ABSTRACT
Max Weber did not directly confront the broad question of the sources of the religious mentality or the causes of religious belief and behaviour. He was less concerned with the explanation of religion per se than with connections between different types of religion and specific social groups and with the impact of various sorts of religious outlook upon other aspects of social life and particularly on economic behaviour. In his section on religion in Economy and Society, translated and published separately as The Sociology of Religion, Weber begins his analysis by looking at what he considers to be the most elementary forms of religious belief and behaviour, namely, the religions of tribal societies. The final major social category that Weber discusses from the point of view of religious orientation is that of intellectuals. Intellectuals may come from a variety of backgrounds, either relatively privileged or middle class, and their contribution to religious thought and ideas varies accordingly.
