The revised essays collected here four of which are published for the first time continue a
longstanding argument made by McCutcheon and others: that the study of religion would benefit
from self-conscious scrutiny of its tools the interests that may drive them and the effects
that might follow their use. The chapters examine a variety of contemporary sites in the modern
field where this thesis can be argued whether involving the anachronistic use of of the
category religion when studying the ancient world to current interest in so-called critical
religion or critical realist approaches. Moreover - contrary to some past characterizations of
such critiques - a constructive way forward for the field is once again recommended and at
several sites exemplified in detail: redescribing not only religion as something ordinary but
also our tendency to create the impression of exceptional and thus set-apart things places
and people. Aimed at scholars and students alike the book is an invitation to examine our own
scholarly practices and thereby take a more active role in shaping the field in which we carry
out our work as scholars of this thing we call religion.
