This Reader offers selections of twelve different kinds of major approaches to thinking about religion, drawn from the work of classic figures in the study of religion. Balanced against each classic statement are critical assessments of each of the positions by prominent scholars of our own day and, where possible, by contemporaries as well. Thus, fro instance, right from the start, in considering Herbert of Cherbury's quest for Natural Religion, readers are offered the criticism of Herbert's near contemporary, David Hume, and also a sharp analytic survey by the modern-day scholar of religious studies, Robert Segal.