The academic study of religion has emerged as a vibrant discipline in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Although the discipline was heavily influenced by developments in western Europe and North America, it had gained a distinctive identity by the 1980s. The region made significant contributions to the overall character of religious studies, particularly in the area of method and theory in the study of indigenous religions. Scholars in sub-Saharan Africa interacted with the dominant questions that have shaped the field. Operating in a context characterized by a plurality of religions, they offered valuable reflections on the character of religion. Some scholars from outside the African context also settled in the region and used the richness of the material on religion to explicate the significance of the complex phenomenon. Notable local and regional traditions of...