Does past religion have a past? Habermas, religion, and the sacred complex. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: MacKendrick, Kenneth
• Other Names: Sheedy Matt guest-editor.; Craig Brittain Christopher guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Critical research on religion. Volume 6:Number 3(2018:Dec.)
• Page Start: 309
• Page End: 330
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: Habermas -- Jurgen -- religion -- imagination -- religious experience; Religion -- Periodicals; Religion -- Research -- Periodicals; Religion and sociology -- Periodicals; Religion and politics -- Periodicals; 200.5
• DOI: 10.1177/2050303218800385
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-3032

Abstract

This article argues for a rethinking of Jürgen Habermas's understanding of religion. Taking into consideration some of Habermas's recent writings on the topic, it is argued that his conception of religion is untenable. Recent critical studies on the discourse of religion and its historical context have rendered the classic conception of religion suspect. Instead of describing a unique sphere of life, religion can and should be redescribed as something ordinary, embedded, and conceptually inseparable from a larger array of social imaginary institutions and networks.