Religious Authenticity and Commitment

Abstract

In this article I deal with two questions: how does religious authenticity present itself in the era of religious individualization? I find that those who are religiously active tend to emphasize the lived, personal and often embodied aspects of religious experience as evidence of authenticity and yet are likely to also have recourse to other types of claims to authenticity, such as tradition. I also raise the question of religious commitment; if religious authenticity is mostly conceived of in subjectivist terms, how is religious engagement possible over the long term? Here I examine several new types of groups that provide structure and community while leaving considerable space for individual religious experience.