From earliest civilizations to the modern world, this text is a complete study of the role of religion in human culture. It does not offer a chapter-by-chapter presentation of the key practices and beliefs of the major religious traditions of the world, but rather explores the phenomenon of religion from a thematic point of view by posing questions on the nature of religion. Arranged into three main fields of enquiry - the religious experience, conceptual aspects of religion and religion in society - this study draws examples from all the major religious traditions, East and West, ancient and contemporary.