Introduction to the topical issue "Multiple Religious Belonging"

The topic of multiple religious belonging has recently received much interest, both in theological and social scientific circles. Also from a lived religion perspective, it is undeniable that more and more people construct their sense of religious belonging by combining elements from various religious traditions. This phenomenon ranges from ‘hard’ multiple religious belonging, where two or more traditions are self-consciously and wholeheartedly embraced, to ‘soft’ multiple religious belonging where beliefs, values and practices from various traditions are combined without any particular tradition being completely embraced, or perhaps even without an awareness of the traditional origins of those beliefs, values and practices. In this last example, speaking about ‘religious belonging’ is problematic. At the other end of the scale, there are people that claim to embrace all religious traditions, rather than multiple individual religious traditions.