The Encyclopedia of Religion, first published in 1987, sought "to introduce educated, nonspecialist readers to important ideas, practices, and persons in the religious experience of humankind from the Paleolithic past to our day."

It had been some 65 years since the last volume of a similar effort, theEncyclopedia of Religion and Ethics   was published, prompting two reviewers to prophesy that it was "extremely unlikely another encyclopedia of religion on this scale  appear in English for at least another generation."

Just about a generation has passed, and the second edition of theEncyclopedia of Religion has appeared, right on schedule.