Central European Journal for Contemporary Religion is a scholarly journal published both by the Hussite Theological Faculty of the Charles University and Karolinum Publishers, which aims to serve as a publication platform for Comparative Religion and related disciplines. It focuses mainly on contemporary religious phenomena with special (but not exclusive) focus on Central and Eastern Europe. It should serve both as a source of information on te religious life in the region and as a supply of scholarly studies focused on contemporary lived religion at large. It is published semi-annually both in print and online (free access). Its goal is to bring thought-provoking contributions related not only to current established religions and religious movements new and old, but also to contemporary spirituality in its wider context, including the New Age milieu, Neopaganism and pop-cultural spirituality. The journal also covers the latest theoretical and methodological trends in Comparative Religion, Ritual Studies and other disciplines. The editorial board consists of scholars from most Czech Comparative Religion departments, as well as experts on the most important religious traditions across the globe.
CENTRAL EUROPEAN JOURNAL FOR CONTEMPORARY RELIGION, Vol 2 No 2 (2018), 81–97
Religion, Spirituality, Worldviews, and Discourses: Revisiting the Term “Spirituality” as Opposed to “Religion”
Zuzana Marie Kostićová
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14712/25704893.2018.5
published online: 28. 11. 2018
abstract
In the last few decades, the usage of the term “spirituality” has plummeted in an unprecedented way and has significantly contributed to the question what “religion” is and is not. The notion that the word “spirituality” is an emic term, closely tied to the postmodern situation and specifically the New Age scene, is occasionally referred to by scholars, mainly by Steven Sutcliffe. However, the consequences of this remain largely unexplored. This article shows the term has been largely accepted by the scholarly community, with all its implicit emic baggage, and discusses various aporia and questionable results that emerge from its uncritical usage. Consequently, from the traditional perspective, the term should be treated as emic. At the same time, however, the term should be subject to rigorous discursive analysis to uncover all of its implications, contexts, and implicit relationships of power.
keywords: religion; spirituality; theory of religion; religious studies; New Age
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