What is it about?
A Dutch religious group shifted from strict leadership to personal spiritual freedom. Members now shape their own beliefs, but some miss the unity and guidance of the past. The change reflects a broader move toward individual meaning in modern faith.
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Why is it important?
The research offers a rare, in-depth look at how a traditional religious organization adapts to modern cultural shifts toward individualism and personal spirituality. By tracing generational experiences within the Dutch Apostolic Society, it reveals how authority, belief, and belonging evolve over time. The study contributes to broader debates on religion’s transformation in secular societies.
Perspectives
This article uniquely explores how the subjective turn affects a lesser-known, non-mainstream religious group—the Dutch Apostolic Society—through the lived experiences of six generations. It reveals how top-down reforms, rather than grassroots change, shaped members’ spiritual identities, offering fresh insight into how tradition and modernity interact within religious institutions.
Dr. Katja Rakow
Utrecht University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Process of Subjectivization within a Religious Organization, Journal of Religion in Europe, January 2025, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/18748929-bja10123.
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