Transformations of Religiosity

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2019) | Viewed by 18230

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Radboud University, 6500 HD Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Interests: comparative religion; history of religion; spirituality; ecumenical studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In contemporary Western society, people’s religiosity, defined as their personal religious life orientations, their beliefs and behaviours (not in the sense of the objectified and institutionalized religions), is undergoing a transformation towards what is often called ‘spirituality’. This transformation involves both beliefs and practices. It has been studied in a number of scholarly publications, focusing mainly on the individualization of religiosity and on the so-called ‘unaffiliated’. Research has been done on both genetic and environmental influences and on personality correlates explaining the patterns of the individualization of religiosity. For this volume we invite contributions devoted to the effects of the transformation of religiosity on both the forms and functions of religion in people’s lives: in what sense does their religious behaviour change and how is this related to a changing function of religion in their biography? We gladly welcome contributions on the three components of religiosity: knowing (cognition in the mind), feeling (effects on the spirit), and doing (behaviour of the body). Case studies might deal with transforming cognitive patterns of religiosity (orthodoxy, fundamentalism, religious liberalism), transforming experiential forms of religiosity (e.g. conversion, mysticism), and transforming religious practices (e.g. public rituals and ritualizing).

Prof. Dr. Peter Nissen
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Transformation of religiosity
  • Spirituality
  • Changing cognitive patterns of religiosity
  • Religious experiences
  • Changing religious ritual

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 274 KiB  
Article
“Speaking Out Would Be a Step Beyond Just Not Believing”—On the Performativity of Testimony When Moving Out of Islam
by Maria Vliek
Religions 2019, 10(10), 563; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10100563 - 30 Sep 2019
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3460
Abstract
This article investigates the narratives of people moving out of Islam in contemporary Europe. In particular, it focusses on the potential performance of non-belief in the form of speech. By critically examining the function of testimony in conversion and deconversion narratives, this article [...] Read more.
This article investigates the narratives of people moving out of Islam in contemporary Europe. In particular, it focusses on the potential performance of non-belief in the form of speech. By critically examining the function of testimony in conversion and deconversion narratives, this article problematises the assumed boundaries of belief, non-belief, and the function of the performance of identity. It does so by investigating contemplations over private and public performances, since the performance of speech was thought to have different effects in both spheres. Whilst public discourses on leaving Islam and speaking freely were always weighed, in private these were related to familial bonds, love, and belonging. On the other hand, considering speaking out in public was often contextualised with reference to potential secularist appropriation of their stories as ‘native testimonial’. As such, my interlocutors show that testifying of one’s religious transformation in the case of moving out of Islam was neither central nor conditional. Speech was mostly considered a ‘step beyond’ not believing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transformations of Religiosity)
15 pages, 282 KiB  
Article
Spiritual and Identity Transformations of Migrants: An Approach from the Experience of an Andean Community
by Jorge E. Castillo Guerra
Religions 2019, 10(10), 539; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10100539 - 20 Sep 2019
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2377
Abstract
Understanding transformations in the spirituality of people involved in migration processes poses new challenges to theological approaches that usually operate within national or regional boundaries. A central question in this study is how to approach transformations in spirituality and identity, taking into account [...] Read more.
Understanding transformations in the spirituality of people involved in migration processes poses new challenges to theological approaches that usually operate within national or regional boundaries. A central question in this study is how to approach transformations in spirituality and identity, taking into account the migrants’ orientations, both towards their country of origin and towards their country (or countries) of destination. This articles argues that migration is an experience that leads to profound changes in the spirituality and identity of migrants. Taking advantage of insights from transnational studies, this article investigates the traits of a spirituality transformed from a transnational identity with regard to the experience of an Andean community. Particularly, their devotion to the Lord of Qoyllor Rití in Curzco, Lima and New York. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transformations of Religiosity)
11 pages, 1332 KiB  
Article
Emerging Transitions in the Meaning of Religious Constructs: The Case of the Philippines
by Rito Baring
Religions 2018, 9(12), 387; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel9120387 - 26 Nov 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 12031
Abstract
Recent data from two local empirical studies on religion (Baring et al. 2018) and the sacred (Baring et al. 2017) show how an imminent shift in Filipino youth attitudes articulates new perspectives on religion, religiosity, and spirituality. This paper presents an analysis of [...] Read more.
Recent data from two local empirical studies on religion (Baring et al. 2018) and the sacred (Baring et al. 2017) show how an imminent shift in Filipino youth attitudes articulates new perspectives on religion, religiosity, and spirituality. This paper presents an analysis of three emerging peculiar characterizations of religious experience by young students culled from two previous empirical studies. These newfound descriptions indicate a departure from traditional binary religious categories (e.g., sacred–profane, religious–spiritual) typically employed in many studies. The first describes a peculiar interpretation of religious experience indicating an epistemological shift from an exclusive definition to a diffused interpretation of religious–spiritual categories: as “personal religiosity” and “institutional spirituality”. Personal religiosity reports an unexpected combination of personal ethical forms of de-institutionalized religious views of students. Institutional spirituality represents beliefs that honor institutional affiliation. The second describes the emergence of personal–communal poles discerned from their notions of religion and sacred. The third highlights the ethical orientation of students’ religious perceptions. These peculiar conceptual shifts may have pastoral and theological implications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transformations of Religiosity)
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