From Five to Ten Dimensions of Religion

Charles Y. Glock’s Dimensions of Religiosity Revisited

Authors

  • Jean-Guy Vaillancourt Retired, University of Montreal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v21i1.58

Keywords:

Sociology of Religion, Dimensions of Religion, Typology

Abstract

Charles Y. Glock made a fundamental contribution to the sociological study of religion when, in order to ‘operationalize’ the concept of religion, he distinguished five major dimensions of religiosity: belief, experience, practice, theology (i.e., knowledge), and ethics (i.e., consequences). Going beyond these five important dimensions of religiosity, we can redefine the concept of religion by adding five more dimensions in order to take into account some of the structural and sociological components of religion. This expanded ‘dimensionalization’ of the concept of religion, grounded in the writings of classical and contemporary scholars, offers an updated and more complete instrument for the understanding and analysis of contemporary religious phenomena. With this new comprehensive view of the concept of religion, identity becomes a central and fundamental dimension, together with statuses, affiliation, community, and the relation to the divine (or the sacred).

Author Biography

  • Jean-Guy Vaillancourt, Retired, University of Montreal
    Jean-Guy Vaillancourt has recently retired from the Université de Montreal in Canada, where he was Professor in the Department of Sociology. He has published thirty books and special issues of journals on peace movements with a major focus on religion, violence and the natural environment. His book, Papal Power: A Study of Vatican Control Over Lay Catholic Elites (Berkeley 1980) is acknowledged as a major scholarly contribution to our understanding of the contemporary papacy. He has published in fields as varied as eco-sociology, sociology of peace, social movements and organizations and religion. For more information, see http://www.socio. umontreal.ca/personnel/VaillancourtJeanGuy.html.

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Published

2008-08-20

How to Cite

Vaillancourt, J.-G. (2008). From Five to Ten Dimensions of Religion: Charles Y. Glock’s Dimensions of Religiosity Revisited. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 21(1), 58-69. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v21i1.58