Offering a critique of traditional religion scholarship, this work focuses on multiple interrelated targets. It covers the history of religions as a discipline, and examines the ideological basis for, and service of, the "sui generis" argument.

No one who has employed in an academic context terms such as 'sacred', I^'sui generis', 'reductionism' and, above all, 'religion', can afford to ignore this book ... one cannot but welcome his critique of the ideological forces at work in some of the key theorists of religion and in the profession at large.

"[McCutcheon] stands in a long tradition of excellent company that goes back at least as far as classical Greek dramatists and philosophers who inquired persistently into the prevailing mythos....This book s likely to provoke very fruitful debate for many years."--Choice "...McCutcheon's book is a sharp, sustained critique of the way religion is studied in North America, with an alternative proposal for a naturalist, materialist method of studying religion."--The Cresser Trinity "McCutcheon's book is a formidable critique of its subject and should be widely read and debated. It will repay close critical attention from those interested in theory and method."--British Association for the Study of Religions "...the book is fascinating and thought-provoking."--eligious Studies Review "[McCutcheon] stands in a long tradition of excellent company that goes back at least as far as classical Greek dramatists and philosophers who inquired persistently into the prevailing mythos....This book's likely to provoke very fruitful debate for many years."--Choice "...McCutcheon's book is a sharp, sustained critique of the way religion is studied in North America, with an alternative proposal for a naturalist, materialist method of studying religion."--The Cresser Trinity "McCutcheon's book is a formidable critique of its subject and should be widely read and debated. It will repay close critical attention from those interested in theory and method."--British Association for the Study of Religions "...the book is fascinating and thought-provoking."--eligious Studies Review