ABSTRACT
Religion is one of the oldest social institutions. There has never been a human society without some beliefs and practices that most people would recognize as in some way religious. However, most of the early sociologists of modernity believed that religion would steadily decline as societies modernized. Science, they predicted, would take over the authority once possessed by religious thought, and other institutions would take over most of its social functions. Religion would be reduced to a private leisure activity and a purely individual matter. The question for sociology at the beginning of the new millennium is whether this prediction of the decline of religion has come true. As we will see, there are several perspectives on this issue. Some commentators agree that religion has declined. Others maintain that some types of religion, such as fundamentalist groups, are fighting back and are engaged in a kind of culture war against secular cultural influences. Still others insist that religion is changing or restructuring in ways that reflect other cultural trends in postmodern society, ranging from the formation of exotic cults to mainstream religion's adaptations to local demands.
