MULTI-RELIGIOUS BELONGING AND CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IN THE WEST: CONTEXTS AND PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Double and multiple religious belonging (MRB) is one of the most popular fields of research in Religious Studies and Theology in the West. It is curious that Russia does not utilize the notion of MRB being acquainted just with the notion of double belief (Rus. dvoeverie ). The latter has almost nothing in common with double and multiple religious belonging in the Western sense of the word. So, what is MRB? Although the term does not seem to be ambiguous it does not mean a complete form of belonging to two or more religious traditions, it rather implies formal belonging to one religion and some extent of fragmentary participation in another religion or other ones. The notion of MRB is linked to the postmodern contextual interpretation of religion beyond any essentialism, which allows speaking about the hybridity of religions and religion as such, as well as about the option to relativize or broaden the notion of Christian identity. What interreligious models allow to make use of the notion of MRB and how can MRB co-exist with Christian identity in its traditional exclusivist understanding? In the protestant environment, the notion of MRB is a derivative of pluralism whereas inside Roman Catholicism it collaborates with inclusivism, which in its turn tries to restrict itself to the performative aspect of foreign religions...