Over the past decade gender studies have set an entirely new agenda for religious studies, and work in this area has expanded rapidly. In this book, an international group of women scholars from Europe, North America, South Africa and Australia provides an overview of these new theoretical and critical perspectives with special attention to new developments.A substantial introduction provides a systematic overview of the key issues and developments in the field. In the first part epistemological and hermeneutical discussions are brought together with reflections on the Sacred, God and Gender and the new Goddess Spirituality. The second part considers important methodological and empirical issues raised by gender studies in religion. It includes new historical material on women scholars in the study of religion and new contemporary data on women in African and Japanese religions. Also considered are the contributions of women's studies to a new understanding of the Christian tradition and wider questions raised by gender for academic teaching and research on religion. The volume also includes an up-to-date bibliography of the most significant publications in the field.Religion and Gender will be of interest to a broad range of readers in both religious studies and gender studies. It will provide an ideal introduction to debates in the field for students and researchers concerned with the impact of women's studies and wider gender issues on religion around the world.