The book is divided into three Parts, all preceded by a full introductory chapter by the editors that discusses modern scientific approaches to religion and the application of modern linguistics, particularly cognitive linguistics and pragmatics. Part I surveys the development of modern studies of religious language and the diverse disciplinary strands that have emerged. Beginning with descriptive approaches to religious language, and the problem of describing religious concepts across languages, we introduce the turn to cognition in linguistics and also in theology. In new interdisciplinary research it is shown how linguistics, cognitive science and neuroscience work together. The final chapter focuses on the brain’s contrasting capacities, and in particular on its capacity for language and metaphor. Part II continues the topic of metaphor – the natural ability by which humans draw on basic knowledge of the world in order to explore abstractions and intangibles. The chapters of this Part look into metaphors in religious texts, what they may be seeking to express and what cognitive resources they are using. The chapters are written by specialists, all of whom apply conceptual metaphor theory in various ways, covering several major religious traditions–Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. Part III seeks to open up new horizons for cognitive–linguistic research into religion, looking beyond written texts to the ways in which language is integrated with other modalities, including ritual, religious art, and religious electronic media. Along with these domains for investigation the chapters in Part III introduce readers to a range of technical instruments that have been developed within cognitive linguistics and discourse analysis in recent years.