[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-149619-en":3,"doc-seo-149619-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":83},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},149619,549768072016,"WPS_1786070896","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d",9,"Religion & Spirituality","Diffused New Religiosity - The Universe as a Higher Power in Society and Popular Culture","The article develops “Diffused New Religiosity” as a contemporary form of popular religion detached from organized faith traditions and embedded in everyday life. It explains how elements originating from popular culture and from psychology or self-improvement can be unconsciously experienced as religious, sometimes through processes and places labeled with sanctifying meanings. The paper contrasts DNR with “Diffused Religion” and “Invisible Religion,” then outlines how popular culture intersects with religion through symbols, motifs, and narrative borrowings.","Diffused New Religiosity: The universe as a higher power in the society and Popular Culture  \nBy Dimitrios Soukis*  \nAnd if I'm alone in bed, I will go to the window,  \nlook up at the sky, and feel certain that loneliness is a lie, because the Universe is there to keep me company.  \n[Paulo Coelho, Manuscript found in Akra]  \nIntroduction  \nThe Definition Question  \nBefore we address the issue that will be dealt with in this article, it is very important to refer to the definition of “Diffused New Religiosity”and its relation to the definitions of two other, similar, theories. These two theories are “Diffused Religion”1 and “Invisible Religion”2.  \nBy the term “Diffused New Religiosity”(DNR) we refer to a large part of contemporary popular religion –mostly global, including elements from the organized religions– which has become detached and independent from them and are now part of people’s everyday life-as well as from other sources, such as the “pop culture’s” products (cinema, television, literature, etc.), the fields of psychology and self-improvement/selfactualization. Human beings do not consciously perceive these elements  \n* Dimitrios Soukis is postgraduate student of the History of Religions at the Dpt. of Social Theology of the School of Theology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and a teacher of theology.  \n1. R. Cipriani, Diffused Religion, Beyond Secularization, Palgrave Macmillan, Rome 2017.  \n2. Th. Luckmann, The Invisible Religion, The Problem of Religion in Modern Society, Routledge, The Macmillan Company, New York 1967.  \nTHEOLOGIA 94, 1 (2023) 195-205  \nas religious ones; they either retain some of their characteristics (e.g., the word Zen3 is used to describe processes or places that cause tranquility or aim at it) or, unconsciously, absolutize them (treats them as higher powers/beings) and appeal to them in times of need (e.g., the Stars, the Universe, even book heroes or popular artists) .  \nOn the other hand, the term “Diffused Religion” is used by Roberto Cipriani to describe the gradual diffusion of traditional religions’elements and rituals in modern societies, their deprivation of spirituality –even, in certain cases, their alteration by other religions- and finally their transformation into social processes and habits. To understand the above proposition, we can rely on the example used by Cipriani himself4, adapted to the Greek reality. In Greece, the “Diffused Religion”is the Orthodox Christianity. Most Greeks, whether they profess to be Christians or not, visit churches on major holidays (Christmas, Easter, etc.) and celebrate with their families and friends, baptize their children, and marry in a religious wedding; they don’t practice this anymore because they are faithful Christians but as keeping a custom or as a social obligation. In other words,“Diffused Religion” describes the process of secularizing religions in societies.  \nThe term “Invisible Religion”, introduced by Thomas Luckmann in 1963 in his book bearing the same title, has a different meaning. In it, Luckmann tries to prove that religion is human nature’s integral part, it remains important today, and cannot be defined only as participation in rituals5. Transcendence is achieved through the individual’s functional relationship with themselves and society6. He calls this kind of religiosity“Invisible Religion”; he calls it invisible because, unlike the organized religion, it does not have a tangible form; it is part of human nature and is present whether we notice it or not.  \n3. Zen is a Buddhist school developed in China during the 6th century AD, and from there it spread to Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. See J. R. McRae,“Chan”, in Encyclopedia of Religion, Thomson Gale, 2005, pp. 1520.  \n4. R. Cipriani, ibid., pp. 26-30.  \n5. G. Marshall, “invisible religion”, A Dictionary of Sociology, [https://www.encyclopedia](https://www.encyclopedia). com/social-sciences/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/i","cbCaiicQpcvEGhp1","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiicQpcvEGhp1","pdf",122335,1,11,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## The Definition Question\n# Pop Culture and its relation with Religion\n## Pop Culture: Definition\n## Pop Culture’s Relation with Religion","[{\"question\":\"How does popular culture relate to religion according to the article?\",\"answer\":\"Popular culture can contain religion within its products by borrowing religious symbols, faces, or motifs, such as naming patterns that echo biblical angelic names in popular narratives.\"}]","Diffused New Religiosity - The Universe as a Higher Power in Society and Popular Culture | PDF",1787804162,28,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":78,"head_meta":80,"extra_data":82,"updated_unix":28},"diffused-new-religiosity-the-universe-as-a-higher-power-in-society-and-popular-culture","",{"@graph":36,"@context":77},[37,54,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/diffused-new-religiosity-the-universe-as-a-higher-power-in-society-and-popular-culture/149619/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-27",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"How does popular culture relate to religion according to the article?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Popular culture can contain religion within its products by borrowing religious symbols, faces, or motifs, such as naming patterns that echo biblical angelic names in popular narratives.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":79,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":81,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":84},[85,89,93,97,102,107,112,117,120,123,127],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":86,"show_sort_weight":87,"slug":88},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":98,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":103,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":108,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":130},19,"General","general"]