Robert Neelly Bellah, a preeminent scholar of religion in America, bestselling author and the Elliott Professor of Sociology Emeritus at UC Berkeley, died early this week of complications related to heart surgery. He was 86.
Widely known as one of the world’s most influential sociologists, Bellah was a Harvard-educated social theorist who taught for three decades at UC Berkeley. Best known for his scholarship on how religion shapes ethical, cultural and political practices, his literary legacy includes “Religion in Human Evolution” (2011), “Tokugawa Religion”(1957),”The Broken Covenant” (1975) and “Beyond Belief” (1970). His writings were said to have irked both the religious right and the secular left at various times. He was profoundly loved and respected by many of his students and peers.