THE ROBERT BELLAH READER: NOTES
RELIGION AS A SYMBOL SYSTEM
Like Greeley, Bellah defines religion as a symbol system. Here both are following Geertz. Citing Lienhardt (28-29), Bellah grounds religious symbolism in experience. Symbolism is a means by which experience is “imaged”; this imaging differentiates subject and object
What does Bellah add to the research?
- He provides a definition of religion
- He provides information about symbolism