Belief-centred religious constructs, modern religious self-understanding, and interreligious relations: challenges for empirical inquiry

Resumen:
This article explores questions raised by the scholarly view that modern popular discourse about religion overemphasises the role of belief. It asks how this alleged overemphasis on belief might be investigated, especially with regard to its effects on religious self-understanding and interreligious relations. In an effort to stimulate discussion and empirical inquiry, this article provides an initial definition of 'belief-centred religious constructs' and suggests that the use of these constructs is context-sensitive, tending to become more prevalent in situations marked by conditions of religious pluralism.