Approaching Religion
Approaching Religion is an academic open access journal published by the Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History in Åbo, Finland. Its purpose is to publish current research on religion and to offer a platform for scholarly co-operation and debate within the field. The journal appears twice a year and consists of articles, book reviews and discussions. It addresses an international readership and, as the title suggests, approaches the field of religion from a broad perspective, engaging contributors from different theoretical and methodological traditions.
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Extraordinary Bodies, Invisible Worlds Somatic Pedagogy in Neo-pagan Ritual Practices
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)Numerous scholars have signalled that neo-pagan practitioners use their body and their senses to interact with the divine and elaborate a spiritual experience. However, the learning process followed to achieve and produce ... -
Gendered and Embodied Un/learning among Women Disengaging from Faith in the UK and Finland
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)Women often embody the central values and practices of their religious tradition. When they leave their community, women find a part of the “religious tapestry” remaining with them long after their disengagement. In this ... -
“I used to be a traitor” Russian Baptist Conversion as Unlearning
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)This article discusses adult conversion in the Russian Baptist community as the unlearning of old sinful ways of living. Russian Baptists see conversion as an act of repentance, surrendering to Christ, and becoming born ... -
Can a case be made for “unlearning” in the study of religions? Applying the Concept to the Journeys of Religious Leavers
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)The concept of “unlearning” has been positively endorsed in both self-help literature and organizational research, but has yet to be discussed in the study of religions. Is there room for it in the conceptual space of ... -
Esotericism against Capitalism? Rudolf Steiner’s Reform Pedagogy as a Site of Resistance
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)This article seeks a better understanding of how Rudolf Steiner envisioned his reform pedagogy as a site of spiritual learning (for example through art, seasonal festivals, ritual drama, etc.), but also as a specific site ... -
Communities of Practice and the Buddhist Education Reforms of Early-Twentieth-Century China
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)Over the course of only a few decades during the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, part of mainstream Buddhist education underwent a striking shift in China. From being a secluded practice within monastery walls ... -
How to Think like an Atheist. Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Atheist-Produced Educational YouTube Videos
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)Atheism has had a strong presence on YouTube since its founding in the mid-2000s, which coincided with the rise of the new atheism movement, and lay atheists were quick to use the platform to spread new atheist ideas. ... -
Caring for Health, Bodies, and Development. Teaching New Spiritual Practices in the Church of Sweden
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)Over the last fifty years a plethora of new spiritual practices has emerged in the Church of Sweden. Many fall within a category of holistic practices, aimed at engaging body, soul, and spirit. Among these, two categories ... -
Sohbet. Revitalization of the Hizmet/Gülen Movement in Finland through Spiritual Gatherings
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)Sohbet (conversation) is a weekly, informal, religious-learning gathering that has been conducted by members of the Islamic Hizmet/Gülen Movement since its inception. The movement was established in Turkey in 1966 by ... -
Learning in the Intimacy of the Guru-Disciple Relationship. The Case of Mother Amma and her Finnish Follower
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)Our article has two aims: first, to track the ethos of learning and the importance of the guru–disciple relationship in the Amma movement, and secondly, to explore the ways in which one Finnish disciple frames her life ... -
Engaging with the Qur’an. Religious Practice and Daily Life of Selected Muslim Women in Finland and Egypt
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)In this article, I examine what selected Muslim women in Finland and Egypt do with the Qur’an in their daily lives. I shed light on their modes of engagement with the Qur’an (spiritual, emotional, intellectual, communal). ... -
Hop-on Hop-off Spirituality. From Consumerism and Entertainment to Learning
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)In contemporary spirituality-related thought and behaviour in Estonia (as well as in a number of other regions), a phenomenon can be observed that I call hop-on hop-off spirituality. This means testing and tasting of various ... -
A Laboratory of Stories. Teaching and Learning through Community Lore in the Contemporary Esoteric Society Sodalitas Rosae Crucis
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)This article develops the concept of community lore, initially devised by the social learning theorists Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger (1991). In extending this promising but hitherto neglected aspect of their work, this ... -
Newcomers Learning Religious Ritual. Legitimate Peripheral Participation in an Orthodox Worshipping Community
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)In this article, we explore the learning of newcomers in a religious community through a micro-sociological approach, making use of Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger’s (1991) notion of “legitimate peripheral participation” to ... -
Editorial. Religion and spirituality as sites of learning
(The Donner Institute, 03.05.2024)Learning penetrates religion in many ways. Primary religious socialisation – sometimes referred to as religious nurture – is the process by which children are explicitly and purposefully taught to do things religiously or ... -
The Innovation of a Master Wonder-worker in the Character of Simon Peter
(The Donner Institute, 28.02.2024)Simon Peter undergoes a considerable development from his first introduction in the Gospel of Mark to later narratives, where he gains remarkable miraculous abilities. In Mark, he witnesses Jesus performing numerous miracles ... -
Suppressed, Adopted and Invented Memories. The Death of Jesus in the Gospel of John
(The Donner Institute, 28.02.2024)The Gospel of John reflects several layers of social memory and theological creativity concerning Jesus’s death. In the early material, there seems to be a suppressed awareness of Jesus’s fate and an unwillingness to unfold ... -
The Retrieved Altar Cross of the Luther Church Helsinki. Sacred Waste Transformed into a Heritagization Frame
(The Donner Institute, 28.02.2024)The topic of this article is religious materiality in a Finnish, Lutheran setting. Reflecting on the altar cross of the Luther Church Helsinki – and more specifically the elevated role the cross played in the re-opening ... -
Contexts of Altar Flowers. A Contribution to a Theology in Construction.
(28.02.2024)Flowers are placed on the altar in many Christian churches. However, while many other items on the altar have given rise to a vast body of theological research, this is not the case with altar flowers. In this article the ... -
“My soul must live with the colour”. The Transformative Potential of Colours Described by Rudolf Steiner
(The Donner Institute, 28.02.2024)The article focuses on the transformative potential of colours described by Rudolf Steiner. Steiner’s colour definitions are approached through the aesthetics of religion, investigating religion as a sensory and mediated ...
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