宗教研究是一门学术学科，从各个角度审视全世界的宗教现象，以了解宗教在人类生活中扮演的许多角色。为此，宗教学生学习使用各种理论分析和方法。这些方法包括了解宗教如何随着时间发展的历史方法，了解宗教思想的批判文学方法，了解宗教艺术和物质文化的美学方法，了解宗教，社会与文化之间关系的社会科学方法。宗教研究还可以吸引各种专业学科来分析宗教在经济，教育或政治环境，医疗保健和科学研究中的作用。
Religious studies is an academic discipline that looks at religious phenomena worldwide from a variety of angles in order to understand the many roles that religion plays in human life. To this end, students of religion learn to use a variety of theoretical analyses and methods. These include historical methods to understand how religions develop in time; critical literary methods to understand religious ideas; aesthetic methods to understand religious art and material culture; social-scientific methods to understand the relationship between religion, society and culture. Religious studies can also engage a variety of professional disciplines in analysis of how religion functions in economic, educational or political contexts, healthcare and scientific research, to name some examples.<br><br>Some ways of studying religion emphasize understanding religions on their own terms, other ways use comparative methods to discern differences and similarities between religions. Students of religion also study ways that people use religious resources to make meaning outside the boundaries of religious institutions and identities. Above all, the field of religious studies requires a willingness to explore different ways of interpreting human life and diligent effort to develop understanding of how religious ideas, symbols, rituals and spaces serve as resources for people in a variety of contexts as they make sense of and live out their lives in the world. Thus, religious studies provides important preparation for thinking, communicating and functioning professionally and personally in a complex, multidimensional world.