In sociology, elite religion is defined as the symbols, rituals and beliefs which are recognized as legitimate by the leadership of that religion.[1] Elite religion is often contrasted with folk religion, or the religious symbols and beliefs of the masses. Elite religion is then the "official religion" as championed by the leaders of a religion.[2] Some researchers see the concept as potentially applying to a range of internal religious divisions such as orthodoxy versus heterodoxy, between the clergy and the laity, or between the religion's wealthy adherents and the poor.[3]
- ^ Bock, Wilbur. "Symbols in Conflict: Official versus Folk Religion," Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 5 (Spring 1966): 204-12.
- ^ Liebman, Charles. The Ambivalent American Jew. Jewish Publication Society. (1973): 83-86.
- ^ Duffy, E. (2006). Elite and popular religion: The Book of Hours and lay piety in the Later Middle Ages. Studies in Church History, 42, 140-161.