Institutional Religion and Religious Experience

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4313385
AutoresLidia Rodríguez Fernández (0000-0003-0844-0222, Universidad de Deusto, autor correspondente), J L De León (0000-0002-9574-1834), Luzio Uriarte (0000-0002-0164-8656, Universidad de Deusto, autor correspondente), Iziar Basterretxea (0000-0003-1440-2206, Universidad de Deusto, autor correspondente)
Ano2021
Volume12
Fascículo10
Páginas791
Data de publicação2021-09-22
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel12100791
OpenAlexW3201268747
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas28

A number of empirical studies have shown the continuous lack of adherence and the growing autonomy of the population regarding religious institutions. This article reflects on the kind of relationship between deinstitutionalisation and religious experience based on the following hypothesis: the evident decline in religious institutions does not necessarily lead to the disappearance or the weakening of religious experience; rather, it runs simultaneously with a process of individualisation. Our aim is to provide empirical evidence of such transformations; therefore, we do not get involved in speculations, but take into account the contributions of scholars concerning three key terms integrated in the conceptual framework of "religious experience'': "experience of God", "God image", and "institutional belonging". We analysed 39 in-depth interviews with a qualitative approach; interviews were conducted during the years 2016-2018 amongst Evangelical and Catholic populations in three Latin American cities (Córdoba, Montevideo, and Lima) and in the city of Bilbao (Spain). These interviews clearly indicate a growing autonomy from the religious institution, while evidencing a rich range of experiences of God and a great diversity of God representations. In both cases, they point to processes of individualisation of believers who elaborate their own religious experience in a personal and complex way

Autonomy · Empirical research · Epistemology · Ethnology · Institution · Latin Americans · Political science · Population · Religious controversies · Religious diversity · Religious experience · Religious organization · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Demography · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religion and Society in Latin America · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Religious studies · Social Psychology