In an era of increasing religious diversity and fluid identities, this book challenges conventional understandings of faith, identity, and religious affiliation. Drawing from intercultural philosophy, theology, religious studies, and social sciences, Daan F. Oostveen examines how individuals navigate belonging to multiple religious traditions, from Christian-Buddhist dual belonging to more fluid spiritual practices.
Through a comparative approach, the book explores Western and Chinese perspectives on religious hybridity, critiques the limitations of the world religions paradigm, and introduces rhizomatic belonging as a groundbreaking framework for understanding religious multiplicity. Engaging with Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy, feminist and postcolonial critiques, and lived religion studies, it offers a fresh perspective on how religious identities are shaped in today's interconnected world.
This book is essential reading for scholars of religious studies, philosophy, anthropology, and theology, as well as anyone interested in the evolving landscape of religious belonging in a globalized society.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Introduction 1
1 Multiple religious belonging: a hermeneutical problem: Perspectives from theology and social sciences 25
1.1 Multiple religious belonging from the perspective of theology 26
1.1.1 Terminological diversity in theology 28
1.1.2 Pluralism and particularism 32
1.1.2.1 Multiple religious belonging from a pluralistic perspective 32
1.1.2.2 Multiple religious belonging from a particularistic perspective 35
1.1.3 Critiques of theology of religions 39
1.2 Multiple religious belonging in the social scientific study of religion 44
1.2.1 Terminological diversity in the social scientific study of religion 44
1.2.1.1 Syncretism 46
1.2.1.2 Spiritual, but not religious 47
1.2.1.3 From patchwork to hybridity 48
1.2.2 Approaches to multiple religious belonging in social sciences 49
1.2.2.1 Lived religion 50
1.3 Hermeneutic of multiple religions and hermeneutic of religiosity 52
1.4 Conclusion 54
2 Conceptual analysis of religious multiplicity, religion, and religious belonging 64
2.1 The multiple 65
2.1.1 Two hermeneutics, two understandings of religious multiplicity 67
2.1.2 Spatial multiplicity: hermeneutic of multiple religions 70
2.1.3 Temporal multiplicity: hermeneutic of religiosity 72
2.2 Religion 75
2.2.1 Historical overview of the concept of "religion" 77
2.2.2 Contemporary critiques of "religion" 85
2.2.3 Religion as a contested concept 88
2.3 Belonging 91
2.3.1 Theological critiques of belonging 91
2.3.2 Conceptual approaches to belonging 93
2.3.3 Three ideal types of religious belonging 101
2.3.4 Absence of belonging or a belonging of ultimate concern? 103
3 A comparative approach to multiple religious belonging from the perspective of Chinese religious culture 111
3.1 Multiple religious belonging in Asia 112
3.2 Chinese understandings of religious diversity 113
3.3 Historical overview of hermeneutical reflections on religious diversity in China from the Han until the Ming 114
3.3.1 Buddhism and Daoism: 2nd-5th century 116
3.3.2 Liang dynasty: the three teachings come from one source 117
3.3.3 Tang dynasty 119
3.3.4 Song dynasty 119
3.3.5 Ming dynasty 122
3.4 Pragmatic nature of Chinese religion 123
3.5 Contemporary religious hybridity in China 124
3.6 Religious belonging in China 129
3.7 The world religions paradigm in contemporary China 132
3.8 Conclusion 134
4 A rhizomatic hermeneutic of multiple religious belonging 141
4.1 Subverting the logic of the One 144
4.2 The arborescent schema and religious diversity 146
4.3 Multiple religious belonging and the rhizome 149
4.4 Principles of the rhizome and multiple religious belonging 151
4.5 Multiple religious belonging as assemblage 153
4.6 Rhizomatic belonging in China and the West 155
4.7 Conclusion 157
Conclusion 160
Soft, medium, and hard multiple religious belonging and the scholarly concept of religion 161
A comparison with the hermeneutic of religion in Chinese culture to engage with multiple religious belonging 163
A rhizomatic hermeneutic of religious belonging 165
Multiple religious belonging and the power dimension 166
Belonging, no belonging, beyond belonging 169
Mutually engendering worldviews: religious identity versus religious hybridity 169
Future research 171
Bibliography 173
Index 189
