How do we explain religion: its origin, its development and even its persistence in modern society? This is a question that has been occupying many people in different fields for a long time. At some point, the answers were formulated in purely theological and religious terms, assuming the truth of Christian revelations and proceeding from there. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a more "naturalistic" approach developed. Instead of having to believe in the truth of religion, what was required was exactly the opposite: intellectual detachment and suspension of faith. Three people who ended up doing just that were Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. Marx studied philosophy in Berlin with William Hegel. Hegel's philosophy had a decisive influence on Marx's thoughts and theories. According to Marx, religion is an expression of material reality and economic injustice. Therefore, problems in religion are ultimately problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but simply a symptom. It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the hardship they experience due to poverty and exploitation. Hence his comment that religion is “the opium of the people.” "People do not have an objective view of the world; they see it from the narrow point of view of their own positions." (p.35) Sometimes it may seem that I focus more on economic theory than on religious theory, but this is because Marx's fundamental position is that everything is always about economics. According to Marx, human beings – even from their earliest beginnings – are not motivated by grand ideas but rather by material concerns, such as the need to eat and survive. This is the basic premise of a materialist view of history. In the beginning, p... middle of paper... wealth was regarded by you and your neighbors as a sign that you were one of the chosen of the Gods, thus encouraging people to acquire wealth. The Protestant ethic therefore included religious sanctions that fostered a spirit of rigorous discipline, encouraging men to apply themselves rationally to acquire wealth. This naturalistic approach to religion represented a fundamental paradigm shift in how religion should be viewed. Instead of requiring clergy to understand religion, the requirement became facts, information and research. Whether one agrees with the evaluation of the social function of religion as Marx did, according to which religion was "the opium of the people", as Durkheim did according to which religion was what held moral society together, or with Weber's Protestant Ethic, it is obvious that religion played a key role in the development of society.