Carl Sagan as a Theorist of Religion

This article proposes the inclusion of the astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, and public intellectual Carl Sagan (d. 1996) as a theorist of religious studies. By gathering material from diverse sources, it constructs a coherent and cohesive account of Sagan’s theory of religion, absent any singular treatise by Sagan on the subject. Sagan’s debt to earlier theorists is apparent, but with unique insights stemming from his own expertise and era. This article furthermore explores how Sagan’s work may remedy certain ongoing issues in the discipline, such as the concept of “religious experience.” This study concludes by advocating greater interdisciplinary coordination between the physical sciences and the humanities/social sciences in sharing a collective body of knowledge.