The intention behind Aaron Hughes's book is noble. Canada is different from the United States. The American experience of the development of religious studies institutions and societies thus should not be imposed upon the Canadian experience and used to define developments within Canada. Hughes's approach is also a valid one, describing the origins of various colleges and universities across the different regions of Canada and documenting how various denominationally- and provincially-founded institutions changed over the decades. The post-World War II period, in particular the 1960s and 1970s, are crucial times of change in this narrative. It is in this period, as the book documents, that the more secular study of religion took off in Canada as new academic societies, journals and, most important, departments for the study of religion at crucial Canadian universities, were established. The main argument of the book – that context shaped these developments and thus the Canadian context needs to be taken seriously – is sustained. At the same time, the author is not always a reliable guide through this journey. The University of Toronto is used as a case study yet the key role played by Knox College (established in 1844, not as this book suggests in 1884) and the low Anglican Wycliffe College in the success of University College and thus the University of Toronto as a non-denominational university is overlooked. The parallels with the later description of the founding of the University of Saskatchewan, which similar to the University of Toronto was also ‘not chartered for theological education’ (p. 75) but had a relationship with theological colleges, is thus missed. It is also worth noting that many of the students who would have filled the classes of James McCurdy as he taught higher criticism at University College would have been from the two theological colleges, Knox and Wycliffe. If it was acceptable to study higher criticism in the late nineteenth century, why did this seemingly become a crisis later? It is also unclear how the creation of the United Church of Canada (which happened in 1925, not 1924) eased ‘more traditional denominational lines’ (p. 97) or how this creation was the catalyst for the acceptance of higher criticism. The author may be correct. But this needs to be further explored and explained. As Hughes outlines, in Canada religious studies moved from the theological seminaries to independent religious studies departments and organisations. How this happened was different from in the United States. But, there are some details in this journey that need to be reconsidered and corrected.
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