What is religion and how does it originate? What are its functions and how does it work? These are some of the key questions addressed by theories of religion.

Michael Stausberg is Professor of Religion at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is a co-editor of the journal Religion and of The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion (second edition, 2021).

1. On theories of religion: Varieties, distinctions, questions; 2. A rational choice-based theory of religion: On Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, Acts of Faith (2000); 3. Religion as differentiated communication: On Niklas Luhmann, A Systems Theory of Religion ([2000] 2013); 4. Religion as the unintended product of brain functions in the 'standard cognitive science of religion model': On Pascal Boyer, Religion Explained (2001) and The fracture of an Illusion (2010); 5. The United States of Religion: On David Sloan Wilson, Darwin's Cathedral (2002); 6. Religion as a costly but beneficial evolutionary by-product: On Scott Atran, In Gods We Trust (2002); 7. Routes, flow, and homemaking: On Thomas A. Tweed, Crossing and Dwelling (2006); 8. Practices and the promise of salvation: On Martin Riesebrodt, The Promise of Salvation (2007/2010); 9. Religion as anthropotechnics: On Peter Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life (2009); 10. Religion as world maker: On Robert Bellah, Religion in Human Evolution (2011); 11. Social practice as a holistic frame: On Stephen S. Bush, Visions of Religion (2014); 12. Real religion from the person up: On Christian Smith, Religion (2017); 13. Life in a strange world: On Gavin Flood, Religion and the Philosophy of Life (2019); 14. Orchids and ghosts, concrete and coal: On Paul-François Tremlett, Towards a New Theory of Religion and Social Change (2020); 15. The evolution of semiotic systems: On Volkhard Krech, Evolution der Religion (2021); 16. Davidsonian semantic holism as meta-theoretical framework: On Gabriel Levy (2022), Beyond Heaven and Earth (2022)