The Religious Imaginary: Concept, Characteristics, and Functions

Abstract

This article addresses a significant subject within human sciences: the religious imaginary. It is a topic that has attracted the attention of historians, sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists—particularly within the sub-field of symbolic anthropology. The objective of this study is to fill a research gap that has long remained unaddressed: no precise theoretical definition of the religious imaginary has been found in the existing literature. Nor has any researcher dedicated a study specifically to delineating its characteristics and functions. Accordingly, this article identifies the fundamental characteristics of the religious imaginary: (1) it expresses a discourse of truth, reality, and history; (2) it is collective by necessity; (3) it is subject to transformation and change in both content and scope; (4) it articulates universal human constants or archetypes; and (5) it transcends empirical verification. The article further demonstrates that the religious imaginary has performed pivotal functions in the life of the Homo Religiosus and in the conceptualization of eschatological destiny—functions that include explanation and interpretation, foundation, argumentation, consolidation of belief, euphemism, and social integration. Finally, the study seeks to identify the primary generative sources of the religious imaginary, which are three complementary and interrelated axes: laziness, avarice, and hope.