The academic field known as religious studies (or simply "the study of religion") investigates religious traditions, practices, and institutions. It provides a systematic, historical, comparative, and cross-cultural framework for describing, comparing, interpreting, and explaining religion. Unlike theology, which seeks to make sense of the transcendent or supernatural in light of the sacred texts of a particular religion, religious studies are not rooted in any one religion and instead take a more scientific and objective approach. Thus, anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and the history of religion are just some of the academic fields and methods used to study religion. The field of religious studies can be traced back to the nineteenth century, when the first translations of Hindu and Buddhist texts into European languages appeared and scholarly and historical analysis of the Bible flourished. Englishman Friedrich Max Müller and Dutchman Cornelius P. Tiele were two of the first influential academics. Scholars all over the globe now regularly engage in the field of religious studies.

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