Introduction: Convergences and religious change in Asian religions

This introduction to the special issue examines various approaches to understanding religious change in Asia. It revisits models for religious change—particularly rupture and repair, both featured in prior TAJA issues—and acknowledges their usefulness while also highlighting their limitations. The author suggests framing religious change in Asia with a convergence paradigm as an alternative or supplement to rupture and repair. Convergence paradigms recognise that change is rarely unilateral, but is a dynamic process with many different actors colliding and aligning in ways that produce marked differences. The author locates specific catalysts of religious change in Asia—apocalypticism, revelation, hermeneutics, and technology—each the result of various convergences. The introduction concludes with a brief overview the articles included in this issue.