Suchergebnisse

In adopting a structural point of view in order to analyse institutionalized forms of religious life, we were led not only to show the totality or the system from which the different elements take their meaning, but also we had the possibility of comparing organized religious life with other forms of social organizations. Using this method, it becomes possible, on the one hand, to bring to light the latent functions of certain elements of the system ; and on the other hand, to question the credibility of the meanings which are officially attributed to organized religious life. Among the elements which go to make up the meaning of religious life, this study is concerned with the model of authority. In order to describe the tensions which organized religious life is undergoing at the moment, one can separate the various institutions by treating them as systems which are evolving under the single pressure of internal forces. However, if we wish to explain such phenomena, it is indispensable to reinsert the structure which is being studied into a larger cultural setting, the dominant culture of the period. In fact, organized religious life confers a positive meaning on its institutions in taking up again in an unconscious way the cultural models which have been interiorized by the whole of society in a diffused manner, which because of this possess es a high credibility.