A Difference That Makes No Difference. Religious Indifference and the Problem of “Nil Return”

Abstract

The aim of this paper is threefold: 1. A look at the discourse on “non-religion” and “religious indifference” in the social sciences helps to recognize the various and sometimes unclear ways in which the category of religious indifference is used, and why this is the case. 2. Based on these findings, a proposal is developed on how religious indifference could be understood from a theological perspective, taking the research in the social sciences into account. 3. Finally, some conclusions are drawn as to what challenges religious indifference poses for systematic theology specifically.