Review Pregledni članakIn many parts of the world, the significance of religion has increased during the last years and decades. In the sociology of religion, the secularization thesis was the dominant framework for the interpretation of developments in the realm of religion for a long time. Meanwhile, other explanation patterns have become more prominent, such as the individualization thesis and economic theories. The so-called "spatial turn" does not seem to have reached sociology of religion yet. In history of religion (religious studies), however, questions of spatiality and locality are being studied intensively.Geography of religion has been regarded a diverse and incoherent field until recently. In the past years this has changed. Two directions of research have become apparent. One of them mainly considers social geographical problems and methods while the other has been influenced by the new cultural geography approach. Both should more frequently work with the above mentioned theoretical approaches of sociology of religion. Geography of religion must not, however, lose track of its main goal: it always has to point to the fact that all religious processes take place in space and have a spatial dimension.Key words: Geography of religion, spatial turn, sociology of religion, religious science Geografija religije -ponovno otkrivanje znanstvene subdisciplinePosljednjih desetljeća u mnogim dijelovima svijeta poraslo je značenje religije. U sociologiji religije sekularizacija je dugo vremena bila dominantno okvirno načelo za tumačenje razvoja religije. U međuvremenu dolaze do izražaja i drugi obrasci tumačenja, kao što su teza o individualizaciji i ekonomske teorije. Takozvani "prostorni obrat" ("spatial turn") izgleda da još nije zahvatio sociologiju religije. Međutim, pitanja prostornosti i mjesta vrlo se intenzivno proučavaju kroz povijest religije (religijski studiji).Geografija religije donedavno se smatrala raznolikim i nepovezanim područjem. Posljednjih godina to se izmijenilo. Uočavaju se dva smjera istraživanja. Jedan se, uglavnom, bavi socijalno-geografskim problemima i metodama, dok je drugi pod utjecajem novog pristupa kulturne geografije. Oba bi češće trebala koristiti gore spomenute teorijske pristupe sociologije religije. Međutim, geografija religije ne smije izgubiti iz vidokruga svoj glavni cilj: uvijek treba ukazivati na činjenicu da se svi religijski procesi odvijaju u prostoru i imaju prostornu dimenziju.

Although there are indications that more geographers are taking up religion as an area of interest, geography of religion still is a subfield that is not very well developed. In particular, many new cultural geographers seem to shy away from including religion into their research as markers of identity alongside race, class and gender. The article investigates the reasons for this attitude, which has a long history and is connected with the (perceived) contrast between science and religion and the secularization thesis. For a long time, this was the generally accepted explanation for the decline of the significance of religion in Western societies, but recently this has been seriously questioned in its validity. In addition, the paper handles the question as to whether methodological agnosticism is the (only) adequate approach in doing research on religion from a social or cultural science view. If research is taken seriously, all researchers are inevitably confronted with their own biographies; with contingencies of cultural imprints and with influences of certain (a)religious milieux. So it is essential that they are aware of this and do not ignore it when researching. Being a believer certainly is not a disadvantage in doing research on religion but can be an advantage, just as it is an advantage or even a necessity for a musicologist to be able to read and practise music. Zusammenfassung: Obwohl in den letzten Jahren mehr Geographen als früher religiöse Phänomene in ihrer Forschung berücksichtigen, ist die Religionsgeographie nach wie vor ein unterentwickeltes Teilgebiet des Gesamtfachs. Insbesondere scheuen sich viele Vertreter der Neuen Kulturgeographie, das Thema Religion in ihre Forschungen einzubeziehen und sie als ein Identitätsmerkmal zu betrachten, das für viele Menschen so wichtig ist wie Rasse/Ethnizität, Klasse und Geschlecht. Der vorliegende Artikel fragt nach den Gründen für diese Haltung. Sie hat in der wissenschaftlichen Welt eine lange Geschichte und hängt mit dem (empfundenen) Gegensatz zwischen Religion und Wissenschaft sowie mit der Säkularisierungsthese zusammen. Diese stellte lange Zeit die bevorzugte und allgemein anerkannte Erklärung für den Bedeutungsrückgang von Religion in westlichen Gesellschaften dar, wird aber zunehmend in ihrer Gültigkeit in Zweifel gezogen. Weiter wird gefragt, ob der methodologische Agnostizismus die (einzig) angemessene Haltung eines Sozial-oder Kulturwissenschaftlers sei, der sich mit dem Phänomen Religion beschäftigt. Lässt er sich ernsthaft auf dieses Thema ein, so wird er bald mit der eigenen Biographie, der Kontingenz seiner kulturellen Prägungen und den Einflüssen bestimmter (a)religiöser Milieus konfrontiert. Dabei ist es wichtig, sich als Forscher dessen bewusst zu sein und es nicht zu ignorieren. Für einen Wissenschaftler muss es keinen Nachteil bedeuten, selbst Gläubiger zu sein; im Gegenteil, es kann ein Vorteil sein, so wie es für einen Musikwissenschaftler von Vorteil oder sogar notwendig ist, Noten lesen und selbst Musik machen zu können.

One of the observable aspects of social change during the transition period in most post-socialist countries is the revival of religion. The resurgence of churches has accompanied national revival and in some countries it is also connected to a growing post-socialist nationalism. This article focuses on the development of different -'transnational' -religious options in an area of ethnic conflict by presenting a case study of the post-war growth of the Baptist Church in the Banovina region in Croatia, close to the Bosnian border. Research results are based on halfstructured interviews with church representatives and members.The research shows that there has been a considerable post-war expansion of the Baptist Church in the Banovina region, and that it is mainly ethnic Serbs and people from mixed marriages who have joined the Church. Many of them have a background as communists. For them, neither the Catholic Church, which is regarded as a Croatian church, nor the Serbian Orthodox Church are viable religious options. Instead, there are three factors that make the 'Baptist option' attractive. First, it is grounded in the historical tradition of the Baptist Church in this region and on memories and myths activated in the war and post-war periods. Second, the Baptist Church has made a middle transnational option available in an ethnically mixed area. As such it attracts those who are searching for a niche of neutrality in an ethnically strongly divided region characterized by conflict. Third, the considerable humanitarian work and help of organizations related to the Baptist Church during and after the war not only added in the eyes of many people in need to its image elements of existential shelter, but also brought the Church out of the shadows and made it more 'visible' -thereby improving its former reputation as an obscure sect.

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