Abstract
At the origin of a change in the religious behavior of a group there is often a social mutation. Religious sociology in itself is not sufficient in the analysis of this phenomenon. The comparison of sociographic studies makes possible a further step ahead. If they are made in a historical perspective, their value is still greater.
The explanation of phenomena, however, and of their various processes requires sociological and psycholo gical analyses. It is therefore necessary to begin with a sociological theory of religious change.
The author develops a theory which he calls «con frontation». This appears in the individual in the case of a social or cultural change. The confrontation provokes a tension. The latter in turn often occasions a conflict (especially one of values), which is resolved either by a new synthesis, or else by a rupture. This process is studied on the level of the individual and on that of the group.
The theory of subject-object adequation serves also to complete the sociological explanation of religious changes.
1 Ed. Spes, Paris, 1956.
2 Emile Pin, s.j., op. cit., pp. 264 et 265.
Abbé J. LALOUX,
membre du Centre de Recherches socio-religieuses de Bruxelles, directeur du Bureau de Namur. 5, place du Chapitre, Namur - Belgique.