On the subject of religion : charting the fault lines of a field of study On the Subject of Religion takes as its inspiration the work of the late Jonathan Z. Smith who challenged scholars to be mindful of the ways in which they imagine religion and religious data. Building on this crucial insight this book brings together a range of early career and established scholars of religion to explore how various domains of society the classroom academic literature public debates and private fundraising shape and are shaped by the contours of the academic study of religion