Scholars around the country are engaged in studying the “new religious pluralism.” However, this scholarship to date has been conducted without much theoretical guidance. While there is general acknowledgment that the old assimilation model is inadequate for understanding the dynamics of contemporary religious pluralism, alternative models have not been forthcoming. This essay is an attempt to move the study of religious pluralism forward by charting out the theoretical dimensions of the research problem. Then, using secularization theory and the idea of an American civil religion as theoretical guides, two models for understanding contemporary pluralism are discussed.
