Religious experience in the phenomenological-sociological concept of Gustav Mensching

Abstract

This article presents approaches to the reception of religion proposed by the German sociologist and phenomenologist Gustav Mensching (1901-1978). Mensching’s primary goal was to identify a more meaningful perspective for studying religion in its existential and social essence. He proposed considering the interdisciplinary interaction between sociology of religion and phenomenology of religion, focusing on religious experience as a unifying perspective. The article describes various aspects of reflecting on religion within the religious, social, and existential experience, as proposed by Mensching; identifies the points of convergence between the sociological and phenomenological approaches to religious research, strengthening the position of the so-called phenomenological sociology of religion with an emphasis on the application of intentionality. Mensching reveals the content of religious experience not only within a set of specific religious acts and actions, but also in the interaction between generations. In his concept, the “order of generations” is determined by religious experience, which, together with the social and existential levels of human existence, strengthens the consolidation of individuals. The author’s focus on Mensching’s ideas is explained by two factors: first, he proposed considering religious experience as a reflection of the collective and individual existence of subjects, which persists over an indefinite period, despite possible changes in the nature of religion under the influence of economic and political factors; second, he developed his own sociological approach to the study of religious experience, which can be applied by contemporary researchers.