Provides a new orientation to philosophy of religion and a new theory of how religion ought to be defined.In this collection of essays written over the past decade Robert Cummings Neville addresses contemporary debates about the concept of religion and the importance of the comparative method in theology while advancing and defending his own original definition of religion. Nevilles hypothesis is that religion is a cognitive existential and practical engagement of ultimate realitiesfive ultimate conditions of existence that need to be engaged by human beings. The essays which range from formal articles to invited lectures develop this hypothesis and explore its ramifications in religious experience philosophical theology religious studies and the works of important thinkers in philosophy of religion.