Dynamics in the History of Religions between Asia and Europe
Meeting
Research Field 4
This session will be used to discuss a proposal for a somewhat systematized approach to our future work in the research field, centering on Peter Beyer's hypothesis of the emergence of a global religious field and fuelled by interreligious convergence. For a first outline of this proposal see the attached file "Making Sense of Convergence" (author: Alexander-Kenneth Nagel). The first part of the session will be devoted to explaining and discussing this paper. The second part of the session will be based on the chapter on religion of C.A. Bayley's book "The Birth of the Modern World". In discussing this text, which takes convergence (not only of religion) as a given of the modern world, we will not only find material to discuss this assumption but also be able to test the distinctions and attempts at systematization offered in our proposal.