Multiple Religious Belonging and Religious Communities

Exploring a Neglected Dimension

Authors

  • Jonatan Hendriks Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
  • André van der Braak Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/isit.19596

Keywords:

multiple religious belonging, dual belonging, religious plurality, multireligiosity, religious communities, rhizomatic belonging

Abstract

This contribution investigates the concept “community” as a previously underexplored dimension of multiple religious belonging (MRB). A review of the MRB approach to multireligiosity reveals there has been paid relatively little attention to community influence and fluid, non-dualistic styles of religious belonging. We argue that these styles of multiple belonging cannot be accounted for by conventional understandings of MRB that assume a “World Religions Paradigm.” After reviewing two approaches to this problem, the article explores a rhizomatic approach to MRB and religious communities. To illustrate this approach, a brief review of several Dutch multireligious communities is presented.

Author Biography

  • André van der Braak, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam

    André van der Braak is Professor of Buddhist Philosophy in Dialogue with other World Views at the Faculty of Theology of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He co-directs the international research project “Multiple Religious Belonging”. His publications include Enlightenment Blues (2003), Nietzsche and Zen: Self-overcoming without a Self(2011), and Religion and Social Cohesion: Western, Chinese and Intercultural Perspectives (2015).

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Published

2022-07-15

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Section

Articles

How to Cite

Hendriks, J., & van der Braak, A. (2022). Multiple Religious Belonging and Religious Communities: Exploring a Neglected Dimension. Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology, 6(1), 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1558/isit.19596