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A Comparative Sociology of World Religions: Virtuosos, Priests, and Popular Religion, by Stephen Sharot. New York: New York University Press, 2001. 352 pp. $60.00 cloth. ISBN: 0-8147-9084-7. $18.50 paper. ISBN: 0-- 8147-9805-5.
Is comparative analysis of world religions still a viable undertaking in light of the postmodernist critique of global theories and master narratives? At the beginning of a new millennium, how well do Max Weber's theories of religion and society hold up in light of recent research on the religions of Asia, Europe, and North America? These are the key questions raised in this wide-ranging and thought-provoking book, which focuses on the comparative study of interconnections of elites and masses in the formation and development of world religions.
Sharot begins with a lucid presentation of the Weberian analytic framework he has chosen for comparison. He holds that religion is a social phenomenon, and dismisses essentialist and theological notions. A "world religion" is an ideal type that stands apart from other forms of religion, partly because of its size, but mostly because of the scope of its rationalization (intellectual and ethical), selfconscious transcendentalism, and ideological universalism. Following Weber, Sharot identifies six religions for comparison: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Rather than employing categories that typify phenomenological descriptions of religion (e.g., myth, ritual, doctrine, and symbol), Sharot deftly adapts Weber's concept of religion as social action comprised of identifiable goals, means, and conditions. The actors singled out by the author are hierocratic...