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Relating ReligionESSAYS IN THE STUDY OF RELIGIONJONATHAN Z. SMITH, 2004&#160;One of the most influential theorists of religion, Jonathan Z. Smith is best known for his analyses of religious studies as a discipline and for his advocacy and refinement of comparison as the basis for the history of religions. Relating Religion gathers seventeen essays—four of them never before published—that together provide the first broad overview of Smith’s thinking since his seminal 1982 book, Imagining Religion.Smith first explains how he was drawn to the study of religion, outlines his own theoretical commitments, and draws the connections between his thinking and his concerns for general education. He then engages several figures and traditions that serve to define his interests within the larger setting of the discipline. The essays that follow consider the role of taxonomy and classification in the study of religion, the construction of difference, and the procedures of generalization and redescription that Smith takes to be key to the comparative enterprise. The final essays deploy features of Smith’s most recent work, especially the notion of translation.Heady, original, and provocative, Relating Religion is certain to be hailed as a landmark in the academic study and critical theory of religion.(Text by the author)&#160;Contents: When the chips are down2. Acknowledgments : morphology and history in Mircea : Eliade’s Patterns in comparative religion (1949-1999), part 1 : the work and its contexts3. Acknowledgments : morphology and history in Mircea : Eliade’s Patterns in comparative religion (1949-1999), part 2 : the texture of the work4. The topography of the sacred5. Manna, mana everywhere and [actual symbol not reproducible]6. The domestication of sacrifice7. A matter of class : taxonomies of religion8. Religion, religions, religious9. Bible and religion10. Trading places11. Differential equations : on constructing the other12. What a difference a difference makes13. Close encounters of diverse kinds14. Here, there, and anywhere15. Re : Corinthians16. A twice-told tale : the history of the history of religions’ history17. God save this honourable court : religion and civic discourseApp. Jonathan Z. Smith : publications, 1966-2003