This Reader introduces students of religion to its most common current perspectives and approaches, and provides an understanding of how the discipline developed. "What sets The Study of Religion: A Reader apart is not only its scope, the inclusion of influential contemporary readings, and its discussion questions, but also that it includes critiques of the field and invites readers to take them seriously as well."- Russell T. McCutcheon, University of Alabama, USA "I can think of no better selection of scholarly texts with which to introduce students to the breadth of approaches to the academic study of religion. Like its complementary volume, Introduction to the Study of Religion, this balanced collection of old and new is guided by pedagogy rather than ideology." - Michel Desjardins, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada "The Study of Religion is an excellent reader-a thoughtful and creative selection of works on religion and ritual from a variety of disciplinary, historical, and cultural perspectives. It will give students in particular a clear sense of why religion still matters to our understanding of the social world. Highly recommended." - Matthew Engelke, London School of Economics , UK "In this volume the editors have collected a set of absolute 'must-reads' for anyone interested in religion and the study of it. The contributions range wide across time and academic disciplines. Harding and Rodrigues are to be commended for having assembled with an open mind a broad scope of essays, leaving space for positive voices as well as for those critical and sceptical." - Jeppe Sinding Jensen, Aarhus University, Denmark