Multiple religious belonging

[4] The phenomenon of double belonging can occur within the same religion, where people hold membership in more than one denomination, for example a Christian who is a member of both the Catholic Church and the Religious Society of Friends.

This is in contrast with countries such as China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, whose cultures have a long history of being influenced by different religions.

Van Bragt argued that the cause of this phenomenon is that, different from the Western concept of religion, Shinto and Buddhism in Japan are defined by their rituals and practices, not by their moral and social authority.

Scholars such as Catherine Cornille, Peter C. Phan, Francis Xavier Clooney, Jan Van Bragt, Aloysius Pieris and Devaka Premawardhana have questioned the possibility of defining oneself into multiple religions.

Phan's approach emphasised the assymmetricality in which Jesus is the Logos made flesh and the climax of God dealing with humankind.

[15] Phan noted that multiple religious belonging is not a new issue in the twenty-first century but rather the common form of life of the first-century Christians recorded in the book of Acts.

For Cobb, engaging in interfaith dialogue helps smooth the tension between Christianity and Judaism and avoid misunderstanding toward Islam.

[22] In a 2017 article, sociologist Steve Bruce pointed out that most of the published writings in which multiple religious belonging is studied are purely conceptual and offer "only anecdotes to illustrate theoretical or classificatory discussions".