ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces a new typology, one which helps us to bring order to the complexity of individual religious experiences and actions. It distinguishes four types within the two dimensions: an institutional, an alternative, a distanced, and a secular type. The institutional have a pronounced religious practice, which is usually linked with the ideas and products of the churches and their core religious communities. A second type consists of the alternative; the people grouped together here have holistic and esoteric beliefs and practices. The largest group in our typology is the distanced type. In a way, this type comprises those who are least considered by the scientific literature and the public but that is precisely what makes this type the most interesting. The fourth type comprises secularists, who make up people without any religious practices and without any religious beliefs.
