The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion

This article presents the approach to religion taken by the Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion, edited by Robert Segal. The approach taken is largely, though not wholly, that of the social sciences: anthropology, economics, psychology, and sociology. The social scientific approach to religion is pitted against the approach taken by the field of religious studies itself—an approach called “religionist.” The claims by the religionist approach against the social sciences are identified and refuted.