The manuscript is divided into two parts. In the first part the author examines religion from the social perspective, the common features of religion, various approaches to the study of religion, its role in society, in the cultural sector, in the political sector, in the economic sector, in confronting the problems of social evil, the problems of sickness and deaths, its relationship with morality, science and magic, the phenomenon of secularization, the philosophical and theological foundations of secularization, and its negative impact on religion. In the second part the author examines the role of religion in the socio-political ideologies of contemporary Africa.