The three definitions of religion

Substantive-

• Focus on content/substance of religious belief e.g. belief in God or the supernatural 
• Weber- defines religion as a belief in a superior or supernatural power that is above nature and cannot be explained scientifically 
• Exclusive- they draw a clear line between religious and non-religious beliefs 
• Leaves no room for beliefs/practices that perform similar functions but do not involve belief in God 
• Accused of Western bias as they exclude religions such as Buddhism

Functional- 

• Religion is defined in terms of the social/psychological functions it performs for individuals in society 
• Durkheim- defines religion in terms of the contribution it makes to social integration
• Yinger- religion answers 'ultimate questions' about the meaning of life and what happens when we die
• Inclusive- allow a wide range of beliefs and practices 
• No bias against non-Western religions such as Buddhism 
• Just because an institution helps integrate individuals into groups, doesnt make it a religion, e.g. collective chanting at football matches 

Constructionist- 

• Interpretivist approach 
• Argue that it's not possible to produce a single universal definition of religion
• Interested in how definitions of religion are constructed, challenged and fought over 
• Aldridge- Scientology is a religion for its followers, but several goverments have denied its legal status as a religion and sought to ban it. This shows that definitions of religion can be influenced by who has the power to define the situation 
• Makes it impossible to generalise as many people have widely differing views about religion and the meanings behind it