Editing Religious studies (section)

==Intellectual foundation and background==
Religious studies became a field in its own right in The Netherlands by promulgating the so called 'duplex ordo' law in 1876. Before that, several key intellectual figures explored religion from a variety of perspectives. One of these figures was the famous [[Pragmatism|pragmatist]] [[William James]]. His 1902 [[Gifford lectures]] and book ''[[The Varieties of Religious Experience]]'' examined religion from a psychological-philosophical perspective and is still influential today. His essay ''[[The Will to Believe]]'' defends the rationality of faith.

[[Max Weber]] studied religion from an economic perspective in ''[[The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]]'' (1904–1905), his most famous work. As a major figure in [[sociology]], he has no doubt influenced later sociologists of religion.
[[Émile Durkheim]] also holds continuing influence as one of the fathers of sociology. He explored [[Protestantism|Protestant]] and [[Catholic]] attitudes and doctrines regarding suicide in his work ''Suicide''. In 1912, he published his most memorable work on religion, ''[[The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life]]''.