Many people have contributed to the completion of this volume, which has been a long time in production. I would like to thank the many authors and contributors to this work for their patience as the project suffered unforeseen delays as I worked to commission late contributions and replacement pieces and also negotiated a trans-Atlantic move that pushed back the intended publication date. This work grew out of two initiatives: first, the long-term interest of Wendy Lochner of Columbia University Press in commissioning a new, research-driven textbook on the study of religion and, second, the theories of religion project that I organized as Senior Research Fellow for the Center for the Study of Religion and Culture (CSRC) at Vanderbilt University from 2007 to 2009. Special mention should be made of the co-directors of the CSRC at that time, Professors Volney Gay and Doug Knight (both of Vanderbilt), for their unswerving support and encouragement. The Center for the Study of Religion and Culture should also be acknowledged directly for providing crucial financial support in the development of this project. Due respect and acknowledgment should also be given for the excellent contributions made by Dr. David Dark, Dr. Margaret Adam, and Taylor Weaver in editing an unruly manuscript at crucial periods of its history.