many are a part. Political sociologists, for
years, I am grateful to Dr. O'Dea for example, seek t o explore the way politi-
the new richness he has added to the cal processes are affected by and affect
term. the stratification system, economic ac-
The use of the concept "functional" in tivity, religion, and other aspects of the
the first paragraph is somewhat narrow sociocultural system. Far from being
or perhaps "old-fashioned." Both of the "peripheral," such contextual analysis can
functions t h a t he states should also be be thought of as a basic part of sociology.
reversed, to ask: "How do the structures For many persons it is the very heart
and processes of society affect the re- of the discipline.
ligious life," and "how do the tendencies The sociology of religion is in no way
of personalities affect religion?" Cer- different in this regard from the other
tainly a contemporary functional ap- specialties within the sociological field.
proach would also include the question: I t has some distinct problems of meth-
Under what conditions and in what ways odology, as do most specialties; but
does religion become dysfunctional for-a i t is sociology, and it will prosper or
given system, and vice versa? languish in the degree to which i t draws
The only major quarrel I have with upon and contributes to the full range
Professor O'Dea's paper stems from of sociological analysis. "Internal
his narrow definition of the sociology of functionalism" can well play a part; but
religion-and the theoretical conse- even this approach is likely to achieve
quences that flow from the restriction. scientific rigor only as it includes com-
In his view, an approach t h a t "...con- parative study of other institutions and
cerns itself with what religion does for their internal processes. Instructive
and to society, seeing religious insti- parallels might be found, for example,
tutions as one set of institutions among in a comparative study of religion and
others, and interesting itself in the con- politics. I believe t h a t a paper under
tribution of religious institutions and the title of "Five Dilemmas in the In-
religious ideas to the maintenance of stitutionalization of Democracy" would
the on-going equilibrium of the social be led to many of the same observations
system ... is not, of course, the sociology as those made by Professor O'Dea,
of religion in any but a peripheral sense." would profit by his discussion, and
He calls for an " 'internal functionalism' might well contribute to it.
of religious institutions themselves." In point of fact-and happily-
This seems to me to be a strange limi- Professor O'Dea does not hold t o his
DILEMMAS IN T H E INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF RELIGION 41
own narrow conception of the sociology the search for power, were co-opted by
of religion. His discussion of the five the very forces they sought to control.
dilemmas requires continuous reference One thinks of Selznick's description of
to the ways in which religious life in- the TVA, or of Troeltsch's remark con-
teracts with its total social context. cerning the church: "It dominates the
The dilemma of power, for example, world and is therefore dominated by
has to be seen in the setting of the lim- the world." In another place the present
iting and facilitating forces in society. writer has stated: "If failure to win the
The difficulty with his treatment is support of powerful secular organiza-
that he comes to these observations to tions means relative powerlessness and
some degree in spite of his view of the if the effort to win their support runs
research task and not because of it. the danger of co-optation, religious or-
Thus he cannot make full use of a com- ganizations face a serious dilemma."
parative approach (in the study of bu- The problem is to discover when some
reaucracy, for example), and he is not measure of autonomy can be maintain-
in a good position to raise explicitly the ed, when co-optation prevails. For re-
key question: What are the conditions ligious organizations, as for all others,
under which the dilemmas are most this requires careful attention to the
and least likely to occur, or are likely total setting. In my judgment, the
to occur in their sharpest form? Since power dilemma is least sharp for a re-
many of these conditions have to do ligious organization in a society where
with the society within which the re- the average man has some measure of
ligion under study is found, the dilemmas economic security, political instruments
are only partly understood by "internal for expressing his interests, unhampered
analysis." sources of information, and private as-
On the basis of the excellent begin- sociations to protect and consolidate
ning in the paper under discussion, we his views-in brief, in a society where
can now hope t h a t Professor O'Dea and secular power is widely diffused.
others will specify the conditions under This argument may or may not be
which, for example, the dilemma of valid, but i t illustrates my contention
mixed motivation-or goal displace- that the dilemmas about which Profes-
ment as i t is often called-is most likely sor O'Dea writes so usefully, are best
to be found. Surely this is a variable seen as a phenomenon of religion in so-
and is not experienced in the same way ciety. This is to say, in more general
by all organizations. The "dilemma of terms, t h a t the sociology of religion
power" is also well understood only must draw on the full range of socio-
when we can specify the conditions logical perspectives and concepts, and
which affect it. Sociological literature that i t can, in turn, contribute greatly
is filled with descriptions of organiza- to their validation and elaboration.
tions-secular and religious-which, in