고려대학교

초록/요약

This paper was attempted to reconsider modern uneasy consciousness and the social role of religion for solving it. Environmental crisis was considered in this study as the most serious one among various elements causing modern uneasiness, which should be approached from the perspective of sociology of religion. Though the crisis makes an appearance of natural disaster, it has without doubt something to do with man's wrong nature or consciousness like greed and haughtiness, and in this regard it might be the responsibility of religion to overcome the crisis and recover the original nature.There is agreement about that the proper roles of religion are to provide the individuals with the meaning and direction of life as well as ethics and morals to support the society, without having any functional equivalents, or alternatives. It means religion should have share in healing the man's uneasy consciousness. In order to carry out fully its own role the religion is necessary to be transformed into 'living religion' which is expending a great effort to worry together about the problems closely related to people's daily life like social welfare, health, environment, and their settlements. In other words strengthening the religious meaning of 'life' 'environment' and 'nature', the most important values of modern times, and trying to present its concrete ways for their social embodiment would be the important starting point from which the religion performs its role.