ABSTRACT
Thomas Luckmann is interested both in the sociology of knowledge arid in the sociology of religion. Luckmann is especially critical of the kind of sociology of religion that is completely absorbed in minute descriptions of the decline of ecclesiastical institutions by using generally a narrow-gauged point of view. After working initially together with Luckmann, Peter Berger has become highly original in his line of research, aiming at a basic coherence even though the objects of his studies appear to be different. His major themes touch upon secularization and pluralism. The former produces the latter because it tends to make religious institutions less credible, whereas pluralism gives rise to secularizing orientations. Later, Berger concentrates his attention on pluralism. Pluralism is not only an internal question of the various religious confessions. It also concerns competition with nonreligious rivals regarding the definition of reality and its social construction.
