Research subject Religion in Change

Religions are historical objects, shaped by humans in specific historical circumstances. Religions are invented, adapted to new circumstances, and eventually wither away.

Processes driving religious change have been central to research on secularization, the disenchantment of the world, and in the study of the new religious movements that have emerged in modernity. They are also central to the history of religions more broadly, where they play a role for how we understand, e.g., the founding of religions, reform movements, tradition and cultural memory, asceticism, missionary activities, schisms, prophetic and apocalyptic movements, religious war, and why religions die.