Religious conversion

Religious conversion is a change in a person’s religious identity, beliefs, or practices, often involving adoption of a new faith or tradition.

Conversion experience: A perceived turning point in which a person undergoes a marked change in religious belief or commitment. It describes the felt transformation that may accompany a change of faith.
Religious belief: Acceptance of claims about divine, sacred, or transcendent realities and their significance. A person may change beliefs without changing formal religious affiliation.
Apostasy: The formal abandonment or renunciation of a religious faith. It describes departure from a religion, which may accompany conversion but does not require another faith.
Freedom of religion: The right to hold, change, practice, or reject religious beliefs without coercion. It protects the choice to convert as well as the choice not to convert.
Conversion of Constantine: The adoption of Christianity by Roman emperor Constantine, traditionally associated with the early fourth century. His conversion linked an emperor’s religious change to Christianity’s growing public influence.
Rite of passage: A ritual marking a transition from one social status or stage of life to another. Baptism and initiation rites can publicly mark a new religious identity.
Religious affiliation: A person’s declared or recognized connection to a religious tradition or community. Affiliation can shift even when private beliefs change little.
Syncretism: The combination of elements from different religious or cultural traditions. It can produce religious change without exclusive adoption of a new tradition.
Missionary: A person sent or committed to promoting a religion, often through teaching or service. Missionaries have been prominent agents of conversion in many historical settings.
Conversion of Ashoka: The Mauryan emperor Ashoka’s turn toward Buddhism after the Kalinga War, as described in his edicts. Ashoka’s case connects personal religious change with imperial patronage and policy.

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