Peter Berger's Influence on Approaches in the Sociology of Religion in Recent Times

Peter Berger (1929 -), is among sociologists who has examined religion from sociological and theological perspectives, and has been the source of many impacts on the sociology of religion. Berger is the pioneer of the theory of secularization and perhaps the most effective one in this regard; and his ideas is still used by many proponents of secularization. However, the change in his position on secularization has also - because of the importance of his stands – influenced greatly on the decline of secularization process. The elaboration of his views on diversity in the modern world has influenced new perspectives in the sociology of religion. Berger’s ideas about the symbolic world have been widely used by interpreters of Holy Scriptures and sociologists of religion. This article is trying, citing original sources, to investigate Berger's position and ideas in four categories: secularization, the decline of secularization, pluralism and the symbolic approach to religion.