Religion as differentiated communication

Abstract

German sociologist Niklas Luhmann developed his sociological theory of religion as part of his general theory of (modern) society. His book A Systems Theory of Religion (2013 [2000]) presents religion as differentiated communication and describes it as one the function systems of world society (like law, economics, science, education, or art). His theory is concerned with if, when, and how religious communication comes to form an autopoietic, differentiated societal system. This basic idea of religion as one of multiple function systems enables comparisons based on a broad range of concepts: communication, functions, (binary) codes, programs, contingency formulas, symbolically generalized communication media, organizations, and secularization. This chapter explores Luhmann’s theory and these concepts to ask how religion operates as differentiated communication in world society and in what regards it might be similar or different to other function systems.