The study of religion in everyday life, as developed within the fields of sociology and practical theology, challenges us to reevaluate and redefine our understanding of religion.
In sociology, the French la religion vécue of the sociologist Gabriel Le Bras (1891–1970) referred to popular religion. American sociologists of religion1 have extended this approach to study the lives and experiences of individuals and communities rather than of religious institutions and their representatives. According to Robert Orsi,
to study lived religion entails a fundamental rethinking of what religion is and of what it means to be “religious.” Religion is not only not sui generis, distinct from other dimensions of experience called “profane.” Religion comes into being in an ongoing, dynamic relationship with the realities of everyday life.2
In theology, the German gelebte Religion of Paul Drews (1858–1912) and Falk Wagner (1939–98) explored the interplay between faith, philosophy, and everyday life. Wilhelm Gräb (1948–2023) extends this approach in light of Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), grounding theology in empirical study and interpretation of everyday experience. Gräb approaches lived religion from the perspective of individuals interpreting life experience and seeking meaning as they navigate life. In lived religion, Gräb explains,
Religion is no longer just what is objectively referred to as ‘religion’ or ‘church’. Religion is now also what the individual understands by the notion, so that the reference that the individual makes to what he or she understands by religion and communicates as religion is also part of the concept of religion. “Religion” has become synonymous with interpretations of life related to one’s own subjectivity.
“Religion” — the term used in the singular — means a human capacity that should be understood as a dimension of human life evoking the questions of where we come from and where we are going, and what makes our lives meaningful in a greater context.3
For Gräb, lived religion is a personal ‘subjektive Religion‘, shaped by a person’s experience and biography, by which they seek personal transcendence, rather than a mystical transcendence, shaped by metaphysical religious dogma. It involves processes of meaning formation in everyday life through the appropriation and use of art, cultural symbols, narratives, and rituals by which individuals shape personal narratives, explore identity, confront existential questions, and form their ethical commitments.
Today, lived religion designates a broad research trend that draws on these origins with varying emphases to explore religion as a lived practice of meaning-making. The approach extends beyond both theistic beliefs and organised religious traditions into alternative religious explorations of life and meaning.4
This regular column in Sofia aims to contribute to the exploration of religion, as we consider how individuals navigate belief and practice in personal and social experience, as they seek meaning in their lives.
- E.g., Meredith McGuire, Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life (Oxford University Press, 2008); Nancy Tatom Ammerman, Studying Lived Religion: Context and Practices, (New York University Press, 2021).
- Robert A. Orsi, “Everyday Miracles: The Study of Lived Religion.” In David Hall (ed.), Lived Religion in America (Princeton University Press, 1997), pp. 4–21. (p. 7)
- Wilhelm Gräb, ‘Life Interpretation and Religion’, in Birgit Weyel, Wilhelm Gräb, Emmanuel Lartey & Cas Wepener, International Handbook of Practical Theology (De Gruyter, 2022), pp. 169–82. (p. 170) [Open access] https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110618150
- See: R. Ruard Ganzevoort’ Cultural Hermeneutics of Religion’ and Júlio C. Adam, ‘Lived Religion and Religion’, in Birgit Weyel, et al., International Handbook of Practical Theology (pp. 633–45 and pp. 183–94)
Also: Philipp Öhlmann, Ignatius Swart, Birgit Weyel, Simangaliso Kumalo, Marie-Luise Frost (eds.), Lived Religion and Lived Development in Contemporary Society: Essays in Honour of Wilhelm Gräs (Vanden-hoeck & Ruprecht, 2025). [Open access] https://doi.org/10.13109/9783666500718
Articles in this series and related series
Lived Religion: Simon Cross
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On Lived Religion
The study of religion in everyday life, as developed within the fields of sociology and practical theology, challenges us to reevaluate and redefine our understanding of religion. In sociology, the French la religion vécue of the sociologist Gabriel Le Bras (1891–1970) referred to popular religion. American sociologists of religion1 have...
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