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Ernst Bloch stood in intellectual opposition to Max Weber, yet they have a similar framework through which they both analyzed religion. Both Weber and Bloch engaged in a class analysis of the Bible. In Ancient Judaism, Weber provides the historical, political, and socio-economic context in which we can understand the origins of the belief in the Messiah. Bloch's dialectical theory of secularization of Judeo-Christian Messianism into Marxism has a parallel structure to Weber's theory of religious rationalization in Ancient Judaism. For Weber, ancient Judaism experienced a process of religious rationalization that is marked by a dialectic between the charisma of the prophet and the tradition of the priest, between value and substantive rationality, between disaster and salvation. Bloch's dialectical theory of secularization, which takes place from Moses through the prophets to Jesus and from Feuerbach to Marx, views the process of secularization as being driven by a contradiction between faith in God and faith in man. Bloch, who embraced Jewish Messianic beliefs, had hope in the resolution of this dialectical conflict while Weber, who was far more pessimistic, did not. Combining elements from Weber's theory of religious rationalization and Bloch's theory of secularization, provides the basis for a dialectical theory of secularization in which the tensions between the sacred and profane, while driving the process of secularization forward, remain unresolved.

"Religion in Rebellions, Revolutions, and Social Movements demonstrates that, while religion is often a social force that maintains, if not legitimates, the socio-political order, it is also a decisive factor in economic, social, and political conflict. The book explores how and under what conditions religion functions as a progressive and/or reactionary force that compels people to challenge or protect social orders. The authors focus on the role that religion has played in peasant, slave, and plebeian rebellions; revolutions including the Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Iranian; and modern social movements. In addition to these case studies, the book also contains theoretical chapters which explore the relationship religious thought has with the politics of liberation and oppression. It examines the institutional, organizational, ritualistic, discursive, ideological, and/or framing mechanisms that give religion its oppressive and liberating structures. Many scholars of religion continue very conventional modes of thinking, ignoring how religion has been-and continues to be-both a hegemonic and counter-hegemonic force in conflict. This book looks at both sides of the equation. This international and interdisciplinary volume will interest students and scholars in the fields of politics of religion, sociology of religion, religious studies, gender studies, and history"--

"Religion in Rebellions, Revolutions, and Social Movements demonstrates that, while religion is often a social force that maintains, if not legitimates, the socio-political order, it is also a decisive factor in economic, social, and political conflict. The book explores how and under what conditions religion functions as a progressive and/or reactionary force that compels people to challenge or protect social orders. The authors focus on the role that religion has played in peasant, slave, and plebeian rebellions; revolutions including the Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Iranian; and modern social movements. In addition to these case studies, the book also contains theoretical chapters which explore the relationship religious thought has with the politics of liberation and oppression. It examines the institutional, organizational, ritualistic, discursive, ideological, and/or framing mechanisms that give religion its oppressive and liberating structures. Many scholars of religion continue very conventional modes of thinking, ignoring how religion has been-and continues to be-both a hegemonic and counter-hegemonic force in conflict. This book looks at both sides of the equation. This international and interdisciplinary volume will interest students and scholars in the fields of politics of religion, sociology of religion, religious studies, gender studies, and history"--