Jonestown. Aum Shinrikyo. The Manson Family. Raëlism. The Church of Scientology. Heaven’s Gate. The Branch Davidians. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka Mormon church). Lutherans. Are these cults?

Or are they religions? Or are they sects? Or are they denominations? Or are they something else?

Sometimes, people ask me, “Hey Ken, is that a cult?” Although the people asking usually have an answer in mind already it's an invitation to an important discussion on what we call a "cult" and what we call a "religion" and what the real differences are between them.

Watch below and learn. Also, be sure to send your questions to Ken for the next video or tweet/post them using the hash-tag #MissedInReligion.

People ask me what I am studying all of the time. What they are asking me is, "what does it mean to study religion?"

Good question.

Here's my "elevator speech" on what it means to study religion:

“It is not theological. It is not sociological. Instead, it is an empathetic, yet critical, exploration of religion as it is perceived and practiced in the world. It is the interdisciplinary and secular study of religious beliefs & behaviors, popular practices and institutions, materials and media. In its many manifestations it seeks to honestly describe, interpret, compare, and explain religion and religious phenomena. It often draws out semi-coherent, historically charted, and cross-cultural, if not transnational, perspectives. I work in the ethnographic exploration of glocal religion, which is the attempt to provide a scientific, if situated, study of a people’s religion as it is embodied in everyday life, across time, and in multiple spaces. ”

— Me

That's what the study of religion is, but what does it look like? Answering this question is the aim of George D. Chryssides (PhD, University of Birmingham) and Ron Geaves (PhD, Liverpool Hope University) in their 2nd edition of The Study of Religion: An Introduction to Key Ideas and Methods (2014). Rather than simply offering an introductory text that tries to spell out, in an essentialized, siloed, & woefully inadequate manner the systematized basics (or codified essences) of each "world religion" (as if there is such a neatly defined category), these authors instead seek to equip their reader with the tools for the study of religion. This is a brilliant move and one that the two scholars should be applauded for.

I was honored to review this book for the latest edition of the Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review (5:2). To delve deeper into what I think about the book, you can read that review HERE.

What you will find in this approach to an "introduction to the study of religion" is three-fold:

an appreciation for the distinctiveness of religious studies as a discipline sui generis and deserving of its own rationale, theoretical foundations, and methods of study;
an awareness of the very reflexive, disciplined, and self-critical thought that scholars in this field have put into the why, how, and what of their discipline of study; and
because of its situated, yet scientific, approach to religious phenomenon how vitally important it is for understanding political forces, social movements, and other areas beyond what we typically treat as "religious."

In their own words, this text is "a 'user-friendly' approach...introducing a number of key methodological issues surrounding the study of religion, and explaining why they are needed." (3) To that end, they do a fair job and although the text is not without its weaknesses, I highly recommend it for undergraduate courses introducing the study of religion, for independent/community study groups, or for anyone interested in learning more about religion. This is a better place to start than with a "world religions" survey, because instead of introducing you to several religions and leaving you with a thousand-and-one questions about the many variants of each of these religions and the many more religions not covered in the book it empowers you to do your own informed, empathetic, and nuanced study as you encounter religious phenomenon.

So get reading, and get exploring the wide world of religious studies!