This research explores Multiple Religious Belonging (MRB) in contemporary South Korea. It studies whether people express belongings to multiple religions in South Korea, from which religions these...Show moreThis research explores Multiple Religious Belonging (MRB) in contemporary South Korea. It studies whether people express belongings to multiple religions in South Korea, from which religions these belongings are drawn and in which combinations. Furthermore, it researches how self-identified religious affiliation relates to performed religious practices. Lastly, this thesis explores whether complex forms of belonging in the Korean context can be fruitfully studied through the Multiple Religious Belonging paradigm. This is done through a literature study as well as a survey which are both approached through approaches from the MRB paradigm.Show less
This thesis sets out to find an answer to the question 'How does the QAnon movement negotiate failed prophecy in order to ensure the survival of the movement?' In order to answer this question, the...Show moreThis thesis sets out to find an answer to the question 'How does the QAnon movement negotiate failed prophecy in order to ensure the survival of the movement?' In order to answer this question, the first chapter provides some context to the development of the QAnon movement and their prediction of an event known as 'the Storm'. It also illustrates that the QAnon movement is similar to open source religions and consists of a strong participatory culture. The second chapter creates a theoretical framework, largely borrowed from religious studies' investigations in failed prophecy, in order to classify the different responses of QAnon followers to the failure of the Storm. The third chapter delves into these responses and categorizes them into different types. After studying these different responses, this thesis predicts that QAnon will fall apart into the smaller conspiracy theories of which it consists. The thesis concludes that open source religions are likely to respond to the failure of their prophecies in similar ways as QAnon.Show less
This thesis seeks to address how Jewish communities were able to integrate into the civic framework that was provided by the Greek cities during Roman rule. It does so through a case-study of...Show moreThis thesis seeks to address how Jewish communities were able to integrate into the civic framework that was provided by the Greek cities during Roman rule. It does so through a case-study of literary and epigraphic evidence originating from the communities of Ephesos, Hierapolis, and Sardis, who all are located in the province of Asia. In conclusion, the Jews of Asia were able to negotiate with Roman authorities and participated to a certain extent within the Greek urban settlements while simultaneously accentuating their Jewish cultural heritage. More generally, these findings are consistent with what has been published on Jewish diaspora communities but differentiate by showing that the Jewish community did not live on the margins of society, but rather was well integrated within the civic framework of the Greek city.Show less
How (if, and if so, how, when, and why) did the vast complex of ancient Graeco-Roman religion, that had united and held together the ancient Mediterranean world, come to an end? I have attempted to...Show moreHow (if, and if so, how, when, and why) did the vast complex of ancient Graeco-Roman religion, that had united and held together the ancient Mediterranean world, come to an end? I have attempted to devise a reasoned roadmap to solving that issue, in conversation with recent scholarship and in doing so have strived to create a method and subset of themes that a scholar can use to study the end of a religion.Show less
