The Demise, Dissolution and Elimination of Religions

Abstract

Abstract While it is generally acknowledged that religions can “die” or go “extinct,” little research has been dedicated to the problem of the demise of religions. This text reviews earlier research on this topic and develops some reflections on two types of religion (ethno-specific and transcendental ones) and on the end of indigenous religions. The text stresses the importance of ruler conversions and indigenous agency in religion demise and transformation processes, introduces the category of “religiocide,” and proposes some criteria for identifying “religion death.” Finally, it introduces the articles of this special issue.

Keywords: demise of religions; dead religions; religiocide; Christianization If historians of religions know one thing for sure, it is that religions and religious landscapes keep on changing. Examples even of dramatic or radical changes come easily to mind. This special issue goes one step further by raising the question: Can religious landscapes change to such an extent that religions (i.e., what actors and/or scholars classified as such) can be said to have vanished from the maps? The articles probe and discuss key factors, trajectories, and entailments of selected processes.