On sociological criteria of religiousness: How many (Orthodox) believers are there today?

In: Filozofija i društvo, Volume 20, Issue 1, p. 9-36

Open Access

Abstract

In this text the author first tries to provide an answer on the number of religious people today in two post-communist and Orthodox countries, and then on the number of Orthodox believers in them. Therefore he analyzes numerous data from empirical evidence using a large number of indicators discussed in the text. The author first analyzes them as indicators of representative dimension of religiousness, then as indicators of beliefs in dogmatic core of Christianity, indicators of current church ritual practice and finally, as indicators of a traditional attitude towards religion and church. With these analyses the author tries to find the criterion or criteria which best express the religiousness of people in a particular area. The analysis identifies three approaches in Russian sociological and religious literature. The first one is defined as a classic, positivistic approach, the second one as post-classic or phenomenological, and the third one as synthetic. Then the author discusses the term attachment to religion and church and its indicators, as well as the indices which are sociologically more suitable for the research of the religious and church complex. In the end the author gives a few methodological instructions for a sociological and empirical research of religiousness.