ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that scholars who study religion disagree on this issue. It discusses various definitions of religion and nonreligion. The chapter presents debates in the sociology of religion where definitions are criticized for being normative and ethnocentric and shows how the discipline has moved from a rather essential quest for the best definition to a more constructivist understanding, where it becomes an interesting research project in itself to find out what counts as religion. Substantive definitions include characteristics of the content of religion. Functional definitions describe the utility, functions, or effects that religion is supposed to have for individuals and/or society. Spirituality has become a common term in the sociology of religion. Implicit normativity can also be present in terms pointing to nonreligion.
