Description: "Its value for students of religion is that it embraces acomparative approach to the discipline of religious studies,presenting a diversity of perspectives without favoring one overthe other, while at the same time raising critical questions aboutthe limits of each approach." ( Teaching Theology andReligion , July 2010) ?Today?s world is in crying need of an understandingof ?religion?, as well as specific religioustraditions. This volume, expertly edited and introduced by Segal,admirably fulfills this need with a series of essays that combineclarity and accessibility with nuance and balance ? The 25essays in this collection are uniformly of high quality, each witha helpful bibliography that supplements the volumebibliography? this work will command a wide audience, rangingfrom the general public to religious studies specialists. Highlyrecommended; all libraries; all levels.? CHOICE ?This is an excellent volume of papers about the study ofreligion both in conception and execution ? Robert Segal hasdone a marvelous job in editing the volume and providing abibliography and index ? a very useful, well constructed andinteresting book that should be widely read and used oncourses.? British Association for the Study of ReligionsBulletin "A useful addition to the growing collection of compendia ontheory and method ... a solid, provocative, and largely productiveset of essays." Journal of Contemporary Religion ?This is a work that can be used in many ways ? as acompanion to the study of religion, as a commentary on the place ofthe study of religion in a largely secular and cross-culturalworld, as a guide to various interdisciplinary approaches to thestudy of religion, as an insight into key writers in the modernhistoriography of the subject, as a snapshot of different topics,and as a reference work to some of the key figures. These uses willmake the book suitable for different types of library and researchsetting ? These are not essays assembled in a hit-and-missway simply to earn a fast buck and satisfy research assessmentexercise criteria: they are relevant and part of a coherent body ofwork here. It puts the case (if that is necessary) that the studyof religion is now a discipline in its own right.? Reference Reviews

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