While many people engage in interpretation it is not clear what interpretation is. This critical primer examines the nature of interpretation strategies within interpretation and negotiations about the adequacy of an interpretation with special attention paid to possible roles hermeneutics the theory of interpretation plays in the academic study of religions. This book addresses a number of fundamental questions posed throughout the history of hermeneutics What is an interpretation What or who determines the meaning of a text What helps in navigating competitions or conflicts of interpretation What is the place of interpretation in the academy relative to explanatory sciences and productive arts Many books have focussed on historical developments of hermeneutics on key modern hermeneutic philosophers or on specific sacred texts such as in biblical or Quranic hermeneutics.