Religious Conversion.. Contemporary Practices and Controversies

This edited volume examines religious conversion as a complex contemporary phenomenon, bringing together diverse perspectives on conversion practices across multiple religious traditions and cultural contexts. The collection moves beyond simplistic narratives of individual spiritual transformation to explore conversion as a multifaceted process involving psychological, social, political, and theological dimensions. Contributors analyze conversion experiences within Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and new religious movements, while also examining secular-to-religious and inter-religious conversions in various geographical settings.

The volume's descriptive-analytical approach provides empirical grounding for understanding how conversion functions in modern pluralistic societies. Rather than advocating for or against particular religious claims, the contributors document and analyze actual conversion practices, the controversies they generate, and their implications for religious communities and broader society. This methodology reveals conversion as a contested terrain where questions of authenticity, coercion, cultural identity, and religious freedom intersect. The collection examines both individual conversion narratives and institutional conversion strategies, including missionary activities, interfaith marriages, and mass conversion movements.

Lamb's editorial framework situates these contemporary practices within broader debates about religious pluralism, secularization, and globalization. The volume engages critically with sociological theories of conversion while incorporating anthropological, psychological, and theological perspectives. Contributors explore how conversion challenges fixed notions of religious identity and raises questions about the boundaries between religious traditions. The collection also addresses controversial aspects of conversion, including accusations of forced conversions, the role of material incentives, and legal restrictions on religious conversion in various countries.

For the academic study of religion and the God debate, this volume provides essential empirical data about how religious beliefs and affiliations actually change in practice. While not directly arguing for or against theistic claims, the collection illuminates how people navigate questions of ultimate reality through conversion experiences. The diverse case studies demonstrate that conversion involves not merely intellectual assent to doctrinal propositions but complex negotiations of identity, community belonging, and meaning-making. This descriptive approach contributes to understanding religion as a lived phenomenon, offering insights into how beliefs about God or ultimate reality are adopted, rejected, or transformed through conversion processes in contemporary contexts.