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Europe and Invisible Religion
Knoblauch, Hubert
This introductory article begins by sketching Luckmann's theory of invisible religion. It lays stress particularly on the recent modifications of this theory: in addition to the well-known anthropological notion of transcendence, Luckmann elaborates a detailed phenomenological notion of transcendence, distinguishing between three levels of transcendence. This innovation, it is argued, not only affects Luckmann's general theory of religion. It also sheds a new light on the religious situation in Europe. Europe is, indeed, characterized by the decrease of religion as opposed to other areas of the world where we discern a kind of “resacralization”. However, three restrictions apply to this statement: the religious situation in Europe is still very diverse; the institutional role of the churches in Europe is quite specific, and, finally, if we apply Luckmann's notion of religion, we can detect a blooming alternative religiosity in Europe which parallels the global tendency.
- Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.
- This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.
