On August 15-21, 2010, the XX Congress of the International Association History of Religions (IAHR) was held in Toronto. The theme of the congress was very broad: religion as a human phenomenon. The geographical area of residence of the congress participants was equally wide. More than seven hundred researchers from various parts of the world presented at the conference a wealth of material, sometimes the most unexpected and difficult to access, various systems of discourse, which is extremely necessary for the development of an interdisciplinary field of knowledge, such as religious studies. Traditionally, the congress presented five sections: "History of Religion and comparative Religious studies"; "Cultural studies and hermeneutics"; "Sociological and natural science approaches to the study of religion";" Theoretical problems of religious studies";"Innovations and development of new approaches". However, special attention was paid to representatives of natural science disciplines and their approaches to the study of religion. It was the third section that aroused considerable interest and attracted the largest number of participants of the congress. However, this was quite expected, as religious scholars have turned their attention to the methodology of natural sciences in recent decades, experiencing a deep theoretical and methodological crisis. This is also evidenced by such areas of knowledge that are already recognized and are currently being developed by religious scholars, such as the ecology of religion and cognitive religious studies.1 The first and second sections mainly dealt with issues related to applied research in the field of a particular religious tradition or in certain regions, both European and Eastern. Religious scholars paid special attention to China and South Asian countries, primarily India. Thus, a number of sessions were specifically devoted to religion and social change in China, the development of modern religious concepts and religiou ... Read more